How does an inner-city high school teacher in Alabama use her iPhone to get the job done and what iPhone apps help get her through her day? TiPb's iPhone at work contest aims to bring you just such slices of the iPhone life. Here's Alli's answer and as a small token of thanks we're sending her a $20 iTunes gift certificate. If you want to see your name up on the TiPb home page and get a gift certificate all your own, head on over to the TiPb iPhone Forum and share your story now!
Once upon a time there was an inner city high school in lower Alabama. The children there all believed themselves to be the center of the universe. So it always came as quite a shock when their beloved French teacher told them that the US dollar was not used throughout the civilized world. Fortunately for these children, said beloved French teacher used WorldMate on her iPhone and was quickly able to find the current exchange rates for most currencies. This made it much more fun to window shop online and find out how much things would cost in real money.
These same children were also subject to school-wide initiatives such as DEAR (Drop Everything And Read). Because it was school-wide, the teachers were expected to play along. Thank heavens for the Nook reader on the iPhone. That old French teacher always had something to read and was happy to drop everything for it.
The children may not have liked taking tests, but our favorite teacher loves giving them. And not for the reason you may think...although, yes, she does have a bit of a sadistic streak. However, testing meant that she could stand in the back of the room and play Words With Friends!
After testing, it was common for our very favorite teacher in the world to whip out her iPhone and play some contemporary French music for her not so little learners. And she has been known to toss that iPhone under her Elmo document projector and show a music video or two.
Of course, this particular teacher was not just an excellent teacher, but the school's Go To Gal for all things tech. It was not unusual for her to receive a cry for help from colleagues and administrators at any time for any reason. And as often as not, the cry for help would go out, and the "victim" would wander away from his classroom/office. Ascendo Data Vault to the rescue. Here we find all the passwords for most everyone in the building, along with administrator passwords for both computers and systems. Everyone wondered how she did it all.
Email? Pedestrian. Phone calls? Run of the mill. Except - Voice Central from Black Swan handled her Google Voice number so that students could only disturb her when she allowed it. And because a teacher's job is never done, students called and sent text messages all day and all night!
But at the end of the day, it's nice to flip that mute switch and know there will be silence until the iPhone's alarm rings at 5:00 the next morning.
Are you a teacher? How do you use your iPhone to get you through the day? What apps get your job done?
