I loved iGoogle. I got lost in it for quite a while, exploring. This is extremely addictive! :) I especially loved going through all the ideas for the themes to have on the home page... some of these pictures are so stunning, I had trouble choosing! But then I saw how ridiculously easy it would be to change based on my current mood, so I picked one and continued exploring. The gadgets on the iGoogle page are tons of fun, and I will be excited for the day when someone figures out how to have the translator include American Sign Language - complete with video of someone signing the word(s)! That would be amazing... I feel like the more I use these things, the more creative ideas I get - like brainstorming.
In terms of the entirety of Google for Educators, I am floored by how expansive it is and love how collaborative and creative it can be - easily and quickly. My only concern is that some teachers wrote about having 24/7 access to and for students, which I don't actually agree with. Let me rephrase - I like that it's available to students 24/7, so everyone can do and access what they need to in their own time frame. However, we all need down time - I do not want access to students or anyone 24/7, that's an unrealistic expectation. I'm still a little "old school" that way!
That being said, I love that I will be able to post information for students and their families to access easily and clearly, and in a way that students seem to want to be reached! Initially, I wondered what the difference would be with how I had planned to use "technology" in my classroom - bringing in information on my flashdrive that I had found on the Web at home with a link to it saved in a Word document, as well as some PowerPoint I had created.... But there are certain differences, obviously, between that way of 'presenting' information and this newer way of 'sharing' information - and each can be used to support the other. I loved what a lot of the teachers wrote about their experiences and how much more involved and engaged the students were with learning, not just getting the work done to get the grade (which is how my generation and those before us were taught.) The focus really needs to be now on actual learning of the material and retaining that knowledge as well as the know-how to access the information if it's not immediately available. I was getting excited also coming up with ideas of how I'd use this in my English Language Arts classroom - for example with storytelling, making it interactive and having students get really creative by adding twists and turns to what they're reading as well as alternate endings. So often, students only get to read a couple of other students' writing if they're being paired up or grouped together to edit. This way, they will have easy access to what the rest of the class is working on, and/or working together on the same writing project.
Having explored Google for Educators, I can see how universal and easy it will be to utilize the applications and how students will love this and get inspired by it (not to mention that once I am up to their levels of proficiency, how impressed they will be with me!)
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