Thing #12: Google It!

I LOVE Google Calender! I have one set up for my classes, one for each of my jobs, one for when I'm "supposed to" go to the gym, one for other appointments... it lets you set each one as a different color so it's like a rainbow of activities :) I actually get excited when I make plans because I get to add it to my Google Calendar! Wow, just realized how sad that sounds. One of the other features I like is that you can share your calendar with other people. I sent my school and work calendars for my mom to see so she'll know when I'm busy and not call me then (I don't think she bothers looking at them though). As a teacher, you could make a class calendar, with activities, meetings, field trips, that are planned and either invite parents to view it, or make it public. It would be a great way to keep parents informed. You could also make one with your cirriculum plans and share it with the other teachers in your grade. One of the settings when you share your calendar allows you to collaborate on a calendar together.

I tried using Google Notebook; it sounded like something that would be really useful to me. I'm constantly opening a million browser screens when I research something, and then don't want to close them and lose the information. Google Notebook would be a great way to keep all that organized. Unfortunately, when I tried to start one, I got a message saying "Google recently stopped development on Notebook, which means it is no longer being improved upon or open to sign-ups by new users." Sadface.

Google Alerts didn't appeal to me because I couldn't think of something I wanted to be alerted about, although it could be very useful in the classroom when students are doing a project on current events.

I didn't think Picasa would interest me, because I already have a Flickr account and never use it. But I liked the way it's organized, and noticed that Google Translator automatically translates comments people leave in other languages, which I think is an awesome feature.

I ended up making an iGoogle page. Google's "classic" website has been my homepage for years. iGoogle lets me organize a bunch of cool stuff with the Google Search - and I can pick whatever stuff I want. So far, I have a thing that tells me the weather, my Google Calender, a ToDo list, my horoscope, a How To of the Day, CNN.com headlines, and a virtual pet turtle.