Gmail

My students are provided a gmail account when they enter as a freshmen. I would like to encourage my freshmen to use 'tasks' to both encourage them to stay organized and have a 'plan' but also to encourage them to check their school email more frequently. It is a main source of communication for teachers to get in touch with students but they often don't check it. Getting them in the habit of putting task lists in email would be a great start.

I agree with you that getting students to utilize there email accounts is half the battle and because each student has their own gmail we as teachers need to hold them accountable for using it.  With that being said we also need to spend time teaching and modeling how to use this awesome resource appropriately.  I also agree that students could greatly benefit from the tasks option.  Many of my middle school students struggle using their planners but they are much more technologically savvy so I believe they would benefit more from the digital version, especially if they can get reminders on their phones because they are constantly on them!!!