I have had another important use of my Apple Watch this week as we returned back to school.
Notifications (text message and e-mail) have become more important now that I am teaching, and a quick glance to my wrist quickly lets me know if I need to respond to something. Being married and having kids, you are always a little worried about mid-day text messages from your wife, especially those that say, “Can you call me?”
The surprise Apple Watch feature this week has been a combination of Siri and Alarms. Yes, alarms.
Our Middle School has no bells (other than start of the day and end of the day). We have different schedules all the time. So what I have done is this: at the end of one class, I raise my wrist, say, “Hey Siri, set an Alarm for 10:15” (or whatever the ending time of the next class is).
At 10:15, my watch dings, but more importantly, taps my wrist, and I know that I need to dismiss students.
I would have never done this on the iPad or the iPhone…it was just too cumbersome to haul out and to set alarms (although you could use Siri there, too). But this is a case where the watch really wins and has helped me in my job. There is a peace of mind not having to look at your watch OR watch a clock on the wall–something I have never experienced in my 20 years of teaching.
What an elegant and useful solution.
On an unrelated note, I end up taking nearly 6000 steps at school each day, not even trying to do so!
Technology in Music Education 