New from Google: Google Spaces

Google launched a new product recently called "Google Spaces." It is an attempt from Google to keep working their way into the Social Media game. Google Spaces is essentially a "space" that you and your friends/colleagues/students can use to share links, photos and discussions. It looks similar to Google Classroom's "Stream" but it doesn't have all the features like assignments, questions, etc. What you can do with Google Spaces you can do in Google Classroom, so why use Google Spaces? I think that it could definitely serve a purpose and be used in conjunction with Classroom. Google Spaces could be used to keep your official "Classroom" work separate from the more informal sharing you could do with Google Spaces. Google Spaces is very basic, eliminating confusion about how to use it. With the Chrome extension, if you come across a great website that you want to share, you can easily use the extension to share it to your Space. You could also do this with Classroom but the more websites you find/share, the more bogged down the Classroom stream would get, thus potentially burying important announcements and assignments.  I think Spaces would be a great tool for your and your students to use to find links and discuss their validity, discuss information, talk about how the site/tool could be used, brainstorm ideas, etc. You could post images and have a discussion about meaning and insight. 
Check it out! Picture tutorial below. 

Google Keep

What do you notice about all three pictures below? Well, let me tell you. In each picture, you will see the Google Keep logo. If you haven't already been using Google Keep, I strongly encourage you to check it out. It is a dream for staying organized and being able to work across devices. In my life, I use 4 devices: An iMac, two laptops, and my iPhone. Each serves a purpose so I spend my time going between devices. Google Keep allows me to keep track of ideas, questions, tasks, to-do lists, etc all without having to write them down or email them to myself. I have installed Google Keep on all my devices, so for example, lets say I am driving in my truck and think of an idea. Instead of having to write it down or just try to remember for when I get home, I can quickly take out my iPhone (after pulling over of course) and open the Google Keep app and write down my idea. Then, when I get home and get to my iMac or laptop, the idea is already there waiting for me to explore further. Below you can see Google Keep on all devices. The top picture is my Windows laptop, which I have pinned Google Keep to the task bar. The second picture is my Mac, which also has the Google Keep app pinned to the desktop. Third, is my iPhone, which you can easily see the Google Keep app there as well. Use your Google account to log in and help keep track of all your wondrous thoughts a lot more efficiently!  Find Google Keep in the Chrome web store and the Apple iTunes app store. It's free! 

Unlimited Legos, for FREE!

Screenshot of Build with Chrome

One of the best things we can say to a student is, "Go build something." This allows them to get creative, get hands-on, and get thinking. The problem is, building something takes materials and with so many students, it's tough to get the supplies we need due to cost. Fortunately, there is this awesome thing called "Google" and they love education and work hard to provide things that help our students learn. Google has a product called "Build with Chrome" which gives your students an unlimited amount of legos that they can use to go build whatever they want! It's free and it's just waiting to be used. Visit the link below. Click "start building" and play around with the tool. You can switch pieces, colors, zoom in, zoom out, pan around, etc. Students can save/publish their work if they sign in with google, or they can just take a screen shot of their product if you do not want them to sign in. 
Application for Education: Have students build something just for fun. Have students build something that relates to what they are learning about: a building in ancient Rome, a scene from a story, a result of a science experiment, an explanation of a math concept. Have students build something, take a screenshot, then add text to give explanation/caption to their project. If you allow your students to log in, they can choose a "plot" on the map of the US and build. This capability gives the students the opportunity to build with each other and make massive building plots. Don't underestimate what students can do and build with legos!  Use Build with Chrome and let the creativity flow! 

Build with Chrome

Save that Tab! (Google Chrome)

NOOOOO!!! I needed that tab! But I accidentally closed it because I have too many tabs and the area to select a tab is so small that I accidentally hit the 'x'!!! I don't know about you, but I tend to have a ton of tabs open when working in Chrome. When this happens, it is extremely likely that I accidentally hit the 'x' instead of the tab itself. This could be very bad! You may really need that tab and not remember how to get to the site you were on! Well, rest easy, my friend because Google has a solution to this problem. In the event you close a tab by accident, simply hit Ctrl + shift + T (though you don't need caps) and it will reopen the tab, along with browsing history so you can still go "back" if you need to. Handy tip, huh??

Ctrl + Shift + T (windows)

Command + Shift + T (Mac)