The Sound of Silence: How you can pursue greatness in the still morning

The view from my favorite chair in the den this morning as I listen for purpose in the silence.

Great strength can be found in the quiet moments before the day starts. The time where no cat mews and the night's dew rests quietly upon the ground. Before the tyranny of the noise and the barrage of notifications and matters of nonimportance glare at you with self important demands.

Hearing your purpose in the silence...

Yet, through the quiet, I can hear the whisper of the true priorities of this day speak to my heart and mind and settle my spirit. To demand that those among us who don't get the mornings and don't like them become morning people is silly. But I would be remiss if I didn't at least point out that much time and peace awaits you if you'll set that alarm earlier and get up before anyone else stirs. The younger your children are, the more you need this time alone. The more you work with kids, the more you need this time alone.

For, to me, truly, this time isn't time spent alone. It is time spent with my Maker and myself - two essential people with which I must get along for this life to amount to much besides the reorganization of dust.

Light your fire before the darkness comes...

I cannot depend upon the completion of an ever growing task list to determine if I'm a woman of worth. The compliments of fellow human beings are not enough kindling to start and keep the fire in my heart going.

No, my fire must be lit with a purpose that is struck deep within my soul as my calling combusts with the oxygen of a heart still enough to hold onto a vision that transcends the menial scratchings upon my planner pages.

That is a fancy way to say that we can lose our vision of the forest as we wander among the trees and yet, for a teacher and a Mom - the dark forest is indeed very dark and very engulfing.

Seeing the view high above the trees...

The bigger trail can only be seen as I jump in the balloon of perspective in the early morning and look down upon the meanderings of life from far above. There, I'm able to refocus and see the bigger purpose in the trek I must walk that day.

I'm able to have quiet conversations with Upper Management about the bats that flit around my mind to frighten me into a retreat from tasks worth doing.

I'm able to see that I am a person of worth with a purpose despite the fact that the world and the burdens I carry often make me feel like the unappreciated pack mule at the rear who keeps being tossed yet another trinket to carry on the journey as proud horses toss their manes at the front of the entourage and eat from feedbags full of golden grain and honey.

The questions common to all humankind are often best asked in the quiet...

You don't have to be a teacher or parent to identify with the ponderings of purpose. These are things common to the human race. Questions of self worth and the ability to bear up under the load are questions common to us all. Yet, many of us bear burdens we were not meant to carry and look for meaning to be reflected in broken mirrors.

When is the last time you've listened to silence? The still ringing of hearing nothing but the turn of the page, the click of the keyboard, or the quiet muffled sound of a car driving past your house?

Silence and the pursuit of quiet time alone has been one of the most defining practices of my life and this morning as I listened to the silence, I heard, in the quiet, the thought that perhaps there are others of you wishing to serve who are pouring from pitchers of water about to run dry lest you take a minute to dip more water from the well.

This time is something you must create for yourself but my own time spent praying, reading, and journaling is the most important time of my own day. When I started doing this around age 27, it made a profound difference in my life and still does.

Quiet time each morning doesn't make me perfect, it makes me purposeful and intentional about living a life that is too short to do everything. It helps me choose.

Make an appointment now...

I'm hoping that all of you make an appointment with yourself today, tomorrow, and the next to truly hear the sound of silence.

For in such sounds, you may just hear the tinkling of your calling and find your purpose and passion yet again amidst the tyranny of a noisy, distracting world that won't leave you alone to catch your breath.

 

Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad

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Reading Tips to Program Your Mind for success

I have a second generation Kindle. I will use it until it won't run for a few reasons:

These Kindles are newer than mine but still offer a focused reading experience without notifications.

1. I can operate it with one hand (I like to read everywhere.)
2. I get no messages or notifications of any kind, meaning I can focus on what I'm reading. Silence is really golden, especially when it comes to reading.
3. I can organize my reading in intentional and powerful ways.

Brian Tracy shares in several of his books that if you want to be in the top 10% of any field that you should read an hour a day in field. That is my goal.

Michael Catt, my pastor says "Leaders are readers." I'd like to lead and encourage others, so reading is important. It brings new ideas. It motivates. It encourages me when I'm down. Now that I've written one book and almost done with a second, I see that a book is really an author bleeding on a page. It is that much of your life. I have always cherished books, now many of them are almost sacred.

Let's look at #3. If you have a traditional Kindle, you can likely organize your books into collections. This is a major feature missing from the Kindle app on the ipad, in my opinion. I organize my books 4 ways.

Type of Reading

• Fiction
• Nonfiction

Right now I have 36 fiction books and 219 nonfiction books. This is not because I don't read fiction, but typically, most fiction books I remove from my kindle when I'm done. I see no reason to keep them because they are still in my archive.

Stage of Reading

• on deck
• @ctive
• Finished Reading
• Stopped Reading

On Deck

On deck means I want to read this next. When I get the urge to buy a book just because that is what bibliophiles do, I "shop" in my on deck and always find something. If I have to shop, I will put things into my "wish list" on Amazon and come back to it if I know that I really need to read it.

@ctive

Active means I'm reading it RIGHT NOW or have within the past week. I usually have a fiction, a nonfiction / inspirational or leadership book, and a nonfiction book on writing. I limit myself to 3 or sometimes 4 in the active category. If I add more, I have to move one into the next two stacks and admit I may not finish that book. I use the @sign out of habit because I start my @ctive folder on my computer with an "@" sign to help me sort it first in any folder where it appears. By limiting my "active" books, I finish more books and am also intentional about my reading. I don't go on guilt trips because I haven't finished 15 books, I just say, "hey" that book needs to wait a while.

Finished Reading

When I finish a book, I always move it to finished reading. I often leave them there for a bit if there's a reason. Some of them are reference books that I'll want to keep. I have a special category I also tag this book with called "Reference Library." I keep it there but mark it finished, so if I ever wonder if I've completely finished the book, it will show up as finished.

Stopped Reading

When I have a book that I've been reading but just stopped for some reason but think I'll want to come back to it, I'll move it from @ctive into "Stopped Reading." There are several multipart books in here - I'll come back to them. Things like a series of short stories by Agatha Christie (ohhh she's awesome) or the Philo Vance series from the early 1900's. I"ll finish one of the books and then come back to it. I do enjoy Philo Vance but he's a bit of a tough read because of all of the classical book references and use of other languages, so I'll take a break and come back to him.

This trick also helps jumpstart me into realistically determining if I want to get back into reading a book. Sometimes if I know I do, I'll put it back in the "on deck" folder. Sometimes after a few months, I'll go ahead and face it that the book doesn't measure up.

A good life is too short to waste on a bad book. Sometimes the book isn't bad, it just doesn't match with my needs from the book or why I bought it in the first place.

Purpose for Reading

I have numbers for these types of readings based upon my priority. Here's my categories:

• 1 - Sharpen Scissors [Follow God]
• 1 - Sharpen Scissors [Healthy Body]
• 1 - Sharpen Scissors [Be Productive]
• 1 - Sharpen Scissors [Read Classics]
• 1 - Sharpen Scissors [ Dream Team]
• 2 - Show my family love
• 3 - #love2teach
• 4 - Be an inspiring author
• 5 - Manage Wealth

What is sharpen scissors?

Stephen Covey talks about "Sharpening the Saw"in his classic productivity book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective people." When I use illustrations to motivate myself, I want to use metaphors that mean something to me.

An old trick to sharpen scissors is to cut sandpaper. I do this quite a bit, particularly if I've been cutting something kind of thick. When I read "sharpen scissors" I picture how hard life can be and know that sometimes I need to read things to shake me up so I can take action. I've got 5 1's because all of these are part of taking care of myself - body, mind, soul, heart. If I don't take care of myself, I can't take care of my husband, children, or any of my students.

I write the parentheses in a way that gets me to act. "Follow God" "Be Productive" "Read Classics" "Healthy Body" are all examples of this.

The Dream Team: You Become like who you think about so think about great people

Then, there's my Dream Team. When Angela Maiers was at my school this past January, she shared some research that shows that we become like the 5 people we think about the most. She calls these 5 our "dream team" and says we should be intentional about selecting the members of our dream team. She has these people on a bulletin board in her office.

My "Dream Team" folder holds the auditions for my dream team. I've got a few already selected but have 3 slots open with quite a few candidates. So, I select biographies of those who I have admired in the past so I can learn more. Biographies keep us grounded. When you read a biography of a great person, it is striking to realize the struggles and normal-ness of most people's lives. When you strip away the accomplishments of great men and women of history you most often see people with purpose, persistence, and a plan (and very often, prayer.) If I will become who I think about, I wish to become a better person and must intentionally take time to read biographies. After reading books like Theodore Roosevelt and the "River of Doubt" I'm forever changed and glad I do.

2 - Show My Family Love

There are great books about being a better Mom. If I'm not careful, I'll read so much about succeeding in my career that I'll forget about the most important thing. Reading about how to be a better member of my family helps me stay balanced and keep perspective. Some things need my most careful protection.

3 - #love2teach

This is the category for everything about teaching. I use this hashtag sometimes, I don't know that anyone follows it, but instead of "teaching" or "Be a great teacher" this is a simple reminder of 2 things for me. 1) That my teaching is a calling, a passion, and a love for my students and 2) The hashtag reminds me that I want to share this with other educators. It can't stop with me.

We need positive voices in this negative world and I am passionate about being one of those positive, constructive voices. I want to help any of you reading this post. I want to help you be a better teacher and a better person. I want to help others love2teach too. This hashtag reminds me of who I am.

4 - Be an inspiring author

I love writing and want to learn more. I am planning to self publish my third book, so right now, I'm reading a lot about it. I want to compare the different types of publishing and also have some things I want to write that I just need to get out. As much as I've appreciated my editors and publishers, I got some things to say unfiltered. This section helps me do this.

It also includes social media books and anything that helps me learn how to be more helpful and learn more about modern media and what works.

5 - Manage wealth

This is a hard one. I'm a teacher after all. I used to have this category as "manage money" but it is more than about that to me. For example, in my belief system, my husband and I believe in tithing and storing up for ourselves "treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt or decay." When I use the word wealth it helps me focus on that attitude.

There are people who don't have a fortune in money but are wealthy beyond measure. Money is also supposed to be a blessing to others. Helping others is a joy and tithing often unleashes the divine providence of God in ways that cannot be explained. Money is not why I tithe, but I am often curious how God provides a way when there seems to be no way in the months I tithe and when I hoard, I not only am more impoverished in my bank account but am a more impoverished person spiritually. Money is hard because I have one child in college and there never seems to be enough but there are choices to make. Unmanaged money has wings. It flies away and you can't hold it. I study this area intentionally so that I can learn to live beneath my means and manage money well to accumulate wealth of all kinds.

Are you intentional about organizing your books?

This one system of categorizing collections of books is a powerful motivational tool. I will give you one word of caution. I will only let myself have 2 pages of collections - no more. More and you feel like a failure and don't focus.

Also, when you buy a book, immediately categorize the book so it will be in your system.

Finally, books do you no good if you don't take time to read them. I make an appointment with myself daily to read. Morning and night, I am usually reading by lamplight. If you're not a big reader with your eyes, you can listen with your ears. You can do something to take in the world and shake up your thinking.

Leaders are readers. Successful readers are intentional about what they read and make time to make it a habit.

If you want to change your life look to the people you meet and the books you read. Sometimes you can't help who you meet, but you have a lot of choice when it comes to picking up a book. Be purposefully about what book it is you want to read next and which ones you keep reading.

Remember your noble calling teacher. When we inspire a love of reading, we are inspiring leadership. Let's read!

Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad

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Do you stop and solve problems or just whine?

Do you solve problems or sit by and whine? The difference is profound.

Whiners are like ambulances that never stop. Zipping through neighborhoods of critically ill people - they just whine - pointing out the problem, upsetting the pets, causing everyone to be sleepless - but never doing anything about it.

Give me people of action. Give me people who actually put on the brakes, stop the ambulance, triage the problem and take action steps to isolate, remediate, and medicate so there is hope for recovery.

Every time you hear an ambulance - ask yourself if you're the siren or the solver who stops to do something.

Be the solution, not the waaambulance.

Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad

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Take the hassle out of tough tasks: Make shortcuts to your action steps

A good filing system includes not only the files you need but the action steps, all in one place. Earlier this week, I talked about recording checklists and action steps in Evernote.

But what happens when you go to a folder and don't remember where you put those action steps? I create shortcuts to the evernote notecards for that action step.

Wherever you put your checklist, you should link to it so it is bundled with the files that will be used. Here's how. But know this, checklists will save you time, mistakes, and I've found they curb my natural desire to procrastinate hard tasks because I know that it is all in one place.

Step 1: Copy the Note Link

If you can get a shortcut to anything, websites, google docs, one note. This process will work in other apps, if you just replace the step 1 with however you copy from that resource. I'm an evernote fangirl, so we're using Evernote.

a. Go into Evernote and open the card that you want to link to.
b. Click on Note
c. Click on Copy Note Link as shown in the graphic.
The link is now on your clipboard. Immediately do the next step. If you copy anything else. it will write over this link.

Click Note --> Copy Note Link 

Step 2: Create a Shortcut in the appropriate folder (PC Instructions)

a. Go to the folder where you want your shortcut
b. Right Click and select New and click shortcut with the left click button

Right click in the folder --> New --> Shortcut

c. Click in the "Type the location of the item" box and press the Ctrl key on your keyboard and the letter "V" at the same time. Click Next.

Press the Ctrl key on your keyboard and the V key simultaneously to paste in the link.

d. Type a name that will make it clear what this routine is. Click Finish.

Add a descriptive name

e.You now have a nice shortcut to an evernote notecard for the routine.

It is now in the folder. You could begin the instructions with a
special character to put  it at the front of the folder like a period.

Remember that you can use this for wherever you have the routines. The reason that I like using evernote instead of lots of tiny documents is that within evernote or any notetaking app, you can search and have routines. If you look back at the original card, the tags I use will prompt me for what happens in January and I can lay my hands on it, for example, if I need information or instructions.

This is an example of something I do once a year. It took me 2 hours today. I'll be interested next year how much time it takes me when I don't have to dig deep and remember what I did last year.

Related articles

• Create Checklists in Evernote to Save Time
• Dolphin browser adds Evernote clipping, one-stop sharing and syncing
• 7 Unusual Ways People Use Evernote
• How I Turned Three Years of Paper into a Highly Organized, Searchable Document Database in Two Days

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Reddit: A cool source for your PLN

I like to use the Reddit forums to turn up cool things on productivity, education, teaching, and also to follow my favorite technology shows on Twit.tv. (Forums follow this format - reddit a forward slash and r another slash and the forum like this one http://www.reddit.com/r/productivity/ ) But Reddit can be clunky, so I found a great app called Alien Blue that lets you easily drill down, comment, and vote up or down the things that you like and find and subscribe to different channels.

I've grabbed some screenshots to show you how this looks. While I don't check reddit every day, I get on the forums at least once a week. Breaking tech news often breaks there before it "breaks" in mainstream media and I've found it an increasingly influential place where people "in the know" hash things out and vet stories before they are ready for prime time. If you want to be part of this process, I recommend you join reddit. I'm coolcatteacher over there too if you want to connect.

(If you want to know how I annotated these photos, I took screenshots on my ipad by pressing the power and home button at the same time, which sent it to my photo gallery. Then, I took it into Skitch (which also lets me send all of these annotated photos to Evernote.) You'll also see why I TYPE so much (my handwriting isn't so great.))

Note that you can also create your own communities on reddit. I'm not sure how that would look with students but am sure those students would have to be over 13.

Also note that there is a bit of "noise" on reddit so you'll find JUNK and BUNK and a little bit of FUNK but the cool stuff I find is very very cool and leading edge (shall I say it gets me CRUNK? OK, it rhymes but I don't get hip hop ;-)

Also remember that even if you don't add anything yourself that you should always vote up or down because that is what you do when you share and are part of a community. If you're a spammer - trolls get called out pretty often, so beware hyping yourself.

Join me on reddit. Let me know your experience, I'm curious how other educators like the site.

 

 

Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad

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Smooth out your week with the Pareto Saturday Principle #productivity

You are the air traffic controller for all of the planes in your life. You decide what lands, what takes off, and what doesn't leave the runway. The more planes you have in the air, the more planning and automation you have to orchestrate - you have to plan the flight path. Otherwise, you will crash and the things that are important to you: your health, your family, your life will crash too.

Pareto's principal is that 20% of the causes have 80% of the effects. So, there are tasks that you can do weekly that will impact 80% of whether you'll have a smooth week next week. Also, 20% of the things give you 80% of the headaches. If you can identify those things, you can structure a Pareto Saturday that will help your next week go so much more smoothly.

Meet your new lifeline: Pareto Saturday

Pareto Saturday is taking time every Saturday to do the things that will help you the most the next week. It never fails, if I do these things the Saturday before, the week is usually a MUCH BETTER week than the harem scarem, topsy turvy, cliche inducing week that I have if I don't. Some call it planning but it is more than that.

The biggest issue is that any one of the tasks I need to do for Pareto Saturday can cause a time suck vortex never to release me, so I use the 30/30 app which allows me to put items in a list and sort of "race" through these tasks. I can always PAUSE if I have to, but I keep the app open and in my face to help push me through it. I also use this app for daily planning and other tasks including my morning routine to help me focus and get things done. It is great for a person like me who has no sense of time.

Items on my Pareto Saturday List:

1. Read over goals - 2 minutes

I have a note in Evernote that I can read on my ipad. If you want to achieve you must first conceive. You must conceive the goal and write it down. Then you must retrieve it and put it in top of mind. These need revision every so often, but Pareto Saturday isn't the time to do that.

2. Master List - Evernote - 7 minutes

As I shared in my last post, I use the secret weapon Evernote method to keep track of my active tasks. I use this time to go over all of my active projects and just review them quickly so I have them top of mind.

3. Trello (FCP) - 5 Minutes

I review the current task list in Flat Classroom. While many of these have evernote cards, workflow is vital when you're collaborating with teachers everywhere. I check in here to see current tasks and big projects that may need to be on my schedule for the week.

(Note, I have this organization on the side from what I do at school, which is why I do it on Saturdays, you most likely would want to keep work separate and skip this step unless you want to spend this time handling money or reviewing a major organization you may work with like a church or civic organization.)

4. Master Calendar - 3 minutes

I review my master calendar in my iPad but with my Levenger Circa planner OPEN as I compare and schedule things. If it is important enough, schedule it. I have 6 things I always schedule as shown in the clip from my Laminated "action sheet" that I keep on a clipboard in the kitchen. (I keep this action sheet in my face to make sure I've done it.)

5. Levenger Updated (3 minutes)

Make sure that each day is planned including the Routines that are vital as shown in the chart above. I have to see it to do it. The process of setting an appointment with myself increases the likelihood I'll do it 100 fold.

6. Wall Calendar Updated (2 minutes)

I have 2 months of dry erase calendars on my wall that are color coded by the type of event. School events are in orange (our school colors), family in blue, important birthdays in green, Kip's travel schedule in purple, and so forth. This helps me communicate clearly with my family (and my teenagers that don't listen well) what is happening WHEN.

7. Menu Plan (5 minutes)

I plan my menus for the week. What we'll eat when, include eating out. I try to cook more at the beginning of the week, when I usually have a bit of energy and when I know I'm going to be exhausted by the end of the week or will have a rough day, I go ahead and plan the days we'll eat out - then I can relax and not stress.

8. Write the goals for the week (2 minutes)

I write down on a whiteboard in the office and in an evernote note (sometimes I just take a picture of the whiteboard) my 3 (or sometimes 4) big goals for the week. So, if everything goes nuts, if I can shoot for them, I've accomplished something. The process of writing goals makes a huge difference.

The timer stops -- then, if I can, I do one thing that makes a TREMENDOUS difference in how fast I can get dressed in the morning. I can save 10 minutes if I:

9. Lay out clothes for the week

I just clear a place in my closet and go ahead and hang the pants and clothes together. If I know the week is rough or Kip will be out of town, I always just go ahead and do this. There's no last minute ironing or anything.

To you naysayers out here:

I take time management books from those without kids, or with a spouse at home to attend to their every need, or unmarried under advisement. I know they have a lot to add, but really, what is there to manage? Career. Sure. But I have a job at school, 3 kids to handle, feed, and clean up after, a wonderful husband that I love to cook breakfast and dinner for, a blog to write, Flat Classroom projects to manage, books to author, 3 businesses, and a nonprofit to manage as well as making sure I know how much money we have since I have the money black hole reaching into my wallet -- 2 teenagers of driving age - or as I call them teenangers ;-) And that's not to mention what happens if someone leaves a roll of toilet paper out and the new kitten decides to make snow!

Some of you don't think you have to do it all ahead because you're doing just fine, but I would think that there are things you can do to have more time.

But for those of you who feel like you literally almost hyperventilate you're running so fast from place to place, this is a lifeline that will change your life.

Try it once and see what happens the next week

You can do Pareto Saturday any day, but if you give it a whirl - even if you write the checklist down, it will change your life. Note that I also apply this in my classroom with a checklist that I do on Fridays to make sure I'm ready for the next week.

Remember your noble calling... whoever you are and especially you educators. You Rock. Let me know if this helps or if you already do something similar that works, tweet me or leave a note in the comments.

 

Written by Vicki Davis, author - Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds - Posted with Blogsy from my iPad

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86 Productivity Tricks, Tips, and Apps

The wordle made from the tags and bookmarks shared in this post. Wordles are a phenomenal productivity tool and I'm starting to have students put them on the front of longer documents to help me scan and preread.

I collect productivity books, tips, and ideas. Going through my bookmarks on Diigo, I realized I had some great stuff in here that I still use and ponder. In this "best of" post, I'm sharing some of the best productivity tips, tricks, and apps for those of you who are trying to get the most out of every moment.

1. BlogSieve.com: Advanced Feed Processing for Atom, RDF and RSS. Create new feeds by filtering, merging and sorting existing feeds.
This website lets you mashup and create new feeds from existing ones. Take some time to manipulate feeds into smaller ones and you'll be glad you did.
tags: educaiton rss socialmedia productivity app


2. Feed Sifter: Get only the good stuff
   A service that filters feeds for certain keywords. This is a fascinating way to drill down into feeds that have a lot of content but you just want some of it.
   tags: rss news eduapp app socialmedia productivity
   
   
3. Filter RSS feeds with Feed Rinse
   This Feed flitering service will pull out spam and profanity - great to try for those who are behind firewalls and concerned about inappropriate content getting through.
   tags: rss news app productivity
   
   
4. Cool Cat Teacher Blog: The Routine of Being AMAZING
   Plan your routines now for next school year! When will you do each set of routines.
   tags: education productivity habit routine teaching
   
   
5. Adding Dividers to the Chrome Bookmarks Toolbar
   If you want to be more productive, set your Chrome bookmarks to sync across computers using your Google account. One of the issues I have with Chrome bookmarks is that you can't insert dividers. You can, however, with the hack from this website, holohub, that has made the icon (called a favicon) as a dividing line. Just bookmark the page to the bookmark bar. Right click and click "edit" and remove all of the text. Now, you have a divider.Granted, it takes more space than the equivalent built-in divider in firefox,but it still serves as a divider.
   tags: productivity chrome
   
   
6. 16 Habits You Should Do Every Day | KratosGuide.com
   This is a very long and peppered with the occasional expletive, however, habits are VITAL. When I set goals, I set habits to achieve those goals and this article is one I'm putting in my reference material. It is worth the very long read - just not for sharing with younger students.
   tags: habits productivity
   
   
7. Pocket | Using the Pocket Bookmarklet
   Detailed instructions for installing pocket onto any web browser including for mobile devices.
   tags: productivity pocket app eduapp edapp ios
   
   
8. Pocket | How to Save to Pocket on iPad
   Instructions for adding Pocket (formerly read it later) to the safari web browser. This is the sole competitor for Instapaper in my opinion. Cool App.
   tags: eduapp app edapp productivity ipad
   
   
9. Adding Bookmarklets on iPad and iPhone
   Instructions for adding a safari bookmarklet for just about every service (except Diigo) on Chris Bray's website. If you have an ipad or iphone and want to send things to your Tumblr blog you can follow these instructions. (For pinterest, go to the Pinterest website.)
   tags: productivity eduapp edapp Tumblr Twitter Facebook Evernote ios ipad ipadchat
   
   
10. Alien Blue - Reddit Client for iOS
    Reddit is increasingly a site where technology news breaks as well as having a tight integration with top technology sites like Twit.tv (they use Reddit to curate topics for the show.) This app is the highest recommended app for using reddit on the ipad and for that reason I've installed it.
    tags: education technology productivity reddit ipad ipadchat edapp eduapp
    
    
11. FlyLady.net: Your personal online coach to help you gain control of your house and home
    I follow many aspects of the Flylady system in my home and classroom. Tis book was a turning point for me in my home. If you're having trouble getting your house in order and keeping it on order, I highly recommend her book Sink Reflections and this website.
    tags: productivity home homemanagement
    
    
12. » How Being a Control Freak Can Set You Free :zenhabits
    I read problogger and Zenhabits so this post about letting go of goals intrigued me. I think, however, it isn't necessarily letting go of goals, it is about letting go of the traditional view of success. I agree that truly getting in touch with what you want out of life is essential. Read this post and think but realize that there may be a few semantic issues here that may cause you to want to debate. Get past the semantics into the real meaning and look at your life. Summertime is an important time to reset for teachers.
    tags: news goalsetting productivity
    
    
13. Pocket (Formerly Read It Later)
    Not sure how I missed the April announcement that Read it Later has been rebranded as Pocket but I kept seeing "pocket" in my RSS readers, Zite, etc. and got curious. Pocket (theh competitor to instapaper) allows you to save websites you see on your mobile device to read later like a magazine on devices like your ipad, droid device, kindle fire, or even your web browser (if you read on your laptop still.) I've seen many use this on their laptop and send it to Pocket or Instapaper to read on their ipad later.
    tags: education productivity eduapp edapp
    
    
14. App Store - Camera+
    If you have an iPhone, Camera+ is the best way to take photos. It is on sale right now for $.99.
    tags: productivity news photography
    
    
15. App Store - HomeRoutines
    The Home Routines app is a phenomenal productivity app for those who focus on habits. The book, the Power of Habit, says that 95% of what we accomplish in our lives is due to habits. Now, I use homeroutines for even my school routines. I have a morning and evening routine each day, but also different routines for the first 10 minutes of my planning period and for Saturdays. Although Called home routines, it is a powerful app for business too. If you have an ipad and an iPhone it syncs. $3.99
    tags: news education apps productivity
    
    
16. Is Agile the Future of Project Management? | EDUCAUSE
    In Flat Classroom and with my students we use a Trello board which is a web app used for Agile development. This app makes sense for schools and for personalized learning projects like the Personal Project done by my computer students. I couldn't track all the little pieces without it. Scrum, Lean, Agile, KanBan - these are all terms for project management systems and I think that as educators implement projects, this is a great place to look to handle large complex tasks with teams of people in efficient ways. Meetings are often a waste of time and should be to do what you can ONLY do face to face. This research posted on Educause's website seems to back up this assertion. "Gartner predicts that by the end of 2012, agile development methods will be used on 80 percent of all software development projects. Project Management Institute’s research shows that agile project management tripled from December 2008 to May 2011, and can help decrease product defects, improve team productivity, and increase business value.
    tags: education news productivity agile lean kanban
    
    
17. The 101 Best Chrome Extensions
    An excellent list of Chrome extensions. I'm such a productivity fanatic, I've found that the lightning fast Google chrome and a FEW extensions are all I need to get everything done. Firefox's last few builds have just been laggy and very slow for me, not sure why, but I now prefer Chrome.
    tags: eduapp edapp productivity chrome
    
    
18. Time for Mail: Services That Improve Gmail Productivity
    An excellent blog post that will help you improve your productivity if you use gmail. I love "find big mail" as it helps free up space for me. If you want to be more productive, great apps and instructions in this epic gmail productivity post.
    tags: productivity gmail efficiency
    
    
19. Top 10 Downloads That Enhance Windows' Built-In Tools
    Some great apps for windows users. I highly recommend teracopy and have used Fences on my older xp machine. Am going to try bins.
    tags: Education eduapp eduapps windows productivity
    
    
20. 9 Things to Capture from Your Twitter Stream and Apps to Help You Do It « Evernote Blogcast
    Some send important tweets to evernote. Here is how to do that and why you might want to.
    tags: education productivity
    
    
21. The Mindset | The Secret Weapon: Evernote and GTD smoothly integrated into TSW
    Steven Anderson (@web20classroom) is using this system for time management which combines evernote and email. These videos are worth watching if you're a productivity fan like I am.
    tags: education productivity organizing
    
    
22. TextExpander: The Simple Guide to Getting Started with Text Expansion
    Text expansion is very helpful and substitutes keystrokes with phrases. Here is a getting started guide.
    tags: productivity
    
    
23. How can I delete ONLY attachment? - Gmail Help
    So, if you want to delete only the attachment to an email in gmail, the only way to do this is in Thunderbird. This is unfortunate as there are many times I wish I could have the email but delete the message itself. Here is how if you  have to. 9/25/10 Here is a solution for deleting email attachments in Gmail without deleting the message itself.  This is a better way then forwarding the message to yourself because you actually save the original message and timestamps, but with attachments removed.  This solution gets the results you want, albeit a little time consuming.  The basic idea is access your gmail account as an IMAP account using Thunderbird, and then use Thunderbird’s feature for deleting attachments.  You just need to make sure messages are first moved to a local folder, then moved back to an imap folder. Details: - Determine messages in Gmail that need an attachment removed. - Access these messages in Thunderbird via IMAP access.  To make this easier, in the Gmail web interface you can create a new label such as "delete-attachments" for these messages. -Select messages in TB and "Copy To" a local folder.  This will download a copy of the message and attachment(s) to your local drive. -Then, using the Gmail web interface, delete the messages permanently. -Return to Thunderbird and access the messages stored in the local folder.  -Delete the attachments in the locally-stored messages individually.  -Finally select the messages and use the "Move To" command and select a label within Gmail to move the message.  This will copy the messages back to Gmail without the attachment and upload the message to Gmail servers with original time stamps. 
    tags: productivity gmail email thunderbird
    
    
24. Find Big Mail - Have you run out of space for your Gmail account?
    This website goes through your inbox and helps you find all the big mail in your inbox so you can clear up space.
    tags: productivity gmail
    
    
25. How to Free up Space on Your Gmail Account - India Real Time - WSJ
    How to free up space in your gmail. This is another way to get through freeing up space in your gmail inbox.
    tags: productivity gmail
    
    
26. How to Migrate Email from One Gmail Account to Another
    Moving from one gmail account to the other. Here are some instructions.
    tags: education gmail productivity
    
    
27. Unsubscribr | Easily unsubscribe from junk and bulk email
    My friend Beth Ritter-Buth showed me this gem that runs through your inbox with a hatchet, helping you remove the bulk and junk subscriptions that fill things up. 
    tags: education productivity email inboxzero
    
    
28. The Information Diet: Not Just A Book, A Movement For Conscious Consumption of Information | Beth’s Blog
    When Beth Kanter recommends books, I read them. I am loving 18 minutes and plan to make this my next read.
    tags: productivity information moverload
    
    
29. » The Habits That Crush Us :zenhabits
    I love Leo Babatua. He challenges my thinking. Do you know why you do what you do? Can you replace bad habits with good? This may get you started. "The old habits of coping didn’t build up overnight, and they won’t go away overnight either. We built them up through years of repetition, and the only way to change them is also years of repetition.".
    tags: productivity habits
    
    
30. 9 Ways to Make Waiting Worth Your While
    Another great list of what to do while you're waiting. My favorite is #2 (Check email on my ipad) and #3 - Clean out Your wallet and purse. I also like to write down quotes and thoughts.
    tags: education productivity
    
    
31. Ten Minutes to Go | Time Management Ninja
    I love ideas of how to get more productivity out of life and time management ninja is a new site I'm reading. I think that as a teacher, I can have other things on the list like I grade on my ipad using dropbox. I can go into PowerTeacher on my ipad and tweak some comments on students to communicate with parents.
    tags: productivity
    
    
32. Do the Impossible | Michael Hyatt
    A slideshow with more than 50 quotes about "doing the impossible." It may sound silly but sometimes, I'll use slideshare and put quotes or interesting slideshows on my whiteboard and rotate during class. This is something that you can share with others. 
    tags: productivity motivation inspiration
    
    
33. Most Popular Goal Tracking Service: Joe's Goals
    If you are looking for goal tracker alternatives, Joe's Goals won a recent lifehacker poll. i use homeroutine but the drawback is there are no analytics.
    tags: productivity goals goalsetting
    
    
34. Leave Yourself a Treat on Your Desk on Friday for a Better Monday Morning Start to the Workweek
    I love this productivity tip! Leave yourself a treat on your desk on Friday! Find something you love and leave it on your desk for yourself. I'm doing this!
    tags: education productivity ideas inspiration
    
    
35. How Trello is different - Joel on Software
    I love Fogbugz made by Fog Creek Software and now Joel Splosky, the founder has created a new app called Trello for managing organizations. This works using the kanban system that I love! Joel received a big boost this week when he was mentioned on Seth Godin's blog. Recently Fogbugz put a Kanban board into their program and I fell in love with it again. I won't do project management without Kanban and here it is! If you do major projects, try trello. I'm sigining up right now.
    tags: education productivity collaboration
    
    
36. » How to Tackle Your Clutter :zenhabits
    Zen habits is a great blog for those of you who care about productivity and organizing. Here is an inspirational post from Leo Babauta about how to tackle your clutter. The surge is a great strategy (hitting it all at once) but is often not practical for those of us who have a lot to do.)
    tags: productivity organizing
    
    
37. Dr. Shad Helmstetter - "The Story of Self-Talk" - YouTube
    At the end, he's talking about self talk and it is more of a sales pitch, however, he has an important point. I'm not advocating buying what he has, but the first 4 minutes are worth a listen. What do you say when you talk to yourself? This is a great video I'm showing my students as part of my "Becoming a Time Ninja" series that I've written for my class. Helping students self-talk in a way for success is so important. We are our own best motivational speaker because we control our actions when we speak into our brains.
    tags: education productivity excellence psychology inspiration
    
    
38. Journals Can Help Women Improve Self-Worth, Lose Weight | Psych Central News
    If you want to lose weight and keep it off...write about it. "A study published in Psychological Science, found that women who wrote about their most important values, like close relationships, music, or religion, lost more weight over the next few months than women who did not have that experience.".
    tags: productivity health journaling
    
    
39. eHomeRoutines with HabitHacker
    I love the home routines app. 95% of what you accomplish is due to your habits. Homeroutines supports flylady and habit hacker. Great app that syncs between ipad and iphone/ ipod touch.
    tags: habits productivity
    
    
40. » START HERE » Habithacker
    So, if you want to improve yourself and your health, creativity, or organizing habits, look at the habit hacker. A more impudent version of the fly lady, this artist is a bit "cheeky" but blunt and to the point. Just the kick in the seat some of us need.
    tags: productivity inspiration habits
    
    
41. » The Clutterfat Challenge: Transform Your Living Space in a Month :zenhabits
    Too much clutter. Join the Clutterfat challenge from Leo Babatua. If you're a productivity type person like I am, you'll get a lot out of Leo. Why not take this challenge for your classroom? 
    tags: teachers teaching productivity minimalism organization clutter
    
    
42. 8 Simple Digital Tools for Scanning Documents
    If you want to scan documents here are 8 great options. I send mine to Evernote from the school's copier.
    tags: education eduapp eduapps scanning productivity
    
    
43. New Research Brief Defines The Value OF A Best-Of-Breed Approach To Unified Communications
    Although this research brief is touting a particular company, the point that productive companies integrate technology, cloud computing, and telecommunications for increased productivity is ne to consider as we look at helping our students be more "productive" in their learning. i still wonder whybwe ignore telecommunications as a link to our students when it is the one technology they have with them all the time. " top performing companies were more likely to have integrated enterprise communications with other enterprise applications, and with the most current approaches to technology delivery-including cloud computing, virtualization and mobility."
    tags: research news productivity telecommunications mobile cellphone
    
    
44. TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux
    Use this to create an encrypted drive for your financial records if you have them on your laptop! Remember to backup the folder as well! It is free. I would also recommend this for those who have private files on their computer like guidance counselors.
    tags: education productivity opensource edu_trends
    
    
45. Get Statistics About How You Use E-mail to Use E-mail Less - ProfHacker - The Chronicle of Higher Education
    This is a great post with guidance on helping people use email more efficiently. If you use Google apps for domains, the tools that let you analyze your email use will be great. If you teach digital citizenship and literacy, this is a great starting point for teaching about email. No, email is not free, it costs us time. 
    tags: education email productivity teaching
    
    
46. Email blackout: Victory for workers or last gasp for trade unions? | ExtremeTech
    Volkskwagen agrees to turn of blackberries after hours as part of a union agreement. While I don't know a lot of teachers connected via blackberries,I do personally know the complexities of global collaboration in schools. We must learn to balance work and home and know when to disconnect but then again, a work environment can become so fast paced that everyone seems to expect the others that they should work 24/7. Yet another reason to advocate checking email 2-3 times a day - let everyone know when you will be available and stick to the schedule.
    tags: balance productivity news edu_news
    
    
47. A guide to maximizing your money in 2012 – USATODAY.com
    As teachers try to make things tighter for 2012 including budgets this is a great checklist to print and put on the front cover of the folder where you keep your bills to pay.
    tags: education news budgeting productivity
    
    
48. Organizing Your iPad Home Screen: A case Study - Lessons
    This is a video I made in just 2 minutes on my iPad. I didn't have to go to educreations' website first but did everything on my iPad. I cannot watch the web version, however as it is flash based. You can create public or private classes and easily share the videos. Very cool implementation of simple screencasting. This would be great for ll schools with 1:1 iPads. Need to get if you can view class content from their app without going to web. Very easy. Wow.
    tags: Education iPad productivity
    
    
49. Online Stickies - lino
    A sticky note account. I may use this for my pkflow method that uses stickys. This website lets you have a page with online stickys and notes. Cool tool that reminds me of corkulous on the ipad.
    tags: education app webapp productivity technology edu_newapp
    
    
50. ZeroMail - Your personal email assistant
    Zero mail is making productivity news for its purpose and its pricing.It is charging a $100 lifetime fee but says it is super-simple email management. It does things like clean out things that aren't needed (like twitter notifications) and zaps mail that is not from a real person. I wish I could demo before paying the fee to see if it works but I've seen good reviews so far.I wish gmail would look and learn from some of these features which look very cool. Yes, I fight and struggle with email.  It also helps you outsource things in your inbox with one click (an interesting concept.)
    tags: education email productivity inboxzero
    
    
51. Dropbox - Simplify your life
    Wonderful, flexible tool that I've used to take my classroom paperless.
    tags: education productivity teaching all_teachers bestpractices edu_trends
    
    
52. Google Docs - Home
    Google docs is a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software of choice in the cloud for many that need to be collaborative. But perhaps the most useful thing to me is google forms which let students make the form and put it out on the web for others to answer. Then, examining results is as simple as pasting into a word cloud maker.
    tags: education tool productivity app cloud
    
    
53. Remember Everything | Evernote Corporation
    One of my favorite tools is evernote. I email to evernote. I pull it up on my ipad. I take photographs and scan to evernote and can search text. It is on my phone, my ipad, my computers. My notebook that I carry everywhere. Great tool.
    tags: education productivity edu_newapp
    
    
54. Do Yourself a Favor: Set Up These Custom Typing Shortcuts on Your iPhone Right Now
    If you have an ios5 device, you got text expansion. Lifehacker's guide is a great guide for setting up. I will add this tip. If you are lucky enough to have more than one iOS device, set it up the exact same way on both!
    tags: Education iPhone iPad productivity
    
    
55. www.theCATCHsystem.com: Evernote For Administrators
    Evernote for administrators from TJ Wolf in North Carolina is a simple, easy to read guide to a tool that can be put on just about anything. It has become my personal filing system for everything. Nice guide.
    tags: Education administrator productivity
    
    
56. AwayFind - Product Tour
    This service is another that I am seeing people use to help manage overburdened email accounts or for people like me who teach all day.
    tags: Education productivity
    
    
57. Adobe Forms Central
    You can use this online service to create forms and then collect responses online. It is from adobe so the forms look professional.
    tags: education adobe productivity forms
    
    
58. Adobe Send Now
    A free service from Adobe that lets you send large files. It also integrates with some of their products. I'm still learning. If you're an adobe user, you'll want to sign up for a free account.
    tags: education adobe adobeair productivity graphicdesign
    
    
59. Drop It To Me
    Lets you create an email to send files security to your dropbox account.
    tags: education productivity dropbox paperless
    
    
60. Daily Routine - time management app for iPhone
    A cool app to help plan routines. Wish it interfaced with google cal but still pretty.
    tags: Education productivity
    
    
61. Web Highlighter from Diigo
    Very cool feature that let's you use the Diio app from within safari on you iPad.
    tags: Education iPad productivity
    
    
62. Binder book friendly 2 page LessonPlan - Templates - Office.com
    Nice binder -friendly Lesson planning template. I use this to map out and plan my classes.
    tags: education teaching lessonplans organization productivity templates
    
    
63. Introducing appointment slots in Google Calendar - Official Gmail Blog
    Introducing appointment slots in Google Calendar http://bit.ly/ncH4ua #productivity
    tags: productivity twitter
    
    
64. LeechBlock :: Add-ons for Firefox
    The chosen "blocker" I'm using. I set certain times for certain tasks.
    tags: education productivity
    
    
65. Time Management Tools: Track Your Productivity and How Much Time You Spend Online
    Some great tools to help you stay on task and learn how to avoid the "time suck" of certain websites. Most productivity experts recommend batching activities and not "living in" Twitter or email, for example.
    tags: education productivity
    
    
66. Livescribe :: Never Miss A Word
    You can now save your livescribe notes to Evernote. It captures the audio and the text for taking your notes.
    tags: education learning productivity
    
    
67. YouProjects - One Button Project Management.
    Another project management online program from gtd agenda - they have also come out with youchecks and you tasks.
    tags: education productivity
    
    
68. Google Talk
    So, if you want to chat, but don't really want to have your gmail open all the time, remember that you can bookmark and install google talk. This will keep you from getting interrupted by your email while still making you accessible to those who need to reach you using this valuable service.
    tags: education productivity
    
    
69. Brokekid.net » Tips & Tricks for Google Apps: Google Tasks App
    So, you're using google tasks to organize the to-do's in your email but are upset that there is no stand alone app. There is, sort of - go to https://mail.google.com/tasks/canvas and you'll have it. This page gives you the tip on how tihs works at brokekid.net.
    tags: education productivity learning
    
    
70. Tech Transformation: Motivate Me!
    Excellent post about motivation and becoming a more motivated teacher. I really enjoyed reading it!
    tags: education productivity motivation
    1. Some of it could be because the technology is working better and because I feel at last I can think about teaching and learning, rather than just thinking of ways to fix things.
    2. Opportunity and encouragement to try new ideas and take risks
    3. So overall I think I am more motivated because I am using more of my strengths - I think I am helping teachers to become more successful with their use of technology and that some of last year's problems are being solved as decisions made with teaching and learning at the heart of the process.
       
       
71. Bring Misplaced Off-Screen Windows Back to Your Desktop (Keyboard Trick) - How-To Geek
    OH my goodness. Often my window gets off screen, particularly when I've undocked and had my gradebook on the second monitor. This trick brings it back on to my window. 1) Press Alt + Tab and click the window off screen. 2) Click Alt+Space 3) Click M 4) Click any arrow key 5) Move the mouse Voila it pops back on the screen. I want to remember this for myself as much as share it with you. Those of you with double monitors will appreciate this trick.
    tags: education hack productivity trick howto
    1. Just hit any one of the arrow keys (Left, Right, Down, Up), move your mouse, and the window should magically “pop” back onto the screen.
        
       Note: For keyboard savvy people, you can just alt-tab to the window, use Alt+Space, then M, then Arrow key, and then move your mouse.
        
       This should work on any version of Windows. It’s really amazing how many people are not aware of this little trick.
       
       
72. Priority Inbox - Gmail Help
    Really cool new feature in Gmail -- priority inbox. I have it on one account but the other has not received it yet!!
    tags: education gmail productivity email
    
    
73. Changing online education - Sneffel
    New tools to facilitate elearning are cropping up including this site that gives elearning students online whiteboards to share. (I use elluminate for this purpose, but there are other options.)
    tags: education productivity elearning
    
    
74. How to add Evernote Gadget to GMail and Google Calendar Interface | VikiTech.com
    There is a gadget for evernote for google calendar and gmail.
    tags: education productivity evernote
    1. 
       
75. Welcome to SwitchEasy
    Really cool thumtack mike for ipods for kids who need to record class discussions.
    tags: education productivity accessibility
    
    
76. Egretlist: A great to-do list app powered by Evernote « Evernote Blogcast
    There is just no alternative for this option. Egretlist extracts the checklists in evernote onto your itouch or iphone. I want this in the evernote app!
    tags: education productivity
    
    
77. Is the Multiple-Monitor Productivity Boost a Myth?
    Looks like the number of pixels is the most important factor. Personally, I love my multiple monitor setup, but this does make sense. (I'm forty and don't see hugely well for the really small pixels, though.) "there's an optimal number of pixels you need to complete the tasks you need to complete. Worry about that number, not the number of monitors you have. That optimal number, for the vast majority of people is about 2500x1400. In 2003—before widescreen became commonplace—it was the case that 2 17-20"(2560 pixels wide) LCDs was the only affordable way to acquire an optimal number of pixels. Today, you can pick up a 27 inch display with 2560x1440 pixels along with a computer attached to it for under $1500. This number of pixels allow you to accomplish most tasks—whether it's writing code and debugging, writing a blog post and reading primary sources, or editing one spreadsheet with data from another."
    tags: education productivity
    1. when the study came to the conclusion that it was pixels, not monitors that increased productivity. What's also surprising is that while the report mentioned that there were productivity gains in certain tasks with more screen real estate, those gains begin to taper between 26 and 30 inches, or at monitors where the native resolution is 2560x1440 or greater.
       
       
78. Cloud Notes Saves Notes to Google Docs Right from the Windows Sidebar
    For those who don't use Evernote (guess there are some) and have Windows 7 - this gadget for Windows 7 lets you create a scratchpad that automatically sends the notes to Google Docs.
    tags: education learning productivity
    
    
79. Tweak Me! Puts Dozens of Windows Tweaks in a Portable Package
    This really cool app is a lifesaver with working with the computers of others. System administrators and IT support who work on PC's with windows will want to take a look.
    tags: education productivity it_support
    
    
80. 12 Ideas for Establishing a Calming Routine | zen habits
    Ideas for creating calming routines. This is a great read and a reminder to make time to "be quiet." My blog readers will know I get up each morning at 5am (during the school year) and have a definite routine of my own to stay centered.
    tags: education productivity
    
    
81. SpaceMonger
    So, you need to delete files and make room but don't know what is taking up all that space, try out spacemonger!
    tags: education productivity
    
    
82. Evernote Trunk | Evernote Corporation
    A new place that evernote has shared that gives you all the hardware, applications and tools to really help evernote! Such a cool tool!
    tags: education learning evernote productivity
    
    
83. Symbaloo | Access your bookmarks anywhere
    Cool website that lets you visually organize bookmarks. Kind of a neat idea.
    tags: education productivity bookmarking web2.0
    
    
84. Household Notebook | Organized Home
    Planner pages for those who like to print them out!
    tags: education productivity organizing
    
    
85. 7 Tips to Analyze the Formula of Your Life ~ Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes
    The reflections from Stephen Downes on the 7 Tips to Analyze the Formula of your Life are worth reading. He begins "There's an old song from The Smiths that runs something like this: In my life Why do I give valuable time To people who don't care if I live or die ? And I think the essence of 'personal learning' (or maybe I should expand the concept, and talk about 'personal living') is captured in this...." What a great read. This just shows how one thing leads to another in this amazingly interconnected world!
    tags: education productivity learning

    1. In my life

       Why do I give valuable time
       To people who don't care if I live or die ?
       
       And I think the essence of 'personal learning' (or maybe I should expand the concept, and talk about 'personal living') is captured in this.
       
       
86. 2do App for iPhone/ iTouch/ iPad
    I love this app and use it to sync with toodledo! It is very useful and incredibly "beautiful." Just one of the best list managers on my itouch that I've seen.
    tags: productivity app itouch education
    
    Hope you find some tricks that work for you and if you have some for me, please share them in the comments (even if it is a blog post you've written, I'd love to add it to my collection.)

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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