Thing #12

     I looooove Google Apps!  They are always so easy to use and so applicable to everyday life and education.  I chose iGoogle Homepage and Google Calendar as my 2 apps to explore further.  Setting both of these apps up was really simple to do.

• iGoogle Homepage--I have one of these on for my Gmail account.  I first set one up when they first came out with the idea.  I had long forgotten about it when I got this assignment, so I decided to take the opportunity to see how it had improved in the past few years.  Whoa, has it changed.  There were hundreds and hundreds of themes to choose from.  I chose a theme called Dynamic Dots.  It is multicolored polka dots.  I chose this theme because it was more professional than some of the others I liked (i.e. Princess Peach, Crayola Crayons, etc.).  Then I spent over an hour deciding what gadgets to add.  I finally decided on eleven.  Some of them are for practical purposes and some of them are for entertainment sake.
• My 11 iGoogle Gadgets

1. Weather
2. Date & Time
3. Facebook
4. Countdown
5. Fox News
6. Sports Illustrated
7. Pandora
8. Gmail
9. To Do List
10. PDF Converter
11. Red and Rover Comic

     Three of my favorite gadgets to have on my iGoogle page are Facebook, Pandora, and Gmail.  I use each of these daily.  I also added Sports Illustrated and Fox News so I can get news updates quickly.  I added Date & Time, Weather, Countdown, and To Do List to help keep me organized.  PDF Converter is something I need from time to time when sending or receivng documents.  And I added Red and Rover because it is my favorite comic strip.
 
     I can definitely see the benefits of using this in the classroom.  It would make my morning routine quick and efficient with all of my tools right at my hand.  Also, if sharing these iGoogle pages is possible, than I can share it with colleagues, parents, and even students.  They would be able to have these tools easily too.

Here is a picture of my iGoogle page (since I couldn't make it public).

• I also chose Google Calendar to learn more about.  I set up a Google Calendar and placed three important dates on it.  I added mid-terms (which are this week )and fall break (which is next week--YAY!!!). 
  This tool is also easy to use and would be greatly beneficial around the school.  The calendar can be made public so departments, grade levels, or even the entire school could access all of the important dates of the school in one location.  Also, my students would be able to easily see when assignments were due and tests were scheduled. 

Click here to see my sample Google Calendar:  Austin Google Calendar