Hello People out there in Cyberspace,

Have you ever got to a point in the academic year where you just wanted to pull out your hair because there just wasn't enough time to do it all?  Well, have I got the stuff for you.

This week's blog is all about the tools that can save you time!

The first tool I'd like to share is the Google calendar.  This is just another one of the wonderful apps that is produced by Google, that you get for free with your account.  The google calendar is super easy to use and the great thing about it is that you can create lots of different calendars.  For example, you could have one for each class you teach, one for your team or school meetings, and a personal calendar to keep it all in line.  With google calendar you can easily copy events to different calendars, and adjust the dates of events.  One thing that I didn't find so awesome about the calendar is that it's hard to color code the days, which really wouldn't matter unless you are block scheduled like me.

Check out this video for more info on Google Calendar

Another great tool that was designed just for teachers is planbook.com.  With this tool you can also create calendars but it's more geared toward making lesson plans.  You can set up the schedule to match your own; as well as create lessons, and move them between classes and days.  The drawback to this great site is that it costs money.  You can start with a free membership; then the year long is something low like $12.  There is also a deal that if you get lots of other teachers in your building to use it, there are group discounts.

Back on the google wagon... Another fun app of google drive is the Google Drawings.  I crated a flyer with it but it could be used for anything.  An idea I had was to have my students draw a crime scene with it (forensic science teacher, remember).  The tools are fairly easy to use but just like paint in on your computer, it's still limited.  My favorite drawing app will be Microsoft Publisher (until Google comes out with something better).

Two more fun tools and we're done for the week.  I stumbled across a great random name generator as well as a stopwatch app.  The random name generator is super duper easy; you just paste your names in from a word or spreadsheet and go.  http://tinyurl.com/3vvnqco
The stopwatch app is awesome too because it includes a countdown timer.  I use this all the time and show my students the countdown to help them with time management. http://www.online-stopwatch.com/

Well Ladies and Gents... Thats all folks!

See you next week