23 Mobile Things: 19. Hobbies

Have you all seen that show 19 Kids and Counting? Whoa.

I mean, that's really all I have to say about that.

Thing 19 of 23 Mobile Things is all about hobbies. While having kids may not be a hobby of mine, there's no doubt that nearly any hobby has an app to support it. 

Knowing there are thousands of apps that could fit into this category, this Thing went ahead and chose a few random apps to focus on that support a wide range of interests. Let it be highlighted that two just happen to focus on wine as a hobby. I didn't mind. 

That said, none of the apps really piqued my interest other than Spotify, which I use all the time already. For that reason, I brainstormed 5 random hobbies of mine, and attempted to seek out a few miscellaneous apps that support them. 

Hobby 1: Coupons - I'm such a nerd about coupons, but it's amazing how long I've put off signing up for all the fun coupon-y and save-y apps. I finally caved and downloaded Shopkick. May the annoying push notifications and points obsession take over my life. 

Hobby 2: Roller Derby - Turns out apps related to Roller Derby are either timers for our illustrious refs (like this one) or games (like this one). Not much out there to support derby players themselves or derby as a hobby. 

Hobby 3: College Hockey - It's a weird time to be downloading college hockey apps seeing as my beloved Gophers just rounded out their season (in a slightly disappointing way). That said, that Fargo game during the Frozen Four made it all worth it. Anyhow, I'll be primed and ready for next season after having come across the College Hockey News app. 

Hobby 4: Organic, Sustainable Foods - I found 2 apps that I'm super excited about. It's just about CSA season, so I downloaded Riverford Veg Recipes. It works by having you enter 2 or 3 vegetables you have on hand, then generates recipes to match the combination. Super handy when you get odd veggies or an unexpected abundance of something in your Summer CSA. With summer also comes Farmer's Market time! Yippee! For that, I happened across Eat Local. It will help you learn what’s in season anywhere in the US and available at local farmers’ markets. Complete with directions by car, bike, foot, or public transportation. I'm hungry.

Hobby 5: Local Fun - I love to travel. I mean, I know people say that a lot, but seriously. I love to travel. When I do, I'm not super keen on the tourist destinations, but instead love to find local hotspots that give you a feel for the city. I didn't quite find what I was looking for, but I did find something awfully handy for international travel. In my searches, I came across the World Customs app, which gives you access to customs and traditions for 165 countries. I can think of many times in my travels when having a quick heads up on local greetings, gestures, and taboos would have come in very handy. 

Hobbies, hobbies, hobbies. Oh how fun they are.

23 Mobile Things: 18. Education

Catch-22 was originally supposed to be named Catch-18 to represent the significance of the number in the Hebrew language. The author opted to change the name to 22 in order to avoid confusion with another novel, Mila 18.

I guess it's kind of a Catch-18 that the phrase Catch-22 became extremely popular while not maintaining the integrity of the author's original idea.

Oh well.

So 18. Thing 18 is all about Education. And here I was trying to apply all the other ones to Education :)

This things starts off by prefacing that there are a lot of apps in education, which we all know. The lists are endless and ever growing. This Thing then goes on to share a "mishmash" of interesting apps that spread across various grade levels and subject areas.

I've had a chance to play around with most of these, but a few were new. Therefore, I decided to jump in and check them out. The four apps that were new to me were artCircles, B-Rhymes Dictionary, colAR Mix and Show of Hands. Here are my thoughts:

artCircles: Great app for art or any time when using meaningful visuals would be a good idea. Offers various "circles" of categories such as Nature, Texture or Colors. Within each circle are various components, and each component is tied to a visual gallery. The interface is fantastic.

B-Rhymes Dictionary: iPhone only. The tag line is finding words that "almost rhyme," with the purpose being that students will find words that sound good together. When I search for "animal," the first three returns I get are "trigeminal, seminal, and sentinel."  A search for "orange" (intentional trick!) returns "lozenge, goldfinch, and scavenge." I see very limited though interesting educational uses, but it's a bummer that the process for getting to the actual definition of the returned words is cumbersome.

colAR Mix: This app sounds super cool -- apparently it turns drawings into 3D images. However, I couldn't figure out how it works. I might be dumb. Also lots of in-app purchases. I'll not so sure.

Show of Hands: A real time anonymous polling tool. At first I assumed this would be like a polleverywhere tool where the teacher could poll students in the classroom. Instead, it's an open polling medium wherein students could explore the poll results to various questions posted by users that are as in depth as "The UN Panel on Climate Change has issued a report calling for a 70% reduction in global carbon emissions within 30 years, and complete elimination by 2100. Do you think it's doable?" or as superficial as "Coke or Diet Coke?" While viewing each result, you can segregate by gender, age, income, state, and political party. Could lead to some interesting discussions.

Alright. I must know...what are your favorite Education apps?

23 Mobile Things: 17. Connecting to Community

17 is known as the 'least random number.'

In multiple studies replicated multiple times, when asked to give a random number between 1-20, humans overwhelming report 17.

Weird.

What's not weird is reporting on Thing 17 of 23 Mobile Things.

Connecting to Community. This is something incredibly important to me, and something that has become infinitely expanded with mobile technologies. You can connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime, about anything. It's no surprise This Thing boasts far, far more app suggestions than any other thing to date. In fact, the possibilities for connection via mobile devices is so robust that This Thing narrowed itself specifically to connecting in Minnesota.

Being a lover of all things Minnesota and a well established NE Minneapolitan, I've tried out a few of the suggested apps. Some of my favorites are:

• MPR Radio (cue guilty feeling if you are not already a member)
• Highlights of the Superior Hiking Trail (yay summer!)
• Minneapolis Skyway (8 miles of protection from our hideous winters)
• Minnesota State Fair (my derby teammate's name is Ana Stick to fully honor this esteemed and annual occasion)

A few I haven't tried from the list that sound positively intriguing:

• MN Museums (total museum junky)
• Enjoy Red Wing (total SE Minnesota bluffs and Red Wing Shoes junky)
• Going Out from Star Tribune (total nightlife and good food junky)
• Minnesota Beer Activists (total craft beer junky)

So...if you'd ever like to listen to MPR while hiking the Superior Hiking Trail followed by lunch in the Minneapolis Skyway preceded by some serious people watching at the Minnesota State Fair after a leisurely stroll through one of our many amazing MN Museums while wearing our Red Wing Boots before Going Out for the night and drinking a delicious beer suggested by Minnesota Beer Activists we may just be best friends.

So there you go. Your mobile device is your connection to all things wonderful in Minnesota. For those of you outside our regal borders, if I haven't convinced you to visit yet, you must be crazy. Just don't let those pesky 95° and humid or -40° with -60° wind chills scare you. There are like 5, 6 days a year that are actually quite pleasant.  

Kids Aren't Motivated By Technology

Seriously.

The same way I'm not motivated by a toilet. It's a tool I use every single day. It's exceptionally useful, I assure you. But I don't jump out of bed ready to take on the day because I have access to it -- I take it for granted because it's a part of my everyday life.

I feel very fortunate for having the privilege of teaching in a 1:1 classroom for 4 years prior to my colleagues. I have vivid memories of hearing from the other teachers in the school about how my students must love my class because they get to play on the computer. It's not surprising they behave well because they know they'll lose their computer privileges if they don't.

I used to take offense to such statements. HUGE offense.

Nobody in my classroom ever lost their computer "privileges." They never lost their pencil "privileges" either.

What good would it be to dangle the computer as a carrot? About as good as dangling the toilet I suppose :)

I wanted them to learn in ways they never could have imagined, and the computer made that possible. It wasn't the jolly rancher I handed out for behaving the right way.

Fast forward 5 years and I no longer take offense to those statements from my past. Teachers in my school have had 1:1 technology in their classrooms for the last 2 years and they've learned better than anyone that technology does not motivate students. That having 1:1 devices does not make classroom management easier. In fact, sometimes it makes management harder knowing we have an obligation to provide personalized, innovative and engaging learning experiences -- and we've got all the tools we need to do it. No excuses.

They've learned first hand that what motivates students now is what has always motivated students.

Relationships.
Engaging content.
Relevancy to their lives.
Collaboration.
Creating something new.
Being a part of something special.
Being successful.
Knowing you care.
Community.
And so much more.

As a teacher with 1:1 technology, I loved sending a message to a student to let them know I cared about how well they were doing. I loved seeing the way kids felt connected when they shared projects with ePals in Kazakstan, Germany and Japan. My favorite days were spent guiding kids as they created videos to raise money for causes they felt deeply committed to. I will never forget the way they would smile when they realized that a website could be read to them so that they could finally understand it. I was driven by seeing them motivated and times when they were so deeply connected to their work.

I'd love to say technology is the key to motivation. I'd love to share rosy anecdotes about homework completion skyrocketing when we put iPads in classrooms, and standardized test scores shooting through the roof.

If I did, it wouldn't be because of the iPads. I'd be because of the way we used them. Because of the experiences we created with them (and without them) every day.

Technology doesn't motivate kids. But you do.

23 Mobile Things: 16. Audio

Fact: On my 16th birthday I took my driver's license test.
Double Fact: I got the lowest possible score you can receive and still pass.

Oh, to be 16 again.

At least we can be this 16 -- Thing 16 of 23 Mobile Things.

This one's all about audio. It's pretty sweet actually -- the mobile devices our students carry around every day double as audio recording devices. I like to imagine the kids walking around all day recording a "Note to Self" a la Norm Macdonald, but I'm not quite sure it works that way.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of useful reasons why we would have our kids use mobile devices for audio recording. I think of young readers recording themselves to evaluate fluency, or teachers recording to model fluency. Our teachers have recorded their voices as a test modification, and our students have created mock radio shows or podcasts. Our choir and band teachers have asked students to record their singing/playing so they're able to critique it or send it to the teacher for feedback. Other students have recorded their voices over movies or presentations to enhance the product. All pretty legit and awesome uses of this technology.

When it comes to apps, our teachers and kids use a few for recording purposes. Among the most popular are Audioboo and Voice Recorder Pro. I'd say most prefer the latter.

This Thing also suggests ipadio and SoundCloud. I haven't used either, so I decided to give them both a shot.

First up -- ipadio:
This is a pretty simple app and a cool concept. But I'm not going to dig into it any further. Reason being: I work in a middle school, and right off the bat the app requests that you register, enter your first and last name, email address and even a phone number. Wha?

If you get beyond the registration page, a list of not so kid friendly terms of use pop up which are meant to be cheeky, but wouldn't fly well in the middle school classroom.

I'm sure the functionality of this app is great...I just don't see it working for our purposes.

Next up -- SoundCloud
This one also requires registration (sad face), but at least it can be logged in through a Google Account (which our kids have). I can get on board with that. Once in, SoundCloud immediately requests your musical preferences. You see, beyond being a recording app, SoundCloud's primary purpose is to expose you to new music. After selecting your preferences, a unique "stream" is created for you to promote music you might like.

The allure of SoundCloud is that you can VERY EASILY record audio and share it with an authentic audience. I like the concept -- our kids could share their original musical compositions, poetry, writing, singing, etc. with a real life audience with ease. The recording and sharing process is easy to use and seamlessly integrated into the app.

I'm not 100% sure it's middle school approved (some of the music is inappropriately named, we'd need terms of use approval, and I haven't been able to give it a long look-over). That said, even if the teacher managed and shared the content, it could be a great way to expose student creation to the world.

Well there it is.

Until next time, keep listening.

23 Mobile Things: 15. Infographics

Do you guys play tennis? I don't. I'm not trying to knock tennis because I actually think it's really entertaining to watch, but what's with all the weird scoring? Love, then 15, then 30 (ok...so double?), then 40 (nope...no double...no add 15...just a random 40), then Game. Wait, what?

Alright, sure, it's weird. But 15 is the first point scored in tennis, and Thing 15 scores major points. I guess we'll call that a win.

Thing 15 is all about Infographics, and I'm all for nonlinguistic representations that help our students better understand the information that inundates our world.

Not familiar with Infographics? They're essentially visual summarizations of data common to a particular topic.

For example, here is an Infographic about Infographics.

Alright, so Thing 15 offers up several apps that help us build or find Infographics. These apps include Infographics Hub, Info.Graphics, i Visual Info Touch Lite, and Visualize Free. Of these 4, the only one I haven't tried is i Visual Info Touch Lite. Both Infographics Hub and Info.Graphics are nice for finding Infographics. Visualize Free is a fine app, but I don't necessarily think of it as an Infographic builder -- it's more like a media filled poster creator. You could use it to build an Infographic, but I think of it more along the lines of a simplified Glogster.

Truthfully, I've always been disappointed in the free infographic builder options available on the iPad. I've always wanted to find something like a Piktochart or Easel.ly that works well on an iOS device. For that reason, I was excited to try out i Visual Info Touch Lite.

My thoughts...

Super easy to use, but just like Visualize Free I see it a bit more as a poster builder that can be used for infographics. That said, kids would pick it up quickly, but the lack of features compared to Visualize Free are pretty disappointing. I wish there was a "duplicate" feature and a "send to back/send to front" feature, but I could survive without them. You cannot change fonts, and there is no multiline text so each line needs to be a new text box. A few other features seem to be MIA as well. The HUGE missing link, however, is you cannot import a picture saved to the camera roll. That seems a bit ridiculous to not include. There is a full version app that retails for $2.99...it's hard to say whether it's worth the investment or not based on what's available in the free version.

In about 15 minutes, I made this quick Infographic about Spring Lake Park Schools, which is the district I work for:

If you ever find a great Infographic creator for the iPad, do share! I know my teachers would love to be able to explore this type of creation.

23 Mobile Things: 14. Videos

There are 14 pounds in a stone. If you look at my weight in stone, I should be eating so much more ice cream. I should be eating so much more ice cream anyway. While I watch more videos. Ice cream and videos. I'm so in Thing 14! So in.

Alright, so Thing 14 is all about video, and if you read my posts about Thing 10 (sharing pictures), it's probably not surprising to hear that I'm all about the video too.

Seriously...I've got a Vine for everything.

Well, by everything, I mean really stupid interactions (mostly with friends), that provide 6 seconds of useless but entertaining content.

Hurray!

So again, as I mentioned during the the Thing 10 picture post, this may not be the stuff of deep thinking or learning, but it is something pervasive in my every day life, and mobile technology makes that possible.

That said, knowing this is an education blog, I certainly don't want to imply that we need to exclude video apps from the possibility of being used for deep thinking and learning. Many of the teachers I work with use it in such a capacity every day:

I see coaches and physical education teachers filming their students' form to provide feedback.
I see students creating videos to demonstrate their learning.
I see classrooms sharing videos with global classrooms to make connections.
I see kids filming their teachers or peers so they can review the content later.
I see teachers creating screencasts and tutorials for remediation, extension, and everything in between.

Video is great, isn't it? The opportunities to incorporate it into learning are endless, and it still kind of blows my mind that every student in my school has access to a video recorder and camera at all times. I remember about 5 years ago when I got a set of 10 Flip Video Cameras in my classroom and I thought it was the COOLEST THING EVER.

That was only 5 years ago, and already the technology seems silly and archaic. Wow.

Anyhow, I'd love to hear how you use video in your classroom and school to support learning. Please share. This is great stuff, people!

The "I'm a Really, Really Great Teacher" Model

You may have noticed that the education world can be a bit finicky. We have a love/hate relationship with a lot of things...

I recall a time not so long ago when SAMR was all abuzz in the EdTech community as a thoughtful way to approach technology integration. Shortly after, a whole lot of rethinking surfaced about how or if it should be used. Like this. Or this. And this.

Or how about this viral video about the equally buzzy 'grit' we need to encourage within our kids? Later, it was followed up by this commentary on being careful with how we use it.

Oh hey, and how about Bloom's Taxonomy!? That's a tried and true framework everybody can get behind, right?

Well, maybe not everybody.

Ok, ok...so I admit, it may seem like I'm pointing out inconsistencies or a lack of sustained practice in my profession. I am not! I find these differing opinions on the best way to reach our kids not only indicative of a thoughtful and intelligent population, but also a natural consequence of the industry in which we work.

The industry of kids.

Every decision we make has a direct impact on those kids in front of us. There is no middle man. There is no design team to dream up the idea, or engineering team to create the product. There is no advertising team to develop the message, or sales team to deliver the pitch. We are the design team, the engineering team, the advertising team, the sales team, and so, so much more.

I congratulate us for adjusting accordingly. When we try something, we evaluate it. When it works, we refine it. When it doesn't, we alter or scrap it. We are infinitely creative and caring individuals solely driven for the sake of our kids.

I applaud us for not sticking to a routine. Or an algorithm. Or an assembly line.

When we put our kids into a classroom, we better not put them into a box.

So I implore you to consider and learn from Bloom's Taxonomy or SAMR or the Zone of Proximal Development or TPACK or LoTi or The Access Model or Gardner's Multiple Intelligences or the Framework for 21st Century Learning or RAT or Blending or Flipping or Cognitive Theory or Habits of Mind or Marzano or Differentiation or Personalization or PBL or CBL or IBL or Domains of Teaching or inTASC Standards or ISTE Standards or Pretty Much Everything On This Page or This Page or This.

But in the end, don't forget why you began teaching in the first place.

I've got a pretty great model to consider. It's called the I'm a Really, Really Great Teacher model, and it works like this...

I am responsive to my kids' needs.
I care.
I am thoughtful about their differences.
I am cognizant of my own.
I plan each day with their needs in mind.
I have the highest expectations of them.
I do what I need to to make sure they're met.
I do it whether it comes in the form of a nicely wrapped up research model or not.
I see my students as human beings.
I know they're more than just a score.
I value their passions and interests and strengths.
I see no limits to what they can do.
I make sure they see no limits to what they can do.
I am intelligent.
I am an expert.
I am experienced and full of passion.
I do what many cannot.
I don't do it alone.
And I don't do it for myself.

I am a really, really great teacher (model)*

*Trademark pending

23 Mobile Things: 13. Presentations

You guys. 13 gets kind of a bad rap. It's generally considered unlucky, but hey, let's give it its day. Well, I guess technically we give it a day every month, but you know what I mean. Today, on March 18, we'll celebrate 13 and all of its greatness.

Or at least one of its greatnesses. Y'know, for representing Thing 13 of 23 Mobile Things.

Presentations.

Woot! Who doesn't LOOOOOOVE a presentation?

*waits for no one to raise their hand*

Right, right. We've all sat through our fair share of horrible, boring, Death by PowerPoint presentations. They're so literal and regurgitative on the part of the presenter that you lament them for not having just sent their word for word bullet points in a "read on my own time" email.

And no, that little clip art dude telling me to 'not to forget' doesn't actually help me not to forget.

Thankfully, there appears to be a pretty strong revamping of presentation utilization. This revamp seems to strongly appreciates the significance of a striking image, the importance of minimal and high impact text, and a return to the importance of the orator to reach deep levels of learning.

Not only that, but the approach turns the presentation for our students from a copy and paste animation filled exercise in regurgitation into a creative and thoughtful way to demonstrate understanding.

In other words, the presentation CAN be an amazing tool (if it's used correctly).

For that reason, I'm pretty into Thing 13. Of course, each of these apps can be used 'the right way' and 'the wrong way,' but having tools that support the right way by their very nature is a nice start.

Take Haiku Deck for example. Haiku Deck by its very design encourages minimal text and focusing on a single, maximum-impact image.

Another recommendation of Thing 13 is Deck Slideshow Presentations. I hadn't tried this one before. After giving it a shot (for all of 5 minutes), I appreciate the interface. Super simple to use, and the app itself does all the design "heavy lifting."

I'll throw in a recommendation of my own that isn't listed as well. I recently presented Flowboard to my staff, and a few of them have tried it with kids. Again, it seems to be designed for a more simplistic presentation that focuses on learning via purposeful images and maximizing the limited text that you have available to you. Frankly, the interface isn't quite as user friendly as some other presentation tools on the iPad, but the results of the finished product are quite nice.

All in all, make presentations your friend. They can be.

Insider's Tip:
If you want to get really friendly with taking a "Zen" approach to creating presentations, talk to John U-F. The man's got a way of turning the presentation into an art form, expects the same of his kids, and has done a number of sessions on it that I've had the privilege of attending. It's a mix of psychology, simplicity, impact and beauty. Ommmmmmmmmm.

23 Mobile Things: 12. Books, Books, & More Books

There are 12 months in a year, and thank goodness, we're finally moving into the ones that don't make you worry about freezing to death (which, of course, my fellow Minnesotans can relate to!).

In other positive news, we're also moving on to Thing 12 of 23 Mobile Things...Books, Books, & More Books. In other words, this one is all about books. Could you tell!?

The focus of Thing 12 is all about apps that give you access to free books and audiobooks on your mobile device. I'm a reader through and through. I've got an oversized book shelf full of hundreds of bargain bin finds and trades amongst friends. My Kindle and iBooks apps are similarly overflowing, but with a slightly less cumbersome physical consequence.

I can still very much appreciate the experience of holding a physical book, but I also love eBooks for their convenience and mobility. Either way, I love a great read.

This Thing suggests several apps that give you access to free eBooks and Audiobooks. Among these are Wattpad, Free Books, and Audiobooks. I've downloaded all at one point or another, but truthfully, find the majority of my books through Kindle and iBooks. Sometimes I pay, and other times I take a chance on something that's gone free. These work great for my individual purposes.

I'm all for access to literature and texts, and truthfully, my BIGGEST concern with the whole eBook mobile access industry is the lack of a viable, simple and affordable solution for classroom sets of books. I have lamented over the struggles our district Media Specialist, Learning Technology Coordinator, and Learning & Teaching Coordinator have gone through trying to find a simple and affordable way to get digital copies of multiple fiction and nonfiction texts to our kids who have 1:1 mobile technologt. It's so silly! What you would think would be rather evolved industry knowing the need exists, companies are admittedly rather behind the curve at this point.

I have no doubts companies will catch up, but in the mean time we do what we can to give our kids access to classroom and personal texts through their devices. I'm psyched for the time when this becomes a seamless and cumulative process, giving kids access to loads of digital books and all the accessibility features that come along with them.

Preaching to the Choir: The PLN Version

I fully recognize that by virtue of you reading this very blog post, I'm likely to be in the process of preaching to the choir.

That said, it's still worth it to me to say how appreciative I am of my PLN, and how much I encourage all educators to form a network of people with whom they can continuously learn.

For those who may be new to the terminology, a PLN is a "Professional Learning Network." Quite often that network is built and facilitated digitally, though it's not necessarily a requirement. A good chunk of my PLN affiliations occur wholly face to face, or some include a combination of face to face and digital interaction.

Let's be honest: Sometimes it's nice to talk to you, and see what your face looks like when it's not a tiny box on Twitter. Turns out, you're actually a full sized human being.

Anyhow, I just completed a great conversation with a colleague whose questions and insights consistently assist me in constructing meaning, challenging my thinking, and clarifying my next steps. I'm so thankful for those face to face conversations, and worry what I'd be doing if I didn't have access to them.

Similarly, I recently followed along with the #SXSWEdu chatter on Twitter, and was able to learn from those who attended in person from way up here in frigid Minnesota.

When I've got a question or thought unique to the type of work that I do, my first instinct is almost always to pose it to my Twitter PLN or my Google+ Community, and the results and depth of learning that can occur in these forums is game-changing.

I'm a continuous learner because of the incredible colleagues I see face to face, and the insightful professionals I learn with from afar. I sincerely thank you. I owe you so much.

I know most teachers believe that we accomplish more when we don't go it alone. I encourage all to acknowledge that our interactions can stretch globally, and the expertise and perspectives we come across can grow exponentially. Seriously you guys...the whole world cares about our kids. How lucky are we?

23 Mobile Things: 11. Library & Reference

Chapter 11 is generally synonymous with bankruptcy. That's sort of how I feel about Thing 11. There just ain't a whole lot there for me. Not its fault!

So basically, Thing 11 of 23 Things is all about mobile apps that support library and reference materials. Then, the post went on to share the the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM) website is responsive. Well, gee, I hope so. Though as I write this, our school's website currently is not. Oops.

The post then goes on to share mobile apps for various local libraries as well as vendor apps that interact with books or databases that our library subscribes to.

Again, the bankruptcy aside has nothing to do with this post itself...it's great and helpful. I guess I just don't have much to say, other than databases and ELM are great resources. So use them!

Ok?


(I promise Thing 12 will knock your metaphorical socks off. Maybe.)

23 Mobile Things: 10. Sharing Photos

I was 7 when Ten was released. I'm currently 29 as Thing 10 is reached. Coincidence?

...

Yes, absolutely. But I appreciate you ruminating on that for just a minute -- attempting to find a nonexistent correlation between those two things.

Anyhow, on to the big show.

Thing 10 of 23 Mobile Things is all about sharing photos using our mobile devices. For me, how can I make sure everyone in the world is completely aware of my obsession with my cat? This stuff is critical, ya'll!

Thing 10 suggests two mobile apps:

1) Instagram
2) Snapchat

I actively use both.

My Instragram feed is so stereotypical, its almost made up.

It's basically a lot of cat pictures, 

pictures of food, 

and the occasional friend adventure...

...with a filter overlay that makes me look cooler than I am. 

The one outlier might be a roller derby picture here or there,

but I suppose my derby career is a story for another time.

My Snapchat activity largely consists of sending and receiving group 'snaps' amongst a select group of friends, all attempting to out-irony ourselves with ridiculous photos.

Alright, so not exactly the stuff of deep learning or thoughtful introspection. Nevertheless, I love it. I admit it. I love it.

Sharing photos is oodles of fun. Getting glimpses into my friends' and loved ones' lives is awfully pleasing, and no, I don't get too annoyed seeing endless pictures of your baby, or your dog, or your vacation that I wish I was taking. In fact, I find it all to be downright pleasing.

I guess I don't have much of substance to say about this post other than I've embraced mobile sharing of photos. So yeah, that's it.

I guess I'll just leave it at that.