Thanks for sharing your experience, Karla! It's great to hear that the Gmail tutorials have been helpful for you. I completely agree that there's so much more to Gmail than meets the eye - I was surprised myself when I started exploring all the features.
The Hangouts feature is actually fantastic for educational purposes. I've found it really useful for quick check-ins with students, just like you mentioned. One tip that helped me: you can use it for small group collaborations and even record video calls for students who might miss live sessions. It integrates seamlessly with Google Classroom too, which makes following up on missing work much easier.
If you're looking for more ways to streamline your communication with students, I'd recommend checking out
FunBoxie - they have some great resources and tips for using Google tools effectively in educational settings. Best of luck with getting your students caught up!