Three days in a row!
Today’s text: “You were my all-time fave English teacher.”
(Pretty soon, I’m going to begin to wonder whether my students have concocted this scheme.)
The best way to manage multiple Google accounts
I have two Google accounts — a personal one and one for work.
You probably do, too.
Don’t you hate switching back and forth? It’s not pleasant.
No matter how much Google says it is making it easier to manage multiple accounts, I still find it bothersome. That’s why I’m happy I came across a recent tip from teacher Kevin Brookhouser, who suggests using a lesser-known aspect of the Google Chrome browser: the sign-in feature.
This is how it works: You open Chrome, click on the settings wrench, sign in with your Google account, and then you’re able to create different user profiles. You can name them and select different icons to represent each user. All you need to do to switch between profiles is to click the icon at the top of your screen. That’s it. It’s easy.
Better yet, you can have different bookmarks and extensions on each profile. For me, that means that I can keep personal and work-related websites separate, which increases my productivity. I’m no longer as distracted. When I’m on my work profile, I’m doing work, and when I’m on my personal one, I’m enjoying.
Check out Mr. Brookhouser’s quick and clear explanation. It’s about three minutes:
See how easy? It’s quick to set up, and I think you’ll appreciate the clarity it’ll bring to your workflow. I’m very interested in decreasing multi-tasking and distraction, so I’m thankful I found this tip.
(Yes, this feature works only on Google Chrome. And don’t use it on a shared computer.)
Please let me know if you try it and whether it works for you.
Today’s text from a former student
These unsolicited texts from former students are becoming a regular thing. Here is today’s:
“I’m the only person in my class that has read The Joy Luck Club, and we were reading an excerpt from ‘Mother Tongue,’ and I recognized it. 🙂 Thanks!”
A text from a former student
From a former student, now in her first year of college:
“For my English class, we are reading Oedipus Rex and Antigone. I like Greek plays a lot thanks to you. You made them fun and interesting.”
via Twitter / iseroma.
Once a teacher, always a teacher
I’m not teaching this year. And I have many different thoughts about that.
But just because I’m not teaching doesn’t mean that I’m not a teacher.
The evidence so far suggests that I’ll have plenty of opportunities to work with students at my new job. But this post is about my former students, the ones who have graduated. It turns out that the years after graduating from high school — particularly if you’re the first in your family to go to college — are important and scary and deserving of support.
That’s where the always-a-teacher thing comes in.
Over the past week, more than 10 of my former students have reached out to me for guidance. Yes, things usually start on text. Here are a few examples:
- One student has found City College too massive and has enrolled at Heald College in a medical assisting program. Now she needs a new letter of recommendation to apply for scholarships to decrease the enormous amount she owes.
- Another student has enrolled at Skyline College but doesn’t have a car to commute from San Francisco. He wanted help on the best way to navigate to the school using public transportation.
- One student finds herself enjoying her prestigious college on the East Coast, but she misses her family, friends, and boyfriend. She needed some kind words.
- Another student is surprised that she already has an essay due next week. “What’s standard college MLA format?” she asks, perhaps thinking that the MLA format we taught her was somehow the “high school” version. “The same one you already know,” I texted back.
- And more: Math help for a placement test (“the test was hard!”), a reference call (“I got the job!”), an FBI clearance (“they’ll come to your house”).
I find these interactions incredibly rewarding and important. After all, the years after high school are critical. Too many students, especially those slogging through two-year colleges while working part- or full-time, get frustrated and give up.
I’m hopeful that my students continue to feel comfortable asking me for help. It’s fun. And it gives me hope that all the work we’ve put in over the past four years has been worth it.