Give Me Five...

I am thinking that pretty much everyone has those days when they walk from one room to the next and can't remember why they did.  Too much to do, information overload, constant distractions, it all contributes to moments I have labeled with my students as "brain freeze".  On October 21, 2008 Sid Yadav established an answer to that specific problem with the creation of Memiary.

On the home page Memiary proclaims: 

Record up to five memories of your day and make them memorable forever. 
Memiary is the weightless pocket diary.

To begin type in an email address or username in the text box provided.  At the next screen enter in a password of your choice in the new text box, clicking on done when finished.  Congratulations at signing up appear on the third screen asking you to proceed.  The big font style set in the center of the large area of white space makes it simple to follow each of the directions.

At the top of the next page users can record messages for today as well as the three previous dates.  Changing account settings is a click away.  Browsing can be done by time frame, date, tags (keywords) or at random.  Beneath this is the recording space for listing five things you did on that date.

When an entry is completed click the green check mark.  Entries can be edited and deleted.  If you wish to generate tags place the #hashtag sign in front of a word or words making them searchable.  When all five are completed go to the top and click the record button for the current date.  Please note users can also list five items under the heading What will you do tomorrow?, by selecting the last day on the weekly + one tool bar. 

Beneath the list of five, users can search their pages by week, month, year or all time.  Another type of search can be conducted by entering in a keyword or words into an adjoining box.  When that word or words are found, the next screen will highlight in yellow the entry in which they appear.

When you want to check or modify your email address, set reminders, integrate your account with Twitter, import data, or embed a widget (making your memories public) on a website or blog go to the settings.

In your archives are two small icons near the search bar.  The first represents the ability to import your memories in iCal format to either iCal, Outlook or Google Calendar.  An RSS feed can be created using the second icon.

For educators this free application became even better a little more than two years ago.  With the financial and conceptual support of Mark Warner (UK) of Teaching Ideas the original site was modified with the classroom setting in mind.  Memiary for Education was born. 

On your first visit to the educational version you can log in using your original account information or create a new account.  If you are logging in as a student you will be asked to enter in your teacher's code, if you desire or if it is required as an assignment.  If you are logging in as a teacher you will need to convert your account from a student account to an educator's account. (When first logging in all are considered students.)  When you click on that option you are given a teacher code.

To set up your students' account information click on the settings word at the bottom of the fifth entry.  At this point you can alter and setup:  email address, password, import or export information or embed a widget.  Once your account is converted you can easily monitor your students' written responses.  The questions seen by your students can be either:  What did you learn today? What did you learn on this day? or What will you learn tomorrow? 

If you choose, your memories from your original account can be transferred to your educational account.  Some additional searching revealed that there is a Memiary app available for iPhone and Android users. 
What I do know is, the ease of use will make this advantageous in the classroom; checking for understanding with each individual student.  Whatever the subject area, students will be writing each class period.  This would be a great way for students to give specific reasons for a book recommendation to others.

I really like the idea of thinking of five distinct events, items, in a given day personally and professionally.  Memiary, while not new in the web 2.0 field, is new to me and I really like it.