Google Sites for Classroom Website

As I dive into the adventure of learning more about the Samsung Chromebook, I must look into the features and capabilities of Google. Wow...what a list of things I can do. This morning I created my own website, in which I can keep track of all of our schools important announcements, my Algebra I course information, and my Geometry course information. I feel that this will be a great place for students and parents to look for updated information throughout the year.

YouTube has some amazing videos on setting up your first Google Site for your classroom. Google Sites for Educators Webinar was easy to follow. I was able to follow everything step by step, and by the time the webinar was over I had completed my class website. One thing that Google Sites has implemented into its programming is the WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get). This is completely different than using HTML coding, in the fact that you don't have to know any special computer language. Google Sites is very user friendly, and easy to use in setting up a classroom website.

While I was setting up my classroom website, I came across another Google feature - Google Voice. This is a great feature that masks my personal phone number behind another phone number that I can give to students and parents. Google Voice lets you choose a phone number, and any calls to that number are forwarded to your personal phone number. I set them to come to my cell phone. This allows me to keep my personal cell phone number private, but I can still have open communication with my students and their parents. Another great feature of Google Voice is the voicemail. The program creates a transcript of any messages that are recorded on my voicemail. I can keep them and file them as record of communication. So, I created a Google Voice number and included that on my webpage along with my school email address for my contact information.

All of these features are completely free, and I always say: "If it is free, then it is for me!" I recommend taking the time to look into the different features and capabilities of the Google applications. You may be surprised at how easy and user friendly they are, and what opportunities it presents to integrate technology into your classrooms.