If you own a Kindle, the Send To Kindle extension is a useful way to collect interesting articles, blog posts, webpages, etc. to read later on your Kindle.  

To use, just navigate to the article or webpage you want to read later and click the Send to Kindle extension.  You are offered to option to send the article, preview it to make changes, and if you select only a part of a page, you can send just the selected part directly to your Kindle.  

You will need to sign in to your Amazon account for your items to be available to your Kindle.

Click to get Send to Kindle in the Chrome Store.

The Annotary extension offers several options for you to save and notate webpages.  After you set up your account, you can bookmark pages in Annotary with notes.  You can also create collections for organizing the bookmarks.  You can highlight webpages and then share them with people with your highlights as well.

This would be a great way to collect information for research or to do collaborative research.  They even have community bookmarks and highlights!


Click to get the Annotary extension in the Chrome Store. 

Readability is an extension that is particularly good for students (or people) who are easily distracted by a busy website. When you use Readability, it strips the advertisements, images, and other extraneous items from a webpage, so you can read just the article you want.

Some of the nice features of Readability are that you can save articles to read later, and you can send them to your Kindle.  You can also change the font and appearance of the article to make it more "readable" for you!

Click to get the Readability extension in the Chrome Store.

Save Text to Google Drive is a handy extension that takes saving webpages to your drive a step further.  When you use this extension, you are presented with all of the text on a given webpage.  You can cut out what is unnecessary (or unwanted) and save the text of the webpage directly to a Google Doc in your drive.  It even includes the link to the site for you, so you can go back to it at a later time if you need/want to.

What a great tool for students completing web research!

Click to get Save Text to Google Drive in the Chrome Store.

There are many ways to save your webpages and database articles directly to Google Drive when using Chromebooks with limited storage and multiple users.  By far, the easiest one I have seen is by simply using the print function.

When you try to print from a Chromebook, if a printer is not connected, the default will be to "Save as PDF."  If a printer is connected, you can still change the printer to be "Save as PDF."

When you click "Save," you will be directed to save to either your downloads or to Drive.  If you select Drive, it will allow you to choose the folder where you would like to save your Document.

Here are some other ways to save to your Drive!

TechSmith Snagit allows you to take a screenshot that will automatically save to your Google Drive.  Some of the wonderful features of Snagit are that you can select the area of the screen to save, name the screenshot, and you can markup your screenshot with arrows, rectangles, circles, or text before you save it.

When you download the TechSmith Snagit App, it will create a TechSmith folder in your Drive where any screenshots you make using Snagit will automatically be saved.  Also download the extension, as it works with the app to allow you to quickly select the area of the screen to save and will open the app for you to edit the screenshot (or not).

Because I have seen so many students have trouble with saving things to their Drives on the Chromebooks, this is a nice and easy option for them!

To get the app and the extension, go to the Google Chrome Store: TechSmith Snagit

Booktrack allows your classes to publish online while also adding a soundtrack to their publications.  Sign up as a teacher and create a class, and enroll your students.  There are many publications already there, including Romeo and Juliet and other classroom readings, but students can also publish their own writings to the classroom. 

Booktrack has a series of ambient sounds that students can select to go along with their writing.  They can also change the soundtracks as the mood or tone of their publications change. Students are also free to record themselves reading their essays, which is very helpful in the editing process or to provide accessibility to students who may need text to speech.  It can also be helpful to students studying world languages.

Using booktrack is pretty easy, and students can create or upload covers for their writing as well.  It can add a new dimension to projects in any subject area.

You can access Booktrack directly online, or get the app from the Chrome Web Store here: Booktrack App

It's not Google, but it can certainly help you share your Google Docs, etc. easily!

Embed.ly allows you to easily embed your blog posts, webpages, or other information into other sites/blogs by creating an embed code for you when you enter a URL.  It also makes sharing your information easy as it includes a "re-embed" button (like retweeting) and an option to share on Twitter or Facebook.

Below, I share a Google doc I created with brief information about Boolean searching.  You can see the "re-embed" and share buttons in the upper, right-hand corner of the card Embed.ly creates.  You can also select to see the original source of the embedded information.

The embedded card below is from the electronic resources page of this website.  If this were embedded on the school website, it would give students an easy link to the databases we offer here at Northern without having to remember my web address.  

Embed.ly's embedded cards have a clean look that does not clutter up a page or blog post.

Another nice feature is that you can include an embed button to your blog.  This will allow others to embed your pages/posts when you share something particularly useful.

To use Embed.ly, just go to embed.ly.  

Ever want to share a digital file with someone, but not want it published on the web?  Then you will LOVE Just Beam it.  With the Just Beam It app, you upload a file by either dragging and dropping a file onto the page or by clicking and selecting the file.  After that, a link is created.  Share the link with the person you want to have the file.  Once they open the file from the link, it disappears.  What an easy way to share files without using up your own cloud storage space!

To get the Just Beam It app from the Chrome Store, go to http://goo.gl/WRFpTt_

Google Classroom is coming, and I am excited!  As much as I love all of the Add-ons that Andrew Stillman and others have created to make our classrooms easier and more organized, I look forward to seeing what Google will offer us!  It looks like it will have some of the functionality of Edmodo and gClassFolders, so I can't wait to see it myself.

I requested a preview, and so can you.  If interested, go here to request a preview for yourself.  As soon as I get to see it for myself, you know that I will be sharing out with all of you:) 

Once again, here is the link for more info or to request a preview:  http://www.google.com/edu/classroom/