No... I'm the Math and Science Teacher

It's that time of the year when we return to school and prepare our classrooms for the upcoming year. This year, my school has a lot of new staff. The main office has a completely new staff, including a new principal, and only 60% of our teachers are returning. This led to a very interesting conversation and reflection on my part today.

Our district appointed IT guy was stopping by the building and I went in to help him inventory some "new" computers which were donated by the local college. While in the office waiting for him, I helped our new secretary reset passwords and get some wires better organized so that people wouldn't trip. This led to the conversation where I was mistaken for the building's computer teacher. As I explained to her that I was the middle school S.T.E.M. teacher but that I used the computers regularly in my classroom I realized that perhaps we are all computer teachers.

The more I was thinking about this conversation, the more I realized that we are all computer teachers. Math teachers have been using more digital resources such as Khan Academy, while science teachers are flocking to sites like the University of Colorado's PhET: Interactive Simulations. English teachers have long been teaching responsible research online, while reading teachers enjoy finding new online news sources for relative reading material. Perhaps my quick "I'm not the computer teacher" was incorrect. We're all computer teachers. Even if you expect your students to already know basic computer functions when they enter your room, you will always need to help them learn something new. Maybe they don't know how to take an image from the Internet and format it within their document. Perhaps they can't remember how to add a footnote when citing a source.

Teaching digital citizenship is the responsibility of all teachers. Technology is surrounding our students on a daily basis and we must guide them to use it efficiently.

Thank You Donor's Choose and Staples

Earlier this year, I finally decided to give Donor's Choose a try. I had heard good things about it from other people but I knew that what my classroom needed wasn't as simple as a few books. In June, I put up my first project for two Chromebooks. I didn't want to ask for too much and I felt two was already an expensive endeavor at over $400. A few of my friends made donations after I posted the link on social media, but the final donation of over 50% of the cost came from a single non-profit located here in Philadelphia.

After seeing the support I received from both my friends and complete strangers, I decided to be a little braver and request more in my next project. So I posted a project for an additional ten Chromebooks. Yes, it was over $2,000 but I also knew they give you four months to raise the funds and I was hoping that again my social media followers would help my students.

This morning, I woke up to an amazing shock. I honestly thought I was still sleeping because after I turned my alarm off I checked my email on the phone. I cannot truly put into words my appreciation to Staples for fully funding my project. That's right, Staples. The office supply store where I spend more money each year than I care to think about on school supplies just funded my second Donor's Choose project completely. Now in September, my students will have 12 Chromebooks in the classroom. Sure, that's not enough for a 1:1 ratio, but it will be 2:1 give or take a few extra students.

I knew that Staples was promoting Donor's Choose this Back to School season, but never in a million years did I expect them to fully fund my project. If anything, I expected maybe a few dollars towards the end. Thank you Staples, Donor's Choose, and Kati Perry (it's her name promoting #MakeRoarHappen) for helping my students get the technology they need in the classroom.

Chromebooks and the Common Core Symposium, New Jersey

It's interesting when you finally put faces to the names you've seen online for a while. Last week, I presented at the Chromebook and Common Core Symposium. Since I first began participating in communities online about using Google in the classroom, I have crossed paths with some people many times. This week I was finally able to meet many of them in person.

Presenting at the conference was a great experience for me because it was the first time I presented since becoming an authorized Google Education Trainer. I was really nervous going in because I knew that one of the sponsors was the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association (NJPSA). When you see the words "principals" and "supervisors" you know that you are going to have many administrators in your session. This turned out to be true. My session was directly after lunch so people were sitting in the room early. I was speaking with a few participants in the front room while others will coming in. The first three people I spoke with were two principals and their superintendent. Way to make me more nervous before I even start.

Eventually I began and once I got started, it went well. I made myself nervous over nothing because presenting to this room full of administrators was no different for me than when I present to a room full of teachers within my own school.

Things I learned by presenting:

• You can't assume that people at a conference have background knowledge.
• Many of the people at this conference were new to Google in general. I had made a wrong assumption that people already knew how to do things and that I was just presenting ways to use those apps efficiently.
• Don't have a script, be prepared to change.
• This is something that is repetitive for most presentations. As I began presenting, I realized that certain ideas should have been presented in a different order. I began with discussing Google Contacts, however I should have begun with Google Drive because I kept mentioning forms and spreadsheets throughout other topics.
• One hour goes really fast when you're enthusiastic about the material.
• When I created my topic and presentation, I had timed everything out in my head. I was going to spend about ten minutes on each of five main ideas. Once I arrived and actually started answering questions and involving my audience, I found myself running out of time.

Presenting at Conferences

I was invited to speak at my second conference since I was accepted as a Google Education Trainer. It really got me thinking, is the certification getting me the recognition and acceptance? Or am I just becoming more confident to apply for conferences because of the certification.

It's true that I have applied for both conferences that I will be speaking at this summer. It's also true that I wouldn't have applied without being an authorized Google Education Trainer. So perhaps it's the later. The recognition from Google has helped with my confidence compared to just my colleagues telling me to apply. For the past three years, I have been helping my colleagues with technology though the school. I have also been given the opportunity to work with teachers from other buildings as part of the Math and Science Partnership. It was the Math and Science Partnership that invited me to my first Google Summit. Here is where I first heard the terms "Google Education Trainer" and "Google Certified Teacher" along with the requirements for acceptance.

I immediately went and took the five exams required to become a Google Educator. I breezed through all five in a day and continued on with preparing to apply for both programs. My application for Google Education Trainer was simple enough. I updated my resume, completed a case study, and then made a two minute screenshot video demonstration. The application for the Google Teacher Academy included essays and a video. Unfortunately I wasn't accepted into GTA on my first try. It's alright though because some of the GCTs I've met said it took multiple application periods before they were invited. GTA only accepts 50 teachers per session, and that's internationally. It was an upsetting setback but I won't give up. As Babe Ruth, once said "you can't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game." No one likes rejection and I just need to take the opportunity to improve and try again.

Really Official

Last night I was granted access to the Google Education Trainer community and resources. The first resource I took advantage of was the above badge. This image represents the hard work it took to become an authorized Google Education Trainer. It's also a promise to myself and others. This badge is a promise that I will work with educators to be successful when using Google in the classroom. We won't just "Google" the answer, we'll use Google to explore the problems and discover the answers.

Official Google Education Trainer

Last week I saw on the application website that I was accepted as a Google Education Trainer. As other applicants were receiving their emails, mine never came. Finally I decided to contact someone to see what happened. They re-sent the email but I had a laugh at what was written. "Can you check your spam?" I just applied to become an authorized trainer of Google and applied with a gmail address. I would hope that someone qualified to train others to use Google would know to check the spam folder. This reminded me about when you call tech support because something isn't working and the first thing they ask is "Did you check that it's plugged in?" I think we are all guilty of assuming people forget the obvious.

As a new trainers, I need to remember this. Just because it seems obvious to me, it might not seem obvious to everyone. Part of being a trainer is to find where my students are beginning and help bring them to a higher level. This means that if I'm working with educators that don't know computers I might start with just logging into Google. If the teachers I am training are already comfortable with using Google Drive, I might show them add-ons and extensions to simplify their work and help their students grow.

Representing Google means that they have faith in my abilities to spread the strategies and technology to help students learn in and out of the classroom. I hope that I always remember this introduction to the program.

Welcome

For years I have been blogging on Making Cents of It about saving money and entertainment. Recently, at an EdCamp event, someone asked me why I didn't blog about my experiences teaching. This page of my portfolio will consist of posts related to teaching.

I will not be updating this page on a daily basis. Instead, I will update as I reflect on my classroom and professional experiences.