Sunday, May 26, 2019

Everything Has a Beginning

So, for the past 8 or so years I've been moving in the direction of completely nerding out on technology within my classroom. I have been a public school teacher since 1998 and would like to move in the direction of either being a technology teacher of some sort or helping other educators incorporate technology into their practices. Either way, mastering Google for Education is my current path. I have become increasingly impressed with Google's dedication to the educational realm and their efforts to make it accessible for teachers and students. They may be poised to take over the world, but one might think they deserve the position with all the effort they've been pouring into making our schools stronger. (God help us if they ever merge with Disney ... can you imagine???)

I passed my certification to be a Level 1 Google Educator. It was great to go through the training process and have my eyes opened to everything which Google has to offer through their G Suite for Education. If you want any advice, just do the tasks on the exam without spending time on the design or other components. During my exam, I kept writing polite emails to fictional people I'm supposed to be communicating with and making my slide presentations look interesting. Then I realized I only had 20 minutes left and I hadn't even started the last few sections. Thankfully, I still passed on my first try. That's not bragging -- it's being honest about my ADD/OCD and lack of planning.

This blog post is my first assignment in training to become a Level 2 Google Educator. I hope I can connect with other educators in this excursion and brave what is to come.
😎