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Thank You for 20 Years.

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After 20 years of teaching at Brookfield Central, I am saying goodbye. Although I spent the majority of that time in the physics classroom alongside my learners. That changed for my last 18 weeks. I ended up in a place similar to where I started, teaching chemistry and biology. So, rather than dealing with juniors and seniors at the end of their high school careers, I was in classrooms with freshmen and sophomores still trying to find their place. At the same time, I was learning and teaching a set curriculum I hadn't taught in over a decade. So, we were learning. But, of course, I already knew the content.  The point of this post is to take a step back, take in, and share the gratitude from the last students I had in my 20 years at Brookfield Central High School through the cards and notes they made for me on my last day with them.  I don't take many yay me moments. But after 20 years, I think I'll soak this one in.
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Leveling up my GAFE App-titude

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I took the exam for and gained my Google Level 2 Certification today.




The training made me realize that I knew the basics of Drive, Docs, and Sildes really well.  But I extended my knowledge of Sheets and Forms.  In addition, I learned about a whole world of Google apps that I either had barely scratched the surface of (like YouTube) or was clueless about (like Expeditions).  The training was so worth it!

Google Certification may not be something you're interested in.  But, I recommend you at least find out more about the Google tools that are out there to help personalize the way students access information, engage with information, and express understanding.  Just learning about one more tool, could help empower more students.

Here are some of the great things I leaned about.


My Maps in the Classroom

Users create personal maps and add media to locations to tell a story.







Google Earth Tour Builder:

Virtual field trips created by educators or STUDENTS! A great tool for creation.  Telling tales both fiction and non-fictional, personal or global.



Google Cultural Institute:

Explore artworks, historical sites, and stories from around the world.





Google Expeditions

Using Google Cardboard to take immersive virtual field trips. 




Annotations in YouTube

Add text and links within your YouTube videos with ease.


Add Cards to YouTube

Use cards to direct viewers to specific urls from your video. Can be used for a variety of purposes.



Google Research in Docs - allows for Scholar research as well right from tool!

Don't exit Google Docs when you're looking for information and images!




Google Trends

Take the pulse of the world or track interest of topics over time.






I'm not allowed to discuss the tests because of a nondisclosure agreement. But, if you'd like to just learn about the tools for fun or for certification, head to the Google for Education Training Center.
There is so much available in Google Apps for Education, I feel like I'm really going to have to just make or find a list of all the tools available to our students that we have yet to explore.

I guess I could Google it.


My next plan is to dig into their Chromebook training as we are going 1:1 in our school next year.




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