A few weeks ago I taught an afternoon professional development seminar on using Google Earth in the Classroom. If you have ever seen my previous Google Earth presentations at CUE or another technology conference, then you are familiar with most of the material from the course (here’s a link to the resources on my wiki). One of the requests I received from the attendees was a quick review tutorial on using Google Maps to create custom Google Earth files. Since most of us (students and teachers) aren’t intimately familiar with HTML, using Google Maps is a handy way to create your own Google Earth stories. Just by clicking and typing in a Microsoft Word-like editor anyone can easily add text, links, images, and streaming video clips from YouTube to any placemark. Below are the two videos I created using Screenflow. Its was one of my first attempts at using Screenflow, so please forgive any quirks. Kelly says he’s going to improve my screencasting skills later this summer. 
Joe
Using Google Maps to Create Google Earth Files – Part 1
Using Google Maps to Create Google Earth Files – Part 2
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Once you master Screenflow, I expect a podcast or an online tutorial of how to use it well.
Thanks for putting these up so that those of us on the northern coast of the US can see them too.
I love using Google Earth with my students. It fits our curriculum so well with mapping skips, legends and the compass rose.
Every once in a while I tell my students we are going on a virtual field trip and we just explore the world. Its very informative and engaging with all ages.