Google in the classroom

Our district has used Google for a few years, but this training is teaching me so much already.  I keep taking screen shots and organizing the ideas in a file for this class.  It will be so nice to have this resource at my fingertips.  Most of my training has been someone telling me step by step what to do, but then I have no memory of how I did something.

In my classroom, I plan on using the labels to help organize all of the emails. I like that I can label them several ways.  I also plan to create a contact list of my student's parents. I can send notes and pictures often and have one more way to make connections.   I love my new signature and feel it adds credibility and a professional touch to my emails.  We already use the Google calendar in our building for both staff and families.  I have not been very good at communicating this feature to parents and next year, this will be a part of my home visits.

I agree that using google in the classroom can really help organize, save time, and enable more efficient communication to happen between students, parents, and teachers.  
I like the ability to use the translation feature for parents who do not speak English.  
Using classroom groups should help with reminders during the year also.  Helping the students become more organized and responsible for their learning.