Thing #16 - Organization

First of all, Dr. Wall, the links you inserted at beginning of this assignment were a dirty trick! You got me distracted for a good half hour before I remembered what I was supposed to be doing!!

Call me sheltered, but I was surprised to realize there are other websites out there that can provide me the same services my beloved Google can. I really liked NetVibes, so i created an account even though I already have an iGoogle start page. After playing around with it though, I'll probably stick with my iGoogle page. It would be more counter-productive to create another home page just because I think the interface is nice. Besides, although I like the idea of a start page, I still end up going to the individual sites whose links are supposed to "save me time".

I also already have a Google Calendar (as I mentioned in a Thing #13), so I added Remember the Milk to it. I'm an avid list maker, so this tool automatically appealed to me. I haven't determined yet whether it'll actually be helpful or not. I like my calendar because it helps me keep track of what I'm supposed to be doing throughout the day (obviously). I like having it online rather than carrying around a planner because I can access it from anywhere I have internet access. Furthermore, since it's on a computer instead of written down, it's a lot easier to rearrange things. I love that I can make different colors for different subjects (I'm a very visual person).

After completing my observations in Kindergarten, I could see Google Calendar being very beneficial in the classroom. I don't think I really understood how organized you have to be when teaching at that level until I experienced it - a color-coded online calendar that I could share with parents and colleagues would be a huge help. I would recommend it to anyone!