Why I love using Google Keep!

   Google Keep

     If you love staying organized using lists and reminders, you are going to love using Google Keep.  Our lives are so busy that we often rely on sticky notes and to do lists to help us stay organized.  My sticky notes give me the reminders I need often, but when our life is on the go, the sticky note on my fridge becomes useless if I don't remember to grab it  as I leave the house.  Nonetheless, my work to do list/s often get misplaced as I move between classes and from one office to another.  

    I started using Keep back in  2013.  I do not recall how I stumbled upon it, but I was hooked.  I would create my color categorized notes and kept my to do lists organized by grade level and sorted those that are personal vs work tasks.  Most importantly I was able to view and access my to do list anywhere I have access to the internet.  

    Later, when Keep became available for mobile devices,  I found myself sharing my notes and using the app daily.  As I discovered the reminder by location feature I was really getting the most use of Google Keep!  My note will appear on my screen to remind me of a task once I arrived to a specific location and or on a particular date and time.  Oh!!!  And by the time they added the draw feature, I was absolutely in love.  Now not only was I using it to organize my day and set my important reminders,  I integrated it into my teaching.  I would encourage students to share ways they solved an equation and share it with a friend.  I showed them the power of the tool and had them decide how they can use it responsibly and ethically.  (we always discussed digital citizenship and ethics when we used new web enabled tech tool).   

On a personal level I shared the app with many of my friends and often used it to brainstorm ideas,  draw that floor plan or decide how to decorate it as I remodeled our home.  

    Now, that've told you why love Google Keep,  and how I've been using it daily, I think it is important for me to share with you (if you still new to keep) my favorite features and how to find them.  

    As you open google keep you are prompted to open a new note.  Start typing away your thoughts and or to do list and then decide to give your note a title, you can add checkboxes, drawings or images to your notes.  See image below.  

    After adding some notes or tasks you can choose to add a reminder by selecting a suggested date or set a time and date of your choice.  Remember, I mentioned the location feature which in my opinion makes Google Keep my absolute favorite notes tool.   I can select a location where I would like for google keep to remind me to grab few items or complete tasks at a particular location!!     We love sharing our notes and collaborating with others.   Using the share option you can share your note with anyone with a google account. You can also elect to change the color of your notes and select a color category as you organize your notes.  Labels are another way you can organize your notes within your account.  You can see in the image to the right how I categorized my labels into personal, family, work and few more specific labels .  This works for me but everyone has their own way or style of thinking and categorizing.  

    I would love to hear how you choose to categorize your labels/ notes.  Also when choosing colors I have colors categorized by grade level for at least the last 10 years I've been in education. 

Let's not overlook this very powerful feature:  "Grab Image Text".  I bet there has been one or many times you wished you can grab the text from a photo you've taken on your phone or that screenshot of notes from your friend's journal.  Well, in my opinion, the "Grab Image Text" is one very useful and powerful feature in keep.  You could have jotted down some ideas during a brainstorm session and wanted to quickly share with your manager colleague, just use the Grab Image Text feature, double check it grabbed everything you need.  I highly recommend that you run final edits and adjustments to the notes before you share them.  

    

Ok!  On to another favorite feature within Keep!  Now that you've brainstormed and added your drawings, checklist and images, you can turn that note easily into a google doc by simply using the Copy to Google doc option.  You might ask why don't you just start with a google doc and I would say you can, but using the drawing feature is a longer process but doable.  In my experience, starting in Keep, the brainstorming tool is much easier for me personally.  

What is your most favorite feature in Google Keep? Have you used it before?  If so how do you get the most use of this app and how does it best serve your needs?  

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