My New Favorite App

So a few weeks ago we attended two days of iPad training.  One of the apps our presenter shared with us was Spashtop HD.

You can find it at the App Store for about $4.99 but it's totally worth it!  See, my Smart Board is mounted at the front of my classroom but my laptop has to be at the back of my classroom because that's where all the wires and cords are and therefore my laptop has too be connected to use the Smart Board at the back of the room.  You're probably thinking duh, Jenn...I get it!  But here's the glitch...see when our district became a Mac school (Thank God!), there were some MAJOR glitches with our Macs and the Smart Board software.  Our amazing tech department worked to get through it all but it was a huge headache at the beginning.  Now it only happens on occasion but whenever it does, I have to stop what I'm doing, go back to my corner of the room and fix it on my laptop which leaves my 24 angels alone on the carpet.  (You know what that can turn into!)

Splashtop HD allows me to keep my iPad handy so that I can remotely connect to my laptop and interact with my desktop so I can fix those Smart Board issues without leaving my group of sweet friends.  Which means I can also go between programs too!  LOVE IT!  As long as I'm on the district's server, I can interact with my desktop.  I can even be in a different part of the building and still control what my kiddos are seeing.  I'm already planning an April Fool's joke for next year...I don't even know if we're in school that day...but there's so many possibilities to have a little fun with my kiddos.  Ha! Ha!

The only thing I haven't figured out yet is how to keep my music playing through my speakers that are attached to my laptop.  When I open Splashtop HD, my music stops playing from my laptop and plays from my iPad.  I'd like my music to continue playing from my laptop so that it can be amplified from my speakers.  Maybe it's a setting I haven't found yet, so I'll keep exploring.

Well I have a very overwhelming pile of school stuff waiting for me in the other room so I think I need to get moving...

Thought I'd give you a picture so if you're feeling overwhelmed by your pile this weekend you can say, "Gee, at least my pile doesn't look like Jenn's!"  :)  Hoping to have time to start filling my Teachers Pay Teachers Cart for tomorrow too!  Big Sale, Big Sale!  Better get the credit card out of the freezer!  :)

And one more thing...how does one decide??  Mint Juleps or Margarita's?  

Happy Derby Day and Cinco de Mayo to everyone!  How often does this happen!?!  And a Super Moon too?  Holy Cow!  What a day!

Take care!