The most recent Google Teacher Academy was held in Austin, TX on Dec 2-3 and I was one of the lucky participants selected to attend. The badge that comes with this event - Google Certified Teacher - is highly sought after by many educators as they yearn to become a part of this exclusive community.

I have to preface this post with the fact that I am not an advocate for badge seeking. Educational badges do very little to tell about the skills that educators actually possess. In fact, becoming a GCT didn’t really require me to fulfill any particular abilities with Google tools at all. Did I know stuff on my own already? Sure, but I learned all of that from Twitter and from attending various conferences such as CUE, ISTE, and GAFE Summits. So why all the hype then?

For me, it was really about getting into that room with the other 50 or so participants that have also been selected for the event. Big thinkers in the educational world with diverse perspectives from all over North America? Yes, please. I could have spent both days just talking to the other attendees and I would have left happy as a clam.

The event consisted of a combination of design thinking, session-based learning, and group activities. Throughout the academy we were exposed to different people and groups depending on what we were doing. I didn’t get to connect with every member of the cohort - not even close - but I’d say I got to talk to about half of them.

On the  second day, we had an opportunity to actually brainstorm ideas, create “SMART” goals - those which were specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and with a time limit. We got to interact with other attendees’ goals and give constructive feedback on how they could reach them. The room was plastered in colourful Post-It notes all emblazened with endless ideas about how to make positive impacts in education, free to adopt or adapt for our own needs. 

Sessions

The sessions were based around advanced Google tools and tips from our lead learners. The lead learners were an incredible group who had a lot to offer. In fact, I attended some of their sessions at the aforementioned conferences, making some of the sessions a repeat of something I’d already done. But that right there is a personal problem. Every one of the sessions had good things to offer and got us exposed to each of the lead learners and their strengths. I could honestly listen to Chris Aviles talk all day about storytelling and data and I stole an amazing amount of presentation tips from Katie Christie and Amy Mayer.

The issue I had was that the sessions were a bit disconnected from the design thinking process that we had been going through. Because of my previous personal experiences with some of the session content, I wish that we’d had the choice of continuing with our design thinking or attending the sessions. The plus was that we got exposed to different lead learners and their strength areas.

In the End…

The Google Teacher Academy is more than just a badge. I’m coming out from it having consolidated some existing relationships and igniting some new ones. I got to spend a bulk of time discussing some big educational issues with Karl, John, Matt, & Rachel. I got to have a great late-night chat with several others from the cohort, among them Stephanie, Richard, Suzie, James, and Alicia. And most importantly, our cohort finally defined how GAFE is really pronounced (I’m looking at you, short “a” people). For all of you non-believers out there, it’s now called GAFÉ. You will never look at it the same ever again. And you’re welcome.

More seriously, the goals that I set for myself and the design thinking process were the most important aspect of this experience. I can honestly say that these goals are going to be difficult to reach while being enrolled in my Masters program, but as Chris McGee would tell me, I should just say YES. On that note, if someone asked me if I would ever go again, I would say YES!

Thanks to all who supported me in getting to GTA - you know who you are!

The inaugural EdCamp35 was held in Langley, BC at R.E. Mountain Secondary this past Saturday. I had a lot of fun preparing for this event with the rest of the EdCamp35 planning team, who dedicated countless hours to ensuring that the event would be a success. 

I have to admit that leading up to the event, I was extremely nervous for the day to come. This was the first edcamp that I'd really had a hand in planning (I did a tiny bit of work for EdCampWest Online last year) and of course, I wanted it to be a progressive and useful day for the attendees. The planning team worked very hard to emphasize the adoption of suggesting and voting for professional development that you wanted and/or needed, of open conversations rather than presentations, of voting with your feet, and of building empathy and networking with different educational stakeholders in order to find alternative perspectives on education.

There were plenty of registrants from our own district representing all areas in education - teachers, administration, support staff, student teachers, parents, students, school trustees, and district leadership. (When your District Leadership Team shows up AND sits in sessions to listen, you know your district is headed in a good direction!) We also had incredible representation from all over the Lower Mainland, the island, the Sunshine Coast, and we even had an international showing! 

So, the actual day? It rocked. The honest truth is that any edcamp is driven by the participants in it... of which, as I mentioned earlier, we had a lot of awesome ones. Here are my awesome eduwins, thanks to those folks:

Getting to hang out and throw together the details with an awesome planning team? Check.

Meeting the #bcedchat mod team face-to-face -- the first time all four of us were ever in the same room? Check.

That feeling when all of the technological workflows that you set up for the day actually work? Check. (Okay, so this was a personal win for me, though my PLN did get involved a little bit. Also, see our shared documents here.)

Having awesome conversations that expanded my thinking? Check.

Getting to meet so many members of my PLN that I had talked to extensively online? Check.

And now, 2 days later, there has been a particular influx of poetry on social media (yes, poetry - you know who you all are) in reflection on the EdCamp35 experience, so here is my little contribution:

I would like to end this post by thanking the planning team for EdCamp35. Events like these would never be made possible without the amazing support that we received in our district. A special thanks goes to Magdy Ghobrial, Ngaire Leaf, Nick Ubels, Chris Wejr, Shawn Davids, and Katherine Mulski for their devotion, attention to detail, sense of humour, and pure awesomeness that you brought to this experience. I can't wait to work with you all again next year.

Thank you to all that attended EdCamp35! I'm loving the incredibly reflective blog posts, emails, and feedback that our team has been getting from the attendees.  Keep 'em coming!

Happy "connected educator" anniversary to me!  It's been exactly a year since I stumbled into my first #edchat and #patue chats, which inspired me to start my own blog. 

That's where this journey of transformative career growth truly began for me. On this day last year, I think I was following 30 people and probably had the same amount of tweets. One year later, I find myself reflecting on the professional journey I've taken and I am considering some thoughts:

• I became seemingly unconnected to suddenly connected; what changed for me that day? 
  
• Why did I keep coming back for more?
  
• How did Twitter and blogging transform my practice?
• How do I feel now?

Unconnected To Connected: What Changed For Me That Day? 

Nothing really changed about me as a person that day. Or the next. Or the next. 

What changed was the tools I used to get the job done (the job being to find resources and ways to professionally develop myself and grow as an educator).  I came into that situation with a growth mindset and I learned about a place that would feed that motivation. Most social media users are motivated to be present, participate, help, and share. Some watch from afar (AKA lurking), and that's cool, too, but the general idea is that everyone there is trying to grow their pedagogy and practice.

Why Did I Keep Coming Back For More?

Twitter was easy, fun, and I could access what I wanted, whenever I wanted, through the power of a hashtag. I could connect with educators I didn't know, chat with ones that I did, and even make new connections in my own district through it. 

Because of the list of Twitter educational chats curated by Jerry Blumengarten, Chad Evans, and Thomas Murray, I had access to several topical areas in education that I may be interested in. This list guided me on many occasions so I knew which hashtags to use for specific questions I had.

How Did Twitter and Blogging Transform My Practice?

When I jumped into the Twitter world, I dove in head-first and prolifically tweeted for the first 4-6 months...

Twitter chats. Impromptu discussions. Questions to hashtags. Late night work crew. Google HangOuts. Online edcamps. 

The pedagogical ideas and philosophies that are offered through these networks of educators on social media only scratch the surface of what became a transformative change in my practice. Blogging helped me to reflect on how I designed learning opportunities with my students and how I approached specific situations. Discussions with educators from varying regions helped me to gain a huge appreciation for my own province, district, and school settings by being exposed to other educational climates and their respective challenges. Connecting with these peers at local and global levels also held me accountable to my word -- when I told someone that I was going to try something, I really had to try it -- I did say it on the Internet, after all!

Advice for newer edu-folks taking this road: The tools are aplenty and the ideas can be overwhelming. Take what you need and take a break when you need it. Social media and those motivated & sharing educators will still be there when you come back. Check out this post by David Truss that outlines (literally) everything you need to know about tapping into Twitter as a professional development tool.

How Do I Feel Now? 

My feelings, one year later? One word: grateful.

I'm grateful for my PLN and all that they've done for me. I'm grateful that they are better than Google or any educational database out there when I'm looking for that one thing that's going to make that lesson pop. I'm grateful that I have support locally and globally on my students' and school's initiatives. I'm grateful for the opportunity to travel, present, and share the stories of my students and to learn about the students of others. And most of all, more than anything, I am grateful for the connections that have blossomed into incredible friendships. 

So, PLN, thank you. We all stand on the shoulders of giants, and you're mine. 

You've read it, you've watched it. If you know me, you'll know that I think Twitter is an amazing place to build an educational PLN.

But lately I've noticed something. Something that, if changed, might change everything as us Twitter-ers know it…

That “something” is a something that I, too, have experienced: A tweeter’s voice tends to be only as big as its follower count. We typically revere and idolize those who have large followings and set them on a pedestal, especially when we are just at the beginning. “They must be smarter and more brilliant; they must have more to offer than... me. I’m just me, after all...” I remember saying these things to myself six months ago. And sometimes, I catch myself still doing it. 

I’m not here to say that the folks with large following counts aren’t brilliant or worth holding in high regard - we know that is not true in most cases. But I am here to say, in the most sincere and respectful way that I possibly can, that we all need to listen to different voices and perspectives, regardless of their follower count. Behind every educator’s Twitter handle, there is a person with a valuable opinion and outlook on education.

So in my reflection of this, I got thinking… Can you imagine what would change on our PLNs if no one knew how many people were following you?

Ask yourself these questions...

If no one knew how many people were following you, what would change?
...Would your voice change?
...Would your contributions change?
...Would you tweet more? Less? 

Could you begin to inspire others if no numbers were attached? Or could you continue to?
...Would people listen?

Could conversations be further enriched? 
....Would more educators feel safer in making contributions?

Would there still be "rockstars"? 

How would leaders emerge? Is that a natural process?

Would more people decide for themselves rather than going with trends?

Would our connections with one another change?


Just some food for thought. Some consideration. Some questions. If we didn't see quantitative follower/following information, I genuinely believe that the attitudes of the learning community might change.

It doesn't matter if you have ten followers or ten thousand, everyone has something to add to the conversation. Twitter is a tool that I use to share with, learn from, and offer help to other educators. What do you use it for?

This is a video project that I created for my Mobile Technologies class (ETEC 565M) in the UBC Master of Educational Technology program.

My personal journey with this social media has opened up and transformed my educational world. Because of Twitter, I have enjoyed several professional experiences over the past six months like connecting with colleagues at edcamps, traveling to California to attend conference and collaborate with other educators, and establishing online communities and conversations through hashtags like #bcedchat. I am passionate about the use of this tool, among many, to help educators connect and transform their own professional learning experience.

Check out my video below to find out more!

Thanks for reading, watching, commenting, and sharing! Happy tweeting! 

Oh, man.  September is over.  Queue the music.  Breathe.  ... Right?

This first month of school has brought with it many adjustments in my world.  I'm at a new school, teaching a new grade, working with a new staff on technology goals, and getting used to the workload involved with two graduate courses. Needless to say, September has been a bit of a whirlwind.  Mix those together with all of the things I was already doing and that is a recipe for an imbalanced disaster.  A month later, I'm just starting to finally feel like I'm on top of these new demands.  My absence from blogging has been due to my attempts to normalize my new realities.  Something had to go on the back burner for the month.  But now, I'm in control.... for the moment.

People often ask me, "How do you have time for all of that extra stuff?" These questions always spin me into a state of reflection.  Of course, I've asked myself the same thing.  How do I have time?  Is my life in a perpetual state of imbalance?  Am I happy even though I work practically every waking moment of the day? Is burnout inevitable? 

If you've ever been in a similar situation, you'll relate that reflecting on this is extremely difficult.  When you're so entrenched in the status quo, it's hard to see how far you can bend before you break.  While connecting to new people and ideas is important, it's also important to take a step back to understand what you're capable of and why it matters to you.  That's what fuels my passion -- the "why" I do it, not the "how".

So here's why it all matters to me:

1. I absolutely adore my students and want to deliver the best educational experience they can possibly have.
   
2. I love learning.  I love finding out new information.  Between my PLN and the MET Graduate program, I am consistently forced outside my comfort zone, and that's a good thing.
3. Growth is essential in our profession.  If you don't set out to improve yourself, no one is going to do it for you.
4. I am passionate about meaningful technology integration in the classroom.  It needs to be relevant for the future, not the present, and certainly not the past. 
5. Throughout this journey, I've made incredible connections who have given me consistently overwhelming support every step of the way. I want to pay it forward and inspire others to connect.
   
   

 With those things in mind, I can confidently say that I'm very happy with my life and the time that I dedicate to my work and studies.  Should I be making more time for other things?  Sure.  I'd argue that most educators could use a little more balance.  But just as September did, this, too, shall pass.

The educational realm of the Internet: A place where sharing is encouraged, but for the newbie, the audience can be perceived as a pack of hungry wolves idly waiting to tear your ideas apart...

If this is your thinking as someone new to educational blogging, tweeting, or sharing of information, I want to stop you dead in your tracks.  There is certainly a scary notion to sharing your ideas on the Internet, particularly through the forum of blogging, where what you share can be accessed and criticized at any moment.  At least a tweet disappears down a feed and is less and less likely to be accessed again after some time has passed.  I would argue that easy access and susceptibility to criticism is the #1 reason that the "newbies" and "lurkers" don't share their work in passion areas in a blog format.  While that reason is certainly valid, I have several reasons to counter that thought.


Who Are You Blogging For? 

Blogging should first and foremost be of value to the sharer.  My personal mission with blogging is to better develop my educational ideas so that I can better educate my students.  When I began writing my blog posts, I found that my motivation to make my ideas "airtight" increased - to rethink all possible angles, to craft my ideas and transform them from something good into something great. My ideas became more than a simple thought that floated through my mind just as I was about to fall asleep; they became strategized published works and they developed further than I could have imagined some of them developing.  Reflective processes are greatly strengthened as a result of sharing because you anticipate the criticism before it even comes.  It should be considered that you are very likely impacting and helping others through the sharing of your ideas, but it should not be your primary focus.  While it's great to help others as a result of your blog, you should be helping yourself first! 

I Don't Have the Gift of the Written Word!

What if I don't have the ability to "box up ideas" and tie a bow on them? Guess what?  That ability doesn't develop overnight.  Worse yet, what if I don't have any ideas?!  Relax!  The best writers in the world didn't learn their craft by opening up a webpage, slapping random ideas onto it, and clicking "publish."  They brainstormed.  They dreamed.  They wrote.  They re-wrote. They threw it out.  And then they started again.  Even as I write this very post, I'm keeping notes for myself at the bottom of the text box of what I need to accomplish in this post and things I've cut out because they just don't fit.  Some of those cuts have even given me ideas for future posts.  As an added bonus, blogging has helped to further develop my writing abilities and to forge my own personal style .  As you, too, continue to practice that craft, you, too, will become better at it. 


What Are People Going To Say About It?

Of course, we have to touch on criticism.  Criticism is a tricky concept to address because everyone takes it differently. Personally, I've always been the person who has focused on the single piece of negative feedback swimming in the greater sea of positive feedback.  I'm finding that there are a ton of people like me who practice that bad habit.  However, something that Dave Burgess, author of Teach Like A Pirate, writes about criticism rings mighty true in my ears: 

Through blogging, I've learned to take criticism as an opportunity to better myself.  Instead of viewing it simply as criticism, I view it as constructive criticism.  If a person is taking the time to pick apart my idea, then it is in my best interests to explore why that is occurring.  Perhaps there is an avenue I hadn't considered?  Or perhaps the context of the idea is not well-communicated through my writing style?  I always try to spin that commentary into a positive question that will help me learn how to better develop and communicate my ideas.  Educators are not meant to be islands; let the criticism of others remind you that you can be better tomorrow than you were today. 

The last thing on this topic: there typically isn't that much criticism to be had in the blogosphere.  As mentioned earlier, the tendency to focus on the negative that might happen is what instigates the fear to post in the first place.  The truth is this: the online educational world is FULL of positive and amazingly supportive individuals who will undoubtedly extend that same courtesy to you.  Feel comfort in knowing that they're anything but the "hungry pack of wolves" that I alluded to at the beginning of this post. 


How Do I Start?

That answer is simple: Pick a blogging tool and GO!!!  

I use Weebly because I love the drag and drop interface (very easy for beginner bloggers), but there is also Blogger, Edublogs, Wordpress, Tumblr... I'm sure the list goes on.  Pick one that fits with your tech abilities and/or workflow.  Once you have it set up, draft a bunch of different working titles based on your ideas and topics of interest.  I usually have 5-6 saved drafts going at one time and I'll add pieces to them here and there as I see fit.  Honestly, though, most of the time I just get an idea and complete the post in the same day.  It really helps me sort out the weaker topics that I come up with and builds relevance for my day-to-day observations of my world or areas I need to build upon for my teaching practice. 
 

It is my hope that this post can inspire new bloggers to take the plunge and start sharing their innovative ideas.  I invite all of my readers, whether new to blogging or a seasoned blogger, to continue this conversation and share feedback with me by leaving a comment below.  Thanks for reading!

- Victoria

Disclaimer: This post is long. Buckle your seatbelts.

In July, I made a last minute decision to take a trip.  I had no idea where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do, or whom I wanted to meet; I just wanted to get away from my house in Langley and explore someplace new.  After much deliberation, my finger landed on San Francisco - a city that boasts history, beauty, and an enriched culture, and a region that gives a curious tourist like me much to do.

I contacted a few Twitter friends on the matter and the trip turned into something much more than a simple getaway - it turned into an experience of a lifetime.  Life-changing even, or so I tell people who ask.  Immediately upon hearing that, the listener’s thought is spurred: “How exactly was it life-changing?” Well, here’s what made it life-changing for me:

People I knew only through the series of tubes that is the Internet – talented and dedicated educators whom I held the utmost respect for – offered the most jaw-dropping hospitality I’ve ever experienced...  Welcome to Hotel California! They opened their doors for me, toured me around, drove me and my infamous suitcase where we needed to go, and introduced me to a world that I hadn’t imagined possible before.  I got to talk edtech with leaders in the field day after day, meet with app developers, and explore the campuses of edtech giants such as Google and Apple.  I attended CUE Rock Star Teacher Camp where I had the pleasure of assisting Drew Minock with his mini keynote presentation on Augmented Reality and met even more amazing people who I will undoubtedly continue to work with in the future.

So how is that life-changing exactly? Because my online connections became real. They turned into people that I can now confidently call my friends, and ones I will continue to work with on future educational projects.

David Malone, Alice Keeler, and Diane Darrow are now more than superstars behind a Twitter handle. Sharing the experience of touring Google and Apple with them was priceless. These people are just honest-to-goodness kind people who all have their own inspiring impact on education, and happened to include me on their journey! 

David and his family opened their home to me and made me feel like one of their own.  The hospitality of this amazing family is unmatched. Seriously. Oh, and be sure to check out his iTunesU course. Reading assessment game-changer.

Alice is easily one of the most fiery and passionate educators I’ve ever met.  From “lively device debater” to life coach, I seriously started to take notes.  Then again, I didn’t really have to take notes because it’s ALL on her awesome blog.

Diane holds a special spot in my heart. She is funny, engaging, and she LOVES kids. She is knowledgeable and will not hesitate to offer her advice on classroom ideas – of which she has many that engage higher order skills.  And playing Android action figures with her on the ride back from Apple/Google wasn’t bad, either. 

The amazingly cool Karl Lindgren-Streicher brought the most real, down-to-earth educational voice to this trip that I could have asked for. Not only did he push my standards, he also made me think about education from the stance of a content-specific high school teacher rather than as an elementary generalist.  And he gave me a nickname that may live through the ages, much to my dismay. 

Lisa Highfill is seriously the nicest human being on the planet – I could sit and talk with her for hours about edtech tools and classroom models that turn us into giddy geeks.  Efficient workflow strategies for the win! 

Diane Main was a treat - she is hilarious. Our trip to Santa Cruz with the international MERIT attendees will not soon be forgotten… And neither will #spatula jokes.

Drew – or as I more endearingly referred to him, “Michigan” - and I explored the city for days together seeing the sights and meeting app developers. He NEVER stops working for those who are curious, but he is very professional and has so many awesome ideas for classroom applications with software. I am excited to continue working with Drew and his class in the upcoming school year on some global collaboration projects. And if you don’t know about his site, be sure to remedy that and click there NOW.

Sam Patterson and Wokka Patue swiftly became a normal sight in my days, providing endless laughs and bringing oodles of fun into the Rock Star conference. The live #patue chat was a blast, too! 

Carrie Gehringer, my #patue buddy, was insanely fun to hang out with on the fantail of the USS Hornet.  She brings a laid-back, cool-cat attitude that we all need in our lives. 

John Stevens and I met at the Palo Alto #brewcue and became fast friends, relating on everything from sharing the same birthday to our awe towards the impact of Twitter as a PLN. Oh, and he hosts/contributes to a gazillion educational websites (link to one of them) and is the most talented “shredder” I’ve ever met. (Check out the "Shreds" section of that link to find out for yourself.) This guy is going places.

Scott Inman was a riot, from finding cream cheese from breakfast in his pockets late in the evening to clunking down his “bag of tricks” on the fantail. He was also nice enough to give Drew and I a ride to the BART after Rock Star was over. Amazing guy.

Erin Lunde, the girl who just happened to sit next to Drew and I in our first session at CUE Rock Star, won MVP for staying on the boat after hours despite her commitments.  Give her a follow – she WILL get excited. 

Curt and the Hornet crew played amazing hosts on this floating museum.  What an amazing place to hold an ed-conference and they made it worth every penny with their knowledge, expertise, and of course, direction-giving. (IT WAS A  MAZE)

And finally, Jon Corippo, the master mind, or as he calls himself “the baby daddy, “ behind CUE Rock Star, was incredibly generous and flexible in the way he ran the conference, making it into the experience that fit the people that were there.  He made it possible for all of us “crazy teachers” to connect with ease through this conference model.  I’m SO excited to return again next year to the Bay Area Rock Star conference.

I could continue.... I could. But sincerely, there is no way for me to scratch the surface of the impact of this trip on my view of the world of education, and my view of my PLN, but I had to try.  (And I’m sure you’re all wondering when this thing is going to end, even though I gave you fair warning with my disclaimer.) 

I am so honoured (yes, the Canadian way) to have spent time with these eduawesome people, among many more who I met on my trip.  Life-changing? Yes...

As soon as I saw the link on Twitter for Google Teacher Academy in Chicago, I knew I had to apply. I have been working on my application for almost two weeks.  Today I pressed the "Submit" button and, I can tell you, I was in a very different place back when I read the requirements than I am now.

When I began, I was forced to put something difficult in perspective: they may not want me because I'm not 100% savvy with Google apps.  Sure, I could have said that there have been very few opportunities to showcase the brilliance of tools like Google Drive when you're still training your staff how to turn an iPad on and off, but do they really want to hear that? I should be pumping up their products in the application process, right? Yet, I'm not someone who easily compromises who I am in a selection process. If I'm not meant to be in the running, then I'm glad that I at least got to be myself while I was in it. 

So I went through the motions and answered the questions. No problem. I'm a writer. I can craft an eloquently stated answer within 150 words and still get my point across. All while still being me. Then I got to the bottom of the application page.

Uh oh.  A movie?  Whaaat?

What would I do? How would I put it together? I know next to nothing about iMovie (the available video editing software on our district computers) and while I might be charismatic in person, I'm not a big fan of myself on camera.  I decided to let myself mull it over for a few days, writing down ideas, crossing them out, rewriting, tossing ... all the things typical of an aspiring writer editing his first screenplay. Things were not going well.  How could I be me without showing me?

I soon decided that I needed a theme for my video.  I planned the movie to revolve around a spy/Mission Impossible style;  I am a "tech teacher on a mission," after all.  This began to show great promise as I tinkered, played, and reworked video clips and images.  I taught myself how to screencast using SnagIt (free trial inside link) and captured images typed on GoogleDocs, from previously made Prezis, and from my iPad on the GoogleEarth app.  Then of course, after all that comes the formatting and making sure you're within the one-minute time limit... Loads of learning.

Today, as I sat back and watched my hours of handiwork in one single minute of video, I realized how much had gone into this project.  It's almost like I had been tricked into my own professional development with all of the digital tools listed above!  But I was so motivated to polish my application and get into GTA that I hadn't even considered the learning process involved within it...  What an exciting and inspiring concept!  

For those of you who care to watch, my submission is below.  Wish me luck and thanks for reading!