Real Life Tech

Awhile back I shared some tech tools I was using in my personal life and folks seemed to appreciate it. I thought I would make that a recurring type of of post. So here are some things that I am using right now that have made my life easier or more fun!

1) Cuptakes App: I use this app to make my iPad and iPhone wallpaper and lock screens cute! I can use the wallpapers they provide and customize the look of my devices. It just kind of personalizes my must have gadgets to match my mood.

2) Keep Calm O Matic: I know you have seen all the Keep Calm prints on Pinterest. Well, here is a quick way to make your own. I needed a Keep Calm type design for a possible tshirt design I was working on for our high school theatre department and came across this nifty little site. I ended up not using the Keep Calm design on the shirts, but found it fun to make and send messages to family members and friends. BTW, I didn’t download the software they suggest to capture the design. Instead I just used the Print Screen key on my keyboard to save the image.

3) Paperless: I have more To Do lists than I can count. I like daily to do lists so I know exactly what I want to accomplish because time flies when I am having fun. I have used several techie and non-techie things to make lists, but I recently found the app Paperless and I am pretty pumped about it. I can quickly make checklists, check off things completed, and email or print the list if needed. I feel so organized with this app!

4) Real Piano: Now most of you may not find this app at all interesting, but it literally saved the day this week at our house. Fall is not only football season, but in this neck of the woods it is Fall Musical time at the local high school. Theatre is my daughter’s world and this is her senior year. Auditions are next week and she needed some help working through the notes of the audition song. Well, I took several years of piano back in the day, but I don’t have a piano in the house. No sweat… I found the Real Piano app and played through the measures for my precious. The app has a record feature too which is my favorite part. I recorded the song and then sent it to her phone and now she can practice anywhere at anytime. Sweet! The best part of the whole thing is my daughter was amazed at my musical abilities! (I am just a smidge above playing Chopsticks. LOL)

5) Dot Day coLAR augmented reality: OK, this is just too cool! This summer I played around with augmented reality and at the end of the summer a new app called coLAR Mix showed up on the scene. Basically you color pages provided by the app, then when you move your iPad with the app over the colored pages they come alive! It really is fabulous. Dot Day is coming up on September 15 and in celebration of the Dot Day festivities, coLAR has teamed up and when your students color the Dot Day logo provided and then use the coLAR app over the design… exciting images appear! You have to try this out! Your students will love it! Visit the Dot Day Blog for the details and logo to color. Here is a demo video from coLAR showing what the app does.

Remember, the more we use technology in our real lives… the more we understand how and why to use technology in our classrooms!