Friday, February 22, 2013

Google Hangouts

We all know that Google is taking over everything, but man is it making my life better and easier!

I can not say enough good things about Google Hangouts!  Have you ever done one?

I had seen the sweet commercial of dad & daughter at college & the muppets, but didn't think much about it.  Then I was asked to do a Google Hangout that would be record the interview that I was doing which would be uploaded to YouTube...and I was like WOW!  I learned a lot about this program and so since some of my best friends live far away I decided to invite them to a hangout.  My friend Jen calls it the "Space Meeting."  It has been awesome.  We have fun with the crazy hats and sound effects and it has been even better because we can all talk at once!  We have been trying to make a weekly/biweekly event.  And I've really loved it - it's reconnected us in a whole new way!
Today was a snow day for my school district.  We knew the crazy snow was coming, so I asked students if they would want to try to work on conferences online with me today.  For the most part, it has worked awesome!  With the screenshare feature, I was able to see their projects and give them notes of improvement.  I was able to get through 10 conferences today and I count that as a success!  10 conferences that I don't have to try to make up on Monday along with everything else that we missed out on today.  It was fantastic - I got so much done...I think I should be able to count this as a school day!!