Evernote

I tried Evernote this week and have decided it is the best new app out there. If you haven't seen it...it's worth a look.

This app is free and can be downloaded onto your computer and your droid phone. Then, you can sync up notes and/or pictures. I am sure this app does other things as well, but, so far, these two features are the ones I have used the most. The best part? If you don't have access to your computer, you can access your Evernote online! Wow, a to do list that I can have at home, school, or where ever!

I have been playing around with using Evernote to take pictures in my phone. This is great because they are already on my computer when I get there. Then, I just opened them up in paint to save the image as the file type I needed.

In the meantime, the notes feature has allowed me to make to do lists for my vacation. I can open up the app on my phone and see those lists anywhere. I can edit the list as I complete the tasks. The notes feature is similar to any basic word processing program so, I am sure that you would find many other uses not, just to do lists. For me? I can't get things done without a list - so this is a life saver for me.

If you don't try anything else this summer, try Evernote. You won't be sorry! 

This Country's Attack on Teachers

I have watched dumbfounded as this country has right by right, inch by inch, state by state, taken away the rights of teachers who belong to strong unions with collective bargaining. Now, this has turned into name calling and bullying from the conservative right. If you know your history, you see that we are now living in some scary times.

Glenn Beck likes to compare everything to the Nazi's. Well, here we have a direct comparison to the National Socialist Movement and how the party operated. Hitler began by systematically purging all upper level military and government officials who did not agree with him. Then, he went after intellectuals and teachers. Why? because teachers make kids think which is forbidden in a closed society. Are you starting to see the parallels here?

Now, I knew that I would never make much money as a teacher. In fact according to the Hickory Daily Record, I make less than $50,000 a year. That is with a Master's Degree, 45 additional hours, and 25 years (at least) experience. For those of you who don't understand how teachers are paid, we are given an annual salary that can be divided over 10 or 12 months. We DO NOT get paid for being off in the summer ! Some of us just divide our paycheck over a longer period of time. This means that I bring home a little less each month so that I don't go those two months of summer without a paycheck.

This is where the attacks are being made - that we have salaries that are too high, that we have benefits that are too good. I don' t get it.  We take care of your children 8 hours each day for FREE! I sit with them when they cry, I route for them at ball games and test time, I worry about how little Johnny is ever going to understand the court system, and I lose sleep at night when one of them is sick or injured - just like they are my own.

Thank goodness for our voice of sanity - Jon Stewart and The Daily Show.  Bless you Jon!
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