Essential e-tools for Administrators

I figured since we're about a month or so into the new school year I would share my current list of essential e-tools for administrators. Yes, I use most of these every single day and they make my life a WHOLE lot more efficient and productive.... And, for the record, these are all free (sorry, I'm cheap, so if it costs money - any money - I avoid it!)

1. My new favorite is Dropbox, and if you want a full write-up on what this can do for you read my previous post. The greatest thing about this is the ability to share files and folders with other members. For instance, we have configured a folder called "Shared Administrator Files" that we share between the three administrators at our school. Unlike the regular common drive on the network, we can all write and edit any file located in this folder. Today one of the other administrators was working on something and they wanted me to look at it, so I was able to pull it up on my system without them having to send it as an attachment in our email. In addition to this sharing ability, the other greatest thing about Dropbox is that you do not need to be connected to the Internet to use it. Files are stored locally on your computer and then uploaded to the cloud server once you have a connection. This is very useful for me at home where I don't always get a wifi connection, so I can edit files on the laptop and then when I get a connection they will be uploaded. Doing this with files located on Google Docs or Skydrive would not work since I have to be connected at all times to access those files.
2. The next tool I use daily is Evernote. Like Dropbox, the wonderful thing about this program is that notes I take are automatically synced across all my computers and my iPad. So, when I take notes at a district meeting off campus, or even a SIT meeting or team meeting on campus but out of my office, once I have an internet connection the notes are automatically uploaded to the cloud server and then downloaded onto my office computer. They're also available on the laptop and my personal computer at home - instantly. I found this to be invaluable when I'm doing informal (for now) observations/visits to classrooms. I can type a quick note to myself about things I see on my iPad (both positive and negative), and when I get back to my office it's already on my computer so I can compose the note or email to the teacher. As of now Evernote only has a very limited sharing ability (Web-based only), but hopefully they will fix that in the future because the ability to share notebooks with others would make this tool absolutely perfect. I don't even carry around a legal pad anymore, simply my iPad, and I take all notes on it.
3. Teachscape Classroom Walkthrough Tool for the iPad - If you're still doing walk throughs on your Palm or Blackberry you need to upgrade to this app! The interface is much easier to use on the iPad simply due to the larger size screen. I can also quickly exit the program, jump over to Evernote if I need to write a quick note, and then come back in and the data I had already recorded is still there. It is also available for iPod Touch, so if you don't have an iPad yet but do have an iPod Touch you can use the same tool. The biggest improvement I with this version over the previous one available for the iPad is that you do not need to be connected to the internet to use it; if you enter a room where your wifi connection is unavailable you can still use the program and it will automatically upload once you get back into range.
4. Google Reader is still an invaluable tool for keeping up-to-date on blog posts and news feeds, though I don't use the reader interface anymore (see #5 on my list).
5. FeedDemon is my RSS reader of choice. As with Dropbox and Evernote, it allows me to work offline (if I have to). It automatically syncs with my Google Reader account, which is why Google Reader is still on my list. I am able to arrange the feeds I follow into folders by topic and then read them at my leisure. It runs in the background on my desktop, so all I have to do is open it up when I have a few spare minutes and go through the new posts I haven't seen. Again, if you're using Google Reader I highly recommend checking out this "upgrade" (and, again, it's free!)
6. Google Docs is the only one on this list that I don't use every day (at least not yet). I still am partial to using Microsoft Office for all my work (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), but the forms feature in Google Docs is what keeps me coming back. It is quick and easy to send out surveys, get instant feedback, and then plan accordingly. After we did our new teacher evaluation training in August we sent out an evaluation form that afternoon for teachers to fill out, including a spot to ask questions, and all that information was automatically entered into a spreadsheet for us to review. Better yet, I was able to share it with the administrators at the other school we worked with so they could access the information as well. The other thing we're using it for is I setup a "form" so that teachers could submit anonymous questions to the administration in regards to the new teacher evaluation tool. Every time a question is submitted via the form a script automatically forwards the question to my email box, so I don't even need to open up the document to read the question. I can then work on either sending out the answer or finding it (if I don't know it). It's a quick and easy way for us to collect information from teachers in a non-threatening way and also get a feel for what the hot topics are in regards to the evaluation tool.
7. Firefox is still my browser of choice, for many reasons, but I'll just say that I don't like the feel of Chrome, and I absolutely abhor Internet Explorer (the only reason I use IE is because Fulcrum requires it!). To be honest, I was a Safari user for a couple of years (I am a Mac person at heart), but switched to Firefox since the early Windows version of Safari left much to be desired. And I've just never gone back.
   
8. Google Toolbar for Firefox just makes navigating some of my Google tools easier by having it installed - instant access to Google Maps, Docs, Mail, Calendar, etc. without having to type in the address.
9. Google Bookmarks allows me to sync my bookmarks across all my computers (home, office, laptop, etc) and have access to them regardless of what computer I'm using. And if I'm not at my computer I can always login to the web-based server and get them if I need them away from home. The biggest problem with Google Bookmarks is that while I have the ability to sort the bookmarks into categories by using labels, I can not have nested folders (sub folders), making it difficult to navigate if you have a lot of bookmarks. Hence, #10 on my list...
   
10. GMarks is the add-on I use to access my Google Bookmarks via Firefox. It allows me to create both folders and subfolders of my bookmarks. This way when I add a bookmark on one computer it shows up on all the other computers as well - in the exact same spot! This is actually one of the biggest reasons I use Firefox over Chrome - I can not stand the bookmarking system used in Chrome, so this allows me to use Google Bookmarks in a way that makes sense to me (and not the creators of Google). I've looked at some of the social bookmarking sites, but none of them do what Google Bookmarks and GMarks allow me to do. Perhaps one day I'll switch over, but for now I'm staying with this combination.
11. Thunderbird is what I use to access my GMail account from my desktop. If you can't tell, I hate using web-based applications, so this allows me to access GMail from the desktop, so I have it running next to Groupwise. Here's a tip for you: if you're accessing GMail from more than one computer or location I suggest setting up Thunderbird to access it as an IMAP account instead of a POP3, that way when you read a message on one computer it shows up as read on all of them....
    

Okay, so there's my top eleven (for now). Again, all of these are free, and if you're not using them I highly recommend you check them out. What are you guys using?