gmail in the classroom

As a third grade teacher, the primary use I have for gmail is communicating with other teachers and staff in our building.  I did a Flat Stanley assignment where we mailed Flat Stanley to various places in the US and around the world.  The recipients were to send Flat Stanley back with a journal of his adventures and pictures.  I also included my school email address and about half of them sent back photos and brief descriptions of Flat Stanley's adventures that way.  I was able to connect to my projector and show the class the photos.  That was a nice way to save some postage and for the students to see photos of where their Flat Stanley had gone.