Google Teacher Academy take-aways

So I've had some time to collect my thoughts since getting home from the Google Teacher Academy. I could go on for pages about the Google campus, the amazing conversations and rapid-fire information I tried to absorb during my two days in Mountain View, California. But I'll try to boil it down to the key take-aways.

1. Google is an amazing company.
I'm sure that there is a great deal of internal and external pressure to succeed on the employees, but the freedom to be your creative best is clearly fostered by a workplace environment where everything you could possibly want is provided to you at work.  From on-site haircuts, laundry services, bowling, dance, yoga, world-class cuisine and transportation, all of the little errands and annoyances that can distract you during your workday are made worry-free and convenient leaving the employees time to nurture themselves and the company they work for.

2. You don't know what you don't know.
Like I've said before, I consider myself a better-than-average searcher. I have often overlooked tools because I thought that they weren't of any particular use to me, when really, I just didn't know enough about them to take full advantage of what they had to offer. Maps are for more than just getting from point A to point B. Search is capable of more than just finding the answer to a concrete question. Scripts and customized searching isn't just for experts. There are many ways to use these tools and it may not be possible to know them all, but what you can know is who to ask for help and where to go to find the answers you need.

3. Youtube is for much more than goofy memes.

I guess that I knew this. I knew that it could be used for students to gain an authentic audience for their work. I knew that video was a powerful tool for sharing information and that some people learn better with audiovisual cues. What I didn't really grasp was the way that Youtube has changed our lives. Not just mine, but collectively. In just 7 years Youtube has created a language of cultural references that crosses national borders and connects people together by sharing moments of brilliance and banality without discrimination.

4. I need to think bigger.
This is going to be a challenge. I began thinking that my action plan would involve the creation of a few videos to explain how search works in a way that my students could not only understand the tool they were using, but in a way that would ignite their curiosity to learn more. That seemed worthwhile, but in the few short weeks since the Google Teacher Academy I have begun to participate in several G+ Communities and have discovered that there are so many people looking for similar resources. Maybe what I create will be able to help them, maybe some of them with partner with me on this project. If I'm thinking bigger than my school and community, what changes would I need to make in my process? What additional information or materials would be helpful to include with these videos? Are we reinventing the wheel? Does it matter?  Patrick Pichette, Google's CFO told our GTA group that when looking into new projects, Google plans to scale of reaching a minimum of a billion people. I may not be thinking quite that big yet, but maybe bigger and better is possible.

5. Process matters.
One think that I love about Dan Russell's search challenges he poses on his blog and that he asks you to explain HOW you found the solution or answer. This is the piece of the research puzzle we often ignore in education. When students turn in a research paper, it should include a reflection on their research process the same way they are asked to show their work for math problems. Do teachers learn more by reading ten reports on "current events" or would having students demonstrate the steps they took to find that information, tell teachers more about that student's preparedness for more challenging work than reading the results alone?

Other members of my Google Teacher Academy Mountain View group have done an excellent job of sharing out resources, tips and tricks from those two days. I wanted to share my personal impressions with the hopes that as I move forward in this process of spreading what I've learned, it will be shared here.

I'm going to Google!!!

I'm still sort of in shock. I was home sick yesterday with a head cold and I checked my e-mail to find one notifying me that I'd been accepted to the Google Teacher Academy in Mountain View, CA this December!!! This was my second time applying and although I was confident that my 2nd attempt was 100% better than my first, I'd seen many of the other videos and knew that the applicant pool was impressive.

In hindsight, my first application was uninspired. I didn't really get it. I had yet to really grasp how much there was that I didn't know about Google. I was a good searcher, seriously- I'm a librarian! Why wouldn't they want me? But since they only accept 50 people for each group I wasn't really surprised when I got the rejection e-mail. Soon after, I heard about the Google Apps for Education Summits. It turned out that the Southeast regional GAFE Summit was coming up and a group from my school district was going. Thanks to the generous administrators leading the trip, I was invited to go along.

This was my "A-ha!" moment. At the summit were educators who were passionate not only about about teaching but also innovators in the successful implementation of technology in their schools. More than that, there were Google Certified Teachers and Trainers who opened doors and sparked conversations that I'd never even considered. I was left not only energized, but with a new understanding of the global classroom made possibly through technology.

When we returned I applied to the Mountain View GTA. I didn't even look at my previous application. I started fresh and with a new approach. I emphasized how much more I had to learn as well as what I'd already accomplished. I tried to infuse my application video with my personality and really take the time to get it right.



In the end, even if I hadn't been accepted, I would have appreciated the process. This application, like NETS*T certification, allowed an opportunity for reflection. I truly believe that I'm a better librarian and teacher thanks to the personal exploration required.

Membership has its privileges

Note on this post: I wrote this after completing an application that asked me to list the professional organizations I was a member of. It frustrated me that although I'm active in several professional learning communities, they're informal and electronic. Not at all what the application was asking for. This annoyance and a little guilt prompted me to write the following:

Joining.

I used to join every professional association I could. I belonged to divisions and sub divisions. I was on committees, went to conferences, networked and collaborated. I still network, I still collaborate and on occasion, I still go to conferences. But my methods have changed. This was due to several factors: cost, time & the addition of children to our family.

First the costs. There is no right answer to the cost-benefit analysis of belonging to a professional organization. When I was an active (in person) member, the dues made sense in my budget. The conference fees were reduced, I got the publications, I could vote and be elected to office. But given that the money was coming out of my pocket and I am now unable to attend conferences in person due to the a fore mentioned time crunch and children, membership's privileges no longer seem to outweigh the costs.

Second is the time. Depending on the location, conferences can require full days of travel time. This means hiring a sub for all of those days and being away from my kids who are three and five and right now. They need me more than I need to get on a plane and fly to a conference.

I didn't expect this. But technology has made it so easy. No, I don't get to attend all of the sessions. I'm missing out on the publisher parties and swag (not to mention the mini crabcakes). I'm not a mover and shaker in libraryland anymore. But I can follow sessions on Twitter & Youtube, read blog reports, preview books and more from the comfort of my livingroom.

There are still conferences that I don't want to miss, and exceptions to these reasons, but I wonder if more conferences will go virtual as it becomes easier to connect.

I may not be supporting as many professional associations financially, but right now, I'm doing the best I can.

Librarian weeding humor (sort of)

Here are a few of my favorite weeds...

One of the vital pieces of library work is weeding, or removing books that are no longer viable for the health and growth of the collection.  These books were all removed from my library, by me, at some point during the last four years.

While these books all served a purpose, their removal was way overdue.  Now they do little else but amuse me and hopefully you.

This 1983 classic includes the suggestion that by 2010 there will be an international university
housed entirely on computers (iTunesU anyone)?

 In 1977 this was a popular disco move, but was also excellent for fending off unwelcome advances.

The year is 1985 and with topics like "On your own" & "Talking about telephones"
the young latch-key kid will now be prepared for anything.

Social network/Information overload

There are so many ways to gather and digest the information flowing through the infosphere.  I enjoy using ScoopIt! and following folks on Twitter, but I must confess- I don't get the point of RSS feeds. I have a Google Reader page, I just don't check it all that often.  Here's why... All the blogs/pages/people I'd want to see on my RSS feed, I already follow either through Twitter, or in Flipboard.  It seems redundant to get the same feeds from multiple sources.  With apps like Flipboard, do we really need Google Reader? Or other feed readers?  Do I need both? Am I missing something? Is it possible to keep up with so many different things, or should I focus on a few key tools?

I'm officially a NETS*T certified teacher!  I chose to undertake the certification process for several reasons, but my main goal was to create a record of the kind of work and technology integration that I have been actively engaged in throughout my career.  The process was administered through a program at James Madison University and all of the reflections and evidence that I created were uploaded to their review system.  Because the portfolio I created is on their server, I am in the process of duplicating much of my portfolio in a Google Site.  Although not complete, it gives an overview of what was required for each of the standards.  For me, the most difficult pieces were those that that required evidence that I, as a librarian, do not usually collect.  My work is collaborative and usually I am there as a project begins, but not at the end of the road.  One goal for me next year will to do a better job of assessing my impact of the students and teachers I serve.

First post

I'm simply overwhelmed. I have been following several conferences simultaneously on Twitter and feel the neurons firing at the speed of light.  My goal is to better organize my digital presence as well as my professional portfolio.  Currently, I curate a page on ScoopIt! I have a Google Reader page, a Diigo accocunt, I tweet, Facebook and Flipboard.  Through all of this, I am becoming a better guide for students who come to me for assistance on their educational journeys.