Week 5-
Webinar Post
Becoming an
Email Ninja
We have
recently become a Google school and I have been trying to learn the ins and
outs of the tools available for teachers and students. In looking through the list of suggested
webinars I found a large list to choose from at Google Apps for Education. Email is the first tool we were required to
use so it seemed the logical place to start.
I watched “Becoming an Email Ninja” by Chris Craft. This was recorded on January 4th
and posted on YouTube so I did not participate, I only watched but I was able
to stop and rewind when I didn’t catch something. He had a list of his top 10 tips. I highlighted my three favorites.
His first
tip was to install Google Chrome. This
was a lesson I learned the hard way.
When our district first changed over to Google Apps, our IT person
suggested changing to Google Chrome but I didn’t want to take the time to do
that right away. I tried to continue
using Internet Explorer. It doesn’t
work! I also found there is a long list
of other apps that kids can use on the Chrome website.
Chris Craft
introduced a fun way to keep up with email called 0Boxer. This works like a game. The idea is to earn points by keeping your
inbox down to zero. You earn points by
deleting unwanted mail, archiving old items, responding immediately to items
and moving items to keep into folders.
It is good incentive to keep up with your inbox.
The best tip
Chris shared was how to change my gmail when signing up for different
websites. Google will ignore anything
that comes after a + sign. If I want to
sign up for the Walmart website I can use my existing email address and just
add a plus sign and key word. If my real
gmail was cherie@gmail.com, I could sign
up for Walmart using cherie+walmart@gmail.com. All of that email would still get to me but
now I can easily search, delete or block email from that address. You know as teachers we end up signing up for
lots of sites, some you end up liking and stick with but many others you may
never go back to and this is a great way to quickly stay organized.
I'm not sure I'm an email ninja but I did learn a few new tricks. I have found
Webinars a great way to learn what you need know right when you need to know
it. It would be fun to watch one live
and ask questions as they come up but the times do not always work. I like that I can put my laptop next to the
pile of laundry or dishes that need to be done, press play, and learn while I
work. Just be sure to keep a pen and
paper close by to jot things down.
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