Healigan loses her heart......

     Well, it has been a week since I  got my iPhone. I will admit that I was anxious to get a phone with internet access--my feeling that my own children would communicate more often with me has proven true. I know, we texted before, but now I am getting pics and I am in their loop--just another person on the list every day. Yes!
     But... I find myself struggling to leave it in my desk, instead of checking that quote or looking up the word I need.  I teach at a cellphone-free school, for better or worse, and though as a teacher, I am not restricted in my cellphone use, I have always tried  to respect the students by avoiding my phone throughout the day. Whether or not I agree with the policy has been irrelevant. Not so anymore.
     First, I did not understand the strength of the addiction that they must feel all day long every day when they cannot answer texts or check facebook. After the first hour, I found myself thinking of the phone as "she." After one day, I wanted to name it. And I love the way it feels in my hand; it is beautiful, like the Movado watch in the MoMA. Third, there are changes in the way I work already. Using my StickyNotes app to assess student  iMovie presentations Monday night, I found my iPhone notes to be succinct and more meaningful than the notes I made on my MacBook after the phone battery died.  It forced me to get it done, and working did not feel like working. The more informal work pattern--in my hand instead of sitting with a flat surface for the laptop--was great.
    So today, after six days in AppleLand, I went to Tech and demanded that they load Words with Friends on the 10 iTouches the school owns so my seniors can play on their last day of classes (next Monday). The problem? They have to set up a network to work it out--and I'm impatient because I do not have to wait for ANYTHING with Mr. Job's little toy. I am not usually demanding and petulant, but I suddenly realized that I was being rude and impatient. I am not sure how I feel about myself with an iPhone......more to come later. I am stopping now to go read American Gods on my Kindle for iPhone.