Using Gmail in the Classroom by Melissa Miller

I was an elementary classroom teacher for 12 years. Currently I am a small business owner and I substitute teach in my spare time.

I like how Gmail allows school districts to "brand" their emails with school colors and logo. Labeling and archiving emails is a great feature. The ability to label emails by student or topic and then archive them is a quick and efficient way to A. clear out your inbox and B. group like emails together for faster searches. Creating groups with your contacts is a quick way to email parents monthly updates, email the class about important deadlines or reminders, or email a specific group, like PTO parents or Specials teachers. The Task feature is a great way to keep all your to-dos at your fingertips.

Having a gmail account would be extremely beneficial to students. Not only can they easily stay in contact with their teachers, but they can email other students during group projects, have pen pals, create their own tasks with due dates, and chat in real time.

All the extra features in the Labs section look helpful, however I do not have a Labs tab in my Settings for my personal Gmail.