What's your desktop like?

This is my last post in 2014, therefore, I wanted it to be special.

I've always enjoyed having a look at people's desktops, their wallpaper and their most used apps and programs. And why is that? Have you noticed how much our desktop can say about ourselves, what we value and what we are into? I thought of fulfilling this curiosity by inviting several educators I follow to share their desktop with us.

I also asked them to answer some questions:
1. Why did you choose that wallpaper for your computer? Does it have any special meaning to you?
2. How do you organize your desktop?

The screenshots shared below are in the order they were sent to me.


CARLA ARENA http://carlaarena.com

Why did you choose that wallpaper for your computer? Does it have any special meaning to you?

I am not the kind who changes computer wallpapers all the time. I tend to stick with them  for a long time. One thing that is essential for me is that the image has some flat, basic colors so that the folders stand out on the screen. This image has a very special meaning to me as it was one of my greatest gifts and achievements of the year, becoming a Google Certified Teacher in the first Google Teacher Academy ever done in South America. I love the colors and it always brings back cheerful moments with a wonderful group of educators. 

How do you organize your desktop?

I try to keep my desktop totally clean. Sometimes, there are some screenshots around, but I always transfer them to a screenshots folder. 

DIMITRIS PRIMALIS  http://differentefl.blogspot.com.br/

Why did you choose that wallpaper for your computer? Does it have any special meaning to you?

The photo is from Aegina, an island off the coastline of Athens. It is the place I’ve spent all my Greek summers since I was born. I always associate it with beautiful memories and it is a heaven of inspiration and positive energy.

How do you organize your desktop?

At first glance, my desktop seems chaotic. I‘ve got all sorts of files and folders that I’m currently working on. You can find interactive books, documents, photos, drafts of blogposts- the list is endless. Surprisingly, I can find them easily and I can add ideas in texts or presentations when I have a short break. I’m sure that an IT expert would slit his wrists but to me it makes perfect sense.

SHELLY TERRELL http://teacherrebootcamp.com/

As you can see, instead of sharing her laptop screen, Shelly chose to send us her iphone screenshot. You will understand the reason by reading her answers below. 

Why did you choose that wallpaper for your computer? Does it have any special meaning to you?

That's a picture of Rosco when we lived in Germany and I'd get to walk him 2 hours a day in this beautiful forest by my house. He's my little buddy and we've been through so much. He's gotten me through living in 2 different countries, deaths of family and 2 really great friends, being married then divorced and now publishing a book. That's what my wallpaper means.

Everyday, I work on my desktop with presentations and blog posts and I research and do social media with my iPhone by my side or listen to podcasts, so I often work with both simultaneously to be able to do all the things I do.

ROSELI SERRA   http://roseliserra.blogspot.com.br

Why did you choose that wallpaper for your computer? Does it have any special meaning to you?

This photo is in Cabo de Santo Agostinho, in Pernambuco. It was taken by my husband. It has a special meaning to me because it's a place we go every summer. It's very high and has a wonderful view from there. The sunset is amazing. In this area there's a very small catholic church and we love listening to the bells from there when sitting and looking at the sea. There's also a lighthouse that reminds me of my childhood when my dad first took me to visit this place.

How do you organize your desktop?

The organization of my desktop has mostly to do with icons I access most as well as some folders we are working with. I have backups of these folders, of course and when the whole job is done , I remove these folders form the desktop not to have it too crowded with images. Also I love the tool bar at the bottom which is very hands on.

KIERAN DONAGHY   http://film-english.com/

Why did you choose that wallpaper for your computer? Does it have any special meaning to you?

I chose this photo as it's of my daughter, Rosa and Aina who are the most important people in my life. The photo was taken last Christmas and every time I look at the photo it reminds me how lucky I am to have two such beautiful and kind children.

How do you organize your desktop?

I have direct access links to the most common tools I use such as a video editor and downloader tool, and also to the projects I'm working on at the moment so I've links to the folder where I keep my lesson plans for my website Film English, a direct link to the manuscript for the book I'm currently finishing Film in Action which will be published next April, and a direct access link to the manuscript of another book I'm writing which is called How to Write Activities for Video and Film. I also have a direct access to Spotify as I always listen to music when I'm working.

VINÍCIUS LEMOS @viniciuslemos http://mthatlearning.blogspot.com.br/

Why did you choose that wallpaper for your computer? Does it have any special meaning to you?

I chose that wallpaper because I absolutely love sunsets. This image means a lot to me because I took it myself on a very special trip to the Great Barrier Reef, in Australia

How do you organize your desktop?

My desktop never looks neat. I need to learn how to organize it!

GRAHAM STANLEY   http://blog-efl.blogspot.com 

Why did you choose that wallpaper for your computer? Does it have any special meaning to you?

The wallpaper is a set of revolving sunset images...just something nice to look from time to time.

How do you organize your desktop?

My desktop is clean and functional as this is my desktop at work - the clocks show the time in the places where we have remote teaching going on from (Uruguay, Argentina, Philippines, UK)

ARJANA BLAZIC http://twitter.com/abfromz

Why did you choose that wallpaper for your computer? Does it have any special meaning to you?

Right now I have a photo of Dubrovnik, a city in southern Croatia on my desktop. This photo was taken by my husband during our last year's holiday. I have it on my desktop because it reminds me of the wonderful time we spent there. Another reason is that this photo makes me less homesick while I'm in the US on a ten-month fellowship.

How do you organize your desktop?

I like my desktop to be neat and tidy. The documents that I put there are usually those that I need to work on, so this is some kind of a reminder for me. I keep all the tools that I use most frequently on the dock. Sometimes the dock is a bit cluttered as I tend to work on a number of different documents at the same time.

NIK PEACHEY   https://twitter.com/nikpeachey

Why did you choose that wallpaper for your computer? Does it have any special meaning to you?

I love this tree. It was in the village where I used to live and it looked different every day. I used it to replace picture of my wife and daughter. I had to change it to something less personal as i was using my laptop to present at conferences.

How do you organize your desktop?

My desk top is a random mess of quickly created images, half written articles and whatever else. No sense of organisation, but I know what's there and where it is.

ANA MARIA MENEZES   yes, that's me :)

Why did you choose that wallpaper for your computer? Does it have any special meaning to you?

The image I have on my desktop was created by Jenny Highsmith from Maiedae, home of the artists who helped me with my blog template. I fell in love with this free image and its message which daily reminds me to design for myself the kind of life I love. 

How do you organize your desktop?
I like my desktop clean, but whenever I'm taking lots of screenshots it becomes clustered with images which I delete later on. Whatever I often use can be easily reached at the bottom dock.

I'd like to thank all the teachers who contributed to this post and kindly shared something so intimate as their own personal screens with us.

I wish everyone a FANTASTIC 2015. May all of us be able to design a life we love!

10 Google Chrome Extensions I love

Have you noticed how much our desktop and browsers can say about our internet surfing habits? Whenever someone shares their screen with me, I love paying attention to websites people save to their browser bar and the little extensions they use the most.

Today, I'd like to share a few of the Google Chrome extensions which save a lot of my time. But before describing these extensions, I bring a definition found at http://howtogeek.com

WHAT ARE EXTENSIONS?

"Browser extensions extend your web browser with additional features, modify web pages, and integrate your browser with the other services you use."

In simpler words, I'd say extensions are little icons you download to your browser which allow you to do different things without leaving the page where you are (like shortcuts).

As you can see below, this is what my Google Chrome page looks like right now:

And these are my favourite extensions:

1. SHORTENING LINKS:

http://goo.gl/GdopGi This URL Shortener is very practical. Instead of copying long URLs, when you are surfing a page you want to share, click on the icon and the extension shortens and copies it to the clipboard. All you have to do is paste it on a document. You can also create a QR code of the same URL using the extension. It's great for creating short links of presentations and websites you wish to share.

  2. BOOKMARKING:

http://goo.gl/W7oXEa Having this Pinterest button to my browser makes bookmarking extremely easy. Whenever I want to add an interesting website to one of my Pinterest boards, I click on the icon, choose the board and save it.

 3. EDITING IMAGES:

http://goo.gl/fa8wPg Imagine you're exploring a website (even Google images) and would like to edit an image you've found. There's no need to save the image and then go to a photo editor. Right from the website, click the PicMonkey extension and it pulls all the images into a box for you. Then, you select the image you'd like to edit and the PicMonkey editor opens it for you.

4. PRINTING WEBPAGES:  

http://goo.gl/m2ZOD5 Have you ever tried to print a webpage and wasted a lot of paper because of strange formatting? Print Friendly turns any webpage into a "friendly" PDF format which can be printed or emailed. It also offers you the option to delete all images and print only the text.

5. ORGANIZING TABS:

http://goo.gl/PXk5Rs When you're working on the web, do you often find yourself with too many tabs open? OneTab has made my computer work much more organized. If I'm working on an article or a blog post and have very important links opened, as I don't want to risk losing them if my computer shuts down unexpectedly I click the OneTab icon to save my session. Another practical usage is to organize into one single URL several links you would like to share after a presentation, for example. A friend of mine has been using OneTab to organize her computer sessions. For instance: she has saved groups of links she usually needs when she's doing an online course or when working at her school. Then, when she opens her computer to study for her course, instead of opening each individual tab, she clicks on a OneTab she has saved, selects RESTORE ALL and has all the resources she needs. I have also used it to share a group of links of resources (by clicking SHARE AS WEB PAGE) which could help my students study for a test. Apart from aggregating several links into one URL, the extension generates a QR code which can be given to students in order to have access to the links.

6. ANNOTATING SCREENSHOTS:

http://goo.gl/5MmePP With several online possibilities of taking screenshots, this is by and far my favourite because of how simple and practical it is. If you need to make image tutorials, take a screenshot to add to a blog post or even blur students faces on a photo, click the icon and select the kind of annotations you want to make. Finally, save it and use the image.

7. CREATING A READ LATER POCKET:

http://goo.gl/tj2DYr Whether I'm using my laptop or my cell phone, everything I find online which I believe is worth a further exploration goes to my "read later pocket" with one single click. First, I save and tag the website and later, when I have time I go to their website to explore the links. I know there are several great apps and extensions similar to Pocket for bookmarking, however, I advise you to give the mobile app a try, it's SUPER!

This is what I have in my pocket right now.

8. FOCUSSING ON TASKS:

http://goo.gl/RRRJHJ Keeping our focus while using the computer is a challenge lived by many of us. I often turn on my computer in order to do something and I end up wasting precious time going from one site to another without accomplishing my initial intention. Do you relate to that? Well, if so, install this extension today. It works like this: every time you open a new tab, Dayboard comes up asking you to write down the 5 most important things you need to do today. The focussing help is that if you go astray and open a new tab, your list will appear to you again and again. Then, as soon as you get that done, you can tick it. The sense of achievement is priceless and you finally get things done.

9. MANAGING YOUR TIME: 
http://goo.gl/1in7iC This extension is an eye-opener to all of us who spend many hours online. It tracks where you spend most of your time. If your minutes are wasting away and you'd like to know where, this is a good extension to have.

This is what my stats says about today:

10. ZOOMING IMAGES: 
http://goo.gl/XDBdy9 You will probably laugh, but my 40ish eyes thank this extension everyday. With the simple hovering of my mouse over an image it becomes enlarged and I don't even need to click to enlarge it. It's great when you're searching for specific images.

And you, do you have favourite extensions which are real time-savers?

Keeping things in your pocket

When you are surfing the web and you come across a really cool website, but it's not the right time to explore it, WHAT DO YOU DO?

 

This post has the objective to share a super simple way of organizing these links you wish to explore SOME DAY ...

POCKET is a Google Chrome extension and an app which can be downloaded to your smartphone. It allows you to save any link you want to view later and automatically syncs to your other devices.

How does it work? You download the extension to your Google Chrome browser and you will be asked if you want it to be synched to your other devices. The icon will appear at the top of your browser, then, every time you want to bookmark something to read later, click on the icon and the following box will appear, asking you to add tags to the saved page.

Later that week, when you find the time to go over your selections, go to the POCKET site http://getpocket.com/ to see what to explore. I've added POCKET to my bookmarks bar to make it easier for me to have access to these links.

If you're surfing the web using your cell phone, once you've got the POCKET APP  installed, every time you find an interesting website to view later, click SHARE and select ADD TO POCKET. As simple as that! So, imagine yourself waiting for a doctor appointment with nothing to do, it would be a perfect time to check out those websites you never find the time to try out. Click the POCKET icon on your cell phone and the websites will appear for you.

Why did I like this extension? Well, it's simple and I like the visual way the websites are organized. I also think having it on my Bookmarks Bar will help me remember I have interesting things saved in "my pocket" to explore.