Google Earth for Educators

My 5th grade students have become restless to try something new, so I have unleashed them on Google Earth. Within just a couple of weeks they have become pros at recording tours, using the flight simulators, and speaking to aliens on Mars (yes there really is an Instant messenger where students can interact with an alien).

In an effort to keep them engaged in this program for a while longer, I checked out Google Earth for Educators. It has lesson plans, ideas, tutorials and tips, a student showcase, a forum to talk to other teachers about using the program in class. 

Communicating with Parents, going the extra mile

I recently had a conversation with someone at school who was having to translate a student's report card, word  for word into Spanish by hand. This tedious process continues, she argued, because many of the translation programs out there are inaccurate.

Google Translate on the other hand has definitely impressed me. Granted, I only know Spanish, but I can vouch for most of it! ;-) I have another friend who can vouch for the French translation.

If you have students whose parents don't speak English, consider translating important announcements and information for them and ease communication!

Google Drive...

Is your space getting low on Dropbox? Google has just launched Google Drive, which is very similar to Dropbox.

You get 5GB free when you start, and you can:

• Create, collaborate and share documents
• Sync files from you computer(s) (ideally from work to home so you don't worry about losing flash drives)
• Access your files on the go with the mobile app.

Doodle 4 Google 2012 is Open For Submissions!