iGoogle

I love this new iGoogle thing. I have visited my site several times this week. There are many useful things for the classroom in iGoogle applications.
One being the calender application. Students can add a calender to their page. Here they can add important dates. No more I forgot we had a test today!! You can also add multiple calenders for yourself. Which would be useful for a mom who could chart her schedule, her husbands, and that of her children.
The second useful application I found and added to my page was Word of the Day. I love learning new words, and when you use words that aren't normally used you sound more educated. You could turn this into a fun activity for your students. You can randomly pick a day and every time you hear a student use the word in a sentence they can earn a point, when they get to five points they get a prize.
My third application is Windows Shortcut of the Day. At first I didn't think it would be all that useful for children, but then I remembered the video I had watched on our class blog. I remember when I started having to use the computer for class projects my dad taught me some shortcuts in Word that I still use today. It is much easier to do ctrl+c for copy!
My fourth useful gadget is the To Do list application. This is an easy and simple way for students to make a list of their homework, and home chores they need to do for that day or week. It's a cute little application, where you can color code, move items up or down, and totally remove them. Beats the big assignment book I carried.
My next application is the Translate tool. They have almost any language imaginable that you can translate to. All you have to do is type in the word/sentence you want translated and select the language. It's simple and very helpful for students studying a foreign language or foreign students trying to grasp the English language.
My final application is the Sudoku game. Although this is a game I consider it an educational game. You have to think of all the different places a number could go before you add it. if you have ever played it then you understand what I mean. When you are first learning it though it seems like the craziest idea in the world, but once you learn it it can be very addictive. It keeps your brain moving.
All of these applications are available on various websites but with iGoogle it is all on one page. A one place stop for everything you need, kind of like Wal-Mart or Target.