SpeakPipe with QR Code

I blogged about SpeakPipe awhile back but wanted to bring it up again! At the beginning of the year I was using it as a "Help Hotline" for teachers to request help or suggest ideas. I have it linked to a QR Code outside of my door as well as a Google Form. I also have both linked to our IT page for teacher access only. I also have had it on my school pages. The kids LOVE leaving voice messages for me and I really enjoy listening to them! Most of them are sweet and aren't really technology questions or comments just that I am the best teacher in the whole world haha! Now I decided I should add it to my blog!

Speakpipe is still in beta so it is free for now :)! Essentially it allows users to send a voice mail straight to your inbox! You might notice the new Send Voicemail tab on the right hand side of my blog. Go ahead, press it I know you are dying to try it out so go ahead and send me a message! I love getting voice messages just as much as I love reading your comments! Tell me about how you are using QR Codes, what technologies you are using in your classroom, what is your favorite Web 2.0 tool or app, what the weather is like where you live, tell me anything :)! Then go check out Speak Pipe and add it to YOUR blog! You can also create a link to your own SpeakPipe page if you don't want to have the button on the side. I love this cool Web 2.0 tool.

Sticking with this weeks theme of QR Codes! I have created a QR Code also linked directly to my SpeakPipe page if you want to send me a message that way! How awesome would this be for parents? You can add a setting that requires users to leave their name and/or email address! 

Stop and Go

As I am adjusting to my new position I have found that I am being bombarded by people with questions and problems who are expecting an instant fix or answer. They don't realize I have a to-do list one mile long and that they are #583. This became particularly frustrating today as I was attempting to create a staff Google Doc for an activity tomorrow. Every time I sat down to work or began typing my phone would ring, someone would walk in or my email would ping. While I love being able to help it took me triple the time to do something because of the stop and go.

Tonight as I was reflecting on my day and how I would handle this in my classroom! I realized that I never set the expectation for how teachers are supposed to communicate issues with me and I have instantly dropped what I was doing and helped them immediately. THIS is not a reality when school starts and students are the priority SO tonight I came up with a few solutions that I am going to present tomorrow!

If you are not familiar with Google Docs/Drive, you need to check them out. I am going to dedicate a separate post or several posts to Google Docs/Drive. My solution was to create a Tech Help Hotline! I made a Google Form that teachers can access by scanning a QR Code or the link on our staff technology page. The Google Form is easy to fill out on a computer or on an iThing (pod or pad). Google Form then puts all of the information into a spreadsheet which I can check daily and touch base with anyone who had a question, problem or idea! To provide choice (just like I would do in my classroom) I did a second option using Speakpipe. Speakpipe is an online voicemail service where anyone can record a message which is then sent to your email. Brilliant? I think it is brilliant and I am super excited about this. I added a speakpipe here in case you want to leave me a voicemail! I would LOVE it! The only problem with speak pipe is that it does not work with the iPod/iPad because of the lack of Adobe Reader (BOOO!) so I provided the link on the poster as well as on the staff technology page. Of course option 3 is good old trusty email which is always safe!