Gmail in the Classroom

I think Gmail could have a lot of great uses in the classroom.  I think allowing upper elementary students to email their parents weekly to let them know about school projects, or any unprepared or behavior "marks".  To also have them tell parents about something from the week they enjoyed doing would be beneficial.  I think this would be great writing practice and it would also keep open communication with the parents.  (Each student would include teacher's gmail address, as well)

I also love the idea of turning on the translate feature in Gmail labs and letting students learn from pen pals in another country.  What a cool idea!

Teacher email list of parents in the class would be helpful to send out assignment, test, party, and early out reminders.  This would be a great way to keep everyone in the loop.

Another idea I came up with would be to email an author using gmail.  Students could research their favorite authors and come up with questions to ask them.  They could then practice writing a friendly letter through gmail.