Thing 23

I just gave myself a pat on the back. This was not as hard to complete as the first 23 Things on a Stick, but it still took determination and discipline to keep working at it.  My husband and I are taking a dream vacation starting in mid-June so I had a big incentive to finish this commitment as soon as I could.

About the apps:

• Useful when I know about them or actually have them - and then remember to use them.

• There were many fun apps, useful apps. Haiku Deck was great. There were a couple of 5th grade girls who went home after the library lesson and made their own "deck!"

• I am the only one I know doing the "23 Mobile Things."

• I liked to know that there is actually an app that helps you find apps that would be useful for you.

• I thought that you all had done a fabulous job putting together this "23 Mobile Things." What impressed me the most was your screen shots and tips along the way for so many of the apps. That was truly remarkable and helpful. It made going into the actual app itself so much more comfortable - like I knew what I was looking at. In the future I hope you keep doing that!

• Yes, I would participate. All your hard work has some payoff in me in my personal life and my life as an educator.

• Take the time to stretch and learn with the "23 Things" and you will be rewarded - personally and in your professional life.

Thing 22

I played with Quixey. I tried to find an app on bicycling. I am getting more into biking here and there and wanted cycling tips and also wondered about proper cycling attire. Not much luck except to subscribe to Cycling Magazine from their cycling app.

Then I tried to find an app that would help me put together outfits to be made from my pre-exising wardrobe. Not much luck there either - one of the few apps that came up was a "design your own look and share it with your friends." Not exactly what I had in mind.

Now that I know such an app search website exists, I will keep that in mind as I have needs that come up.

I scrolled down the page after I googled best apps 2013 and found some you have already recommended and many other amazing ones. So little time, so many apps!

Thing 21

O.K. I have a few. They get daily use, almost. One is the Calculator app that I upgraded to Calculator Pro to say good-bye to the annoying advertising. I had always wanted a BIG! calculator - well, this one is the size of my iPad. Love it!

I also use the MyRadar Weather Radar app a lot. It is super handy to predict the weather or how close a storm is, before it actually hits. I should upgrade to the Pro version on this one, too.

And, I do use the OverDrive app with the Hennepin County Library System to download audiobooks.
This has been a God-send!

Thanks for all the new apps you have exposed me to!

Thing 20

I used to play Solitaire and Cryptogram every day for maybe 4-5 months. Then I said to myself, "This is a waste of time." At least for me. I would rather be catching up on my reading, reading a good story or being active in some way.

I did get the Word Warp app and played it for a few minutes. It is similar to the PopWord! app I got a few years ago. It is good to "play" and stretch your mind. I guess I'd rather find other ways to do that than staring at a screen.

Thing 19

I did not find the MyGarden app useful - I am an avid gardener, just not that social.

I did get the Vivino Wine Scanner app - that should be fun - even if I only use it on Trader Joe's wines.

I spent over an hour with the Spotify app. I followed one playlist, but I think what I will most enjoy is the Spotify "radio."  I also discovered that Spotify accessed my iTunes playlist. Voila - there they were!

Thing 18

Zow! Way too many cool apps. I love language learning, nutrition, world geography - just learning in general. TEDTalks were created for me!

So I started to play. Got myself Duolingo and passed the first lesson.

I got the Fooducate app and played around. I probably don't need to track my daily diet but some other features like the scanning of food items and browsing food nutrients/calories could come in handy.

I got iTranslate. I learned Danish the year I lived in Denmark, but forty years later it is a bit rusty. I typed in a few phrases and listened to how I should say it in Danish. Way cool!

I already had Google Maps, but fooled around long enough to learn some new things I had never used before: dropping pins, turn-by-turn directions, street view to name a few.

It's true - so many good (books) apps so little time.

Thing 17

Today I explored a bunch of local Minnesota apps that could help me keep in touch with my community.

The only app that worked at all on my iPad was the Highlights of the Superior Hiking Trail. I couldn't get Minneapolis by Open Spaces or the Star Tribune's Going Out app to come up on my iPad. I managed to get them both on my iPhone but they seemed to not live up to the app introductions in the App Store.

I also wanted Explore Minnesota but that was a total bust. I am beginning to see the elegance of a finely tuned app. Many are not worth the bother. But I like the idea of these apps I checked out - hopefully I will remember to go back to see if they were more finely tuned.

Thing 16

I made a "boo" - a short, teaser recording from the picture book, A splash of red, by Jen Bryant. I will be featuring this book in next week's lesson on art media in children's picture books.

listen to ‘A splash of red, by Jen Bryant’ on Audioboo

Thing 15

I read through the INFOGRAPHS HUB app "getting started" - the app basically just gives you ideas for what you can create.

I read through the VISUALIZE app "getting started." This app has lots of potential. I watched the 8 minute video - so many possibilities. I sent away for my free stickers but they never came. One is really limited on how creative a homemade infograph can be with this app if you don't pay the $.99.

I started an infograph but did not have enough "tools" to finish it or do it right. Maybe on day...

Thing 14

OK. I read through the VINE app description and how-to and decided not to get that app at this time.

I did get the SOCIALCAM app and practiced with it here at home for awhile. This app I have plans for. I would like to have kids at school re-write in their own words and perform readers' theatre for some chosen picture books and even longer fiction. I have been reading From Children's Literature to Readers Theatre by Poe and love her ideas to make Readers Theatre very creative and personal.

I will have my iPhone movie camera at the ready with SocialCam. This will be a great way to post the finished video on our school FaceBook page.

Creative Commons License Example

http://www.mypeoplestickers.com/adventure-boy
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Thing 13

I spent a lot of time learning how to use the Haiku Deck app. I love it because I will be teaching my students the annual lesson on Creative Commons soon and this app is so perfect for them to see the advantages of sharing/using photos appropriately on the web. Here is my presentation:
Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app

Thing 12

This Audiobooks app is a gold mine for me! I listen to "billions" of audiobooks every year. Now with this app on my iPhone I will seldom be away from a good story. I started up The Secret Garden by Burnett - and it keeps its streaming place for the next time I am available to listen.

I have a reading incentive program with the middle schoolers at my K-8 school. They need to "read" two classics and two biographies during the school year for an end-of-the-school-year reward. I can show them this app where they can find a great selection of books from those two genres - and have them ready to listen to whenever they want. Their book will be in their pocket!

Thanks for showing me this app!

Thing 11

Library & Reference

I downloaded the ELM app to my iPad. I chose to look up "wild rice" grown in Minnesota.

I chose to search by topic: Minnesota. I chose the Star Tribune for my database. I typed in my search term with quotation marks: "wild rice" Minnesota.  I chose to sort my results by "Publication date (most recent first). I noticed there were many articles recently about the pros and cons of wild rice co-existing with iron mining.

Pulling up ELM databases on the iPad is very easy. Easy to read, easy to navigate. It would certainly be a great benefit for students who have a mobile device to put the ELM app on it.

Thing 10

I looked at Snapchat. I read the blog on using it in the library.

To be honest this kind of app really doesn't work for me personally. I do not do any communicating socially online. No Facebook posting, no photo sharing except by email or text. I read through the app summary and "how to" but just didn't want to add that app to my mobile devices' launch pages.

Thing 9

CamMe - way cool! I just emailed my son to get it - he's traveling solo to Japan next week!

Color Splurge make me feel like an artist! I could monkey around with that app and my photos all day!

Photo Editor by Aviary was a blast! Here's what I made!

Thing 8

I'm connected but not very social -  at least electronically. I have a Facebook acct, a LinkedIn acct, a Twitter acct and a Google+ acct. I welcome people to "friend me" on all of them, I just don't initiate.

I looked over all the social management tools listed in this Thing 8, and frankly, I don't feel they are necessary in my life. Thank you for making me aware of them. I will keep them in mind.

Thing 7

I have had a Pinterest app for some time. Today I jumped in and tried to use the app but it just wasn't working for me. I watched a couple of videos and it seemed those people were working off desktop computers and using Pinterest.com.

It was easier on Pinterest.com to figure out what to do and "to pin" some websites on my first board.

When I went back to my Pinterest app on my iPad it had not updated what I had added on the desktop computer. I am a bit befuddled.

I need to ask someone to show me how they use Pinterest - especially on a mobile device. I can see where I could "collaborate" on certain information literacy lessons by searching Pinterest for others who have pinned to certain educational topics.

Thing 6

I got the CloudOn app and chose to store my created/edited documents in my GoogleDrive Account. I proceeded to edit a document I had in my GoogleDrive and it went very well. I recognized many of the tools I am used to using in Word and GoogleDrive.

The hang-up came when I went into my GoogleDrive app to see my changes for that document and it couldn't access the document. It gave me the option of opening it up in many other places including CloudOn. So there it was - but no longer in my GoogleDrive where I wanted to keep it.??

Thing 5

I have used Evernote for several years. Now and then I would save something to it. I have tried to keep up with all its new bells and whistles.

At the 2013 MEMO conference someone recommended Springpad to me. I got the app immediately -  but then never used it.

Tonight I made several notebooks on Springpad. Let's see if I find it handy. I'm a list maker - just not online.

Thing 4

I got the Flipboard app for my iPad over a year ago. Have not used it. I also remember doing the RSS feed "thing" from the 23 Things on a Stick five years ago. I did the Google Reader then with a few feeds but never used it.

I am happy to read the print edition of School Library Journal each month, cover-to-cover, the Star Tribune, front to back every day, attend the annual MEMO (ITEM) conferences each year and check in on Doug Johnson's blog now and then - and I also read the monthly issue of the professional journal "Today's Dietitian" having an old master's degree in nutrition and food science.
Enough for me. I read through this mobile Thing 4, watched the videos - but am not moved to use RSS feeds.

Thing 2 and Thing 3

THING 2
I'm glad to know about iCopilot! I watched almost all the videos! Loved the ios7 top 10 hidden features!

THING 3
I already had RedLaser on my iPhone. Haven't used it much. Thanks for reminding me. I tried it on a cereal box in the kitchen and it gave me online stores where it is sold and really cool! great nutrition information!

Thing 1

Here goes! Five years ago I forced myself to complete 23 Things on a Stick. It's one of the best things I ever did for myself and my students.

I'm ready to learn some more -  I have more confidence this time!