Thing #7: Cool Google Tools

I didn’t realize that Google had so many “Cool Google Tools”.
Google Alerts: I set up Alerts for NASCAR, Patricia Cornwell, Sue Grafton, Alagaesia, HBO’s Dexter, and Stephenie Meyer. I’m sure I’ll think of some more to add.
Google Calendar: I put all of the important dates from SBISD’s calendar on mine in addition to student birthdays and NASCAR’s schedule. I plan to add grading period information, progress and report card dates and I’m sure much, much more. Students can use this as a planner to keep up with assignments and test dates.
iGoogle: Love it!!! I couldn’t find a bird theme so I used butterflies. Now I can see the weather, memorable quotes, things to ponder, National Geographic picture of the day, dictionary, facts, my favorite computer game “Bejeweled”, and much more.
Google Notebook: This looks really interesting and useful, but I can’t install the Google toolbar through the browser extension to search for items to download to the notebook. It says I must have administrator privileges. I think I need to call GEEK because I can’t install anything on this new laptop. Students can use this to save and organize their internet research.
Picasa Web Albums: I already have Picasa, but it’s not set to where anyone else can view it yet. I’ve been using this for pictures for about a year.
Google Scholar: I think I could play with this cool tool for hours and of course it would be useful for students.
Google Advanced Search: I now know that I can search for specific formats, like PowerPoints!
Google Earth: Wow! I’ve never used Google Earth. Very cool! I was trying to download it onto my laptop and didn’t realize that it was already on it.