Today is my final post for the year & I want to look back on 2019 and share plans and ideas for next year.
2019 was a good year for me. A really good year. I love my job. I can't say it enough. I do. And I know I'm very lucky to be able to say that. I've worked with teachers and students on many different projects and I look forward to continuing in 2020.
I also set a pretty major goal for myself in 2019 - to become a Google Certified Innovator. I applied in 2018, but didn't make it. I was devastated (just ask my husband). I knew I needed to submit a much higher quality application the next time, and worked on my application throughout the first half of the year. I have to give a huge shout-out to Becky Tompkins - she reviewed my application and gave me great feedback. I couldn't have done it without her. Over the summer, I focused on, what was for me, the most daunting piece of the application - the video. After realizing a cartoon video wasn't really "for me," I called on my youngest daughter to help with the creation of a screen-recorded Google Slides. She took pictures of me - I used the website Remove.bg to remove the background. (She did such a wonderful job!) I also used Bensound.com for background music. I was thrilled with the way it turned out. This time, I knew I submitted the best application I could have. On August 13, I spent the day checking email and Twitter ... until about 9 pm when my husband showed me the tweet announcing the NYC cohort with my name on it!!! YAY!!! What an incredible feeling and experience! I'll share more on this later, but I want to give a quick shout out to my sister - Angie - for being my travel buddy on this adventure.
2020 is going to be another good year for me. I have my Google Innovator project to work on and bring to life. I have been assigned an awesome mentor - Adi Aharon - and I look forward to working with her. I have the added bonus of support from my curriculum director - Becky Tompkins - as I continue on this journey. My project focuses on helping teachers achieve the goals they set for themselves. Look for more to come!
I also look forward to adding to Templates for Teachers, the site Beth Kingsley & I co-created. We share out templates we've created for other teachers to use (& modify if desired). So far, we have 76! They are all made with Google, so it's super easy to make your own copy.
Another project on my radar has to do with one of my other passions - the 8th grade Washington, DC trip I co-coordinate with Alyssa Bruck. Two years ago, I created an "app" for our trip. I used Google Slides. I made version 2.0 for last years trip and I have already started on version 3.0 for the November 2020 trip. Super excited about this!!!
I plan to continue sharing here on this blog. Ideally, I will post on Sundays, but sometimes (like this one) I'm not able to. I also will continue to share out on my companion blog, TYCD: Resources. I'd love for you to check it out! On this blog, I share resources I've come across that I feel have some value. I keep it short & sweet and focus on the link, the audience, suggested content, targeted grade level, along with a short review. This is typically a Tuesday posting. And on Thursdays, I've been selecting a previous blog (from either one) and sharing that out, too. I've called it "#ThrowbackThursday"'s. If what I share is helpful for you, I encourage you to subscribe - to both blogs, so you will not miss a posting. I also share each blog out on Google+, Twitter, Wakelet, Pinterest, and Facebook.
Finally - I want to thank you, readers. Thank you for reading. Thank you for your comments. Thank you for your support. I hope 2019 was a good year for you and that 2020 will be an even better year! As I re-read through this, I notice a common theme. I'm not doing it all on my own. My family, my friends, my colleagues, and you are there with me every step of the way. I hope I am there with you, too.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if I can support you:
- email ↬ sarah@techyoucando.com
- Twitter ↬ @kiefersj
- comment below ↴
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