I've actually been a big fan of Google tools for a while now. Since my husband deployed to Afghanistan I tried to nip the new-searching compulsion in the bud by setting up Google News Alerts for his base and the province in Afghanistan where he is located so I don't drive myself crazy by searching for news stories every day. It has been a fantastic experience so far and has really been one of the most helpful internet tools I've ever used. If there's news, I get an email; if there's no news, no email. Simple as that. I don't obsess over cnn.com or Drudgereport because I know that trusty old Google will let me know if anything is going on. I think that I will definitely continue to use this tool as I begin teaching. As a social studies teacher I can set alerts for items containing keywords that relate to what my students and I are covering. This would be a great tool for my students to use as well since I fully intend to give pop current events quizzes :)
I have had a post-it note next to my laptop (or rather, where my laptop sits on my coffee table) for weeks now to set up my Google calendar and this was the perfect excuse to finally do it! I have a dry erase calendar in my kitchen that I religiously update but it doesn't really lend itself to quick editing, updating, or including any real detail. I have a lot to keep track of and I have been needing this Google calendar tremendously. I set it up and added my class meeting dates, important due dates, puppy vet appointments, days when I need to pay bills, days when I need to mail my husband's care packages, and weekends when I'm expecting visitors. I also added the weekends when my Bunco group meets, impotant milestones for my 1/2 marathon training, and all sorts of other random things like each married monthaversary for my husband and I and how many months into our deployment we are. So cool! I already feel calmer and more in control just by having set up my calendar. I think that's really the mark of a great web tool. When something has a discernable effect on your life it's really worthwhile. I absolutely will keep up with my calendar througout grad school and certainly into my teaching career. I remember when I was in high school they gave us notebook planners that we were supposed to write all of our homework assignments and such in but I usually used mine for doodling and counting down the days until winter/spring/summer break. I think my future high school students would be all about keeping track of the important school and non-school events in their life with an online calendar that is easily accessible no matter where they are.
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I really like the idea of using this tool for students to keep track of assignments. I have witnessed the agenda dilemma in the classroom just this past week when I was out observing in the schools. The teacher asked the students to pull out their agendas to write something into it and at least half of the students did not have their agenda with them. Of course using an online tool like this would depend upon the schools having the computers needed for it, and in the school I was observing at there was only two very out of date computers in the classroom.
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