It has been a whirlwind since January 18. I decided in December that I was going to apply to the Google Innovator Academy which I had applied to once before when it was the Teacher Academy. The revamped program requires you to have the Google Educator Level 2 certification. I met my goal of passing both Level 1 and Level 2 tests over Christmas break.
The application had some great questions and things to think about. Somehow, this one felt like it was meant for me since I had the pieces I needed to put everything together. The part where I struggle is always the video. I overthink what I want to say. This time, my concept came to me, and I used my phone to tape the first part then used an editor to record the rest. It is always tricky to get it down to one minute, but I managed that without losing my message. I submitted everything with just half a day to spare.
The day that notifications were going out was a tough one. For the first time ever, we were required to work on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. While it was a retreat with a shortened work day, it was still a day that I was not with my family. I was able to use the retreat to clear my head space. When I got home, I was spending time hanging out with my family. I saw a notification on my smart watch that said both Google and Congratulations. I had to run to my computer to check that it was true. Once I verified that it was right, there was jumping up and down and screaming in my house! That evening was a flurry on Twitter as members of the #MTV16 cohort of the #GoogleEI found each other. Let's just go with it was not my best night of sleep!
The hardest part of the acceptance was getting my boss to approve my being absent for 4 days. In the end, he did agree to let me go. After sending in my official information, the reality began to set in a bit. Many of us were anxiously waiting to hear about the next steps from Google.
The application had some great questions and things to think about. Somehow, this one felt like it was meant for me since I had the pieces I needed to put everything together. The part where I struggle is always the video. I overthink what I want to say. This time, my concept came to me, and I used my phone to tape the first part then used an editor to record the rest. It is always tricky to get it down to one minute, but I managed that without losing my message. I submitted everything with just half a day to spare.
The day that notifications were going out was a tough one. For the first time ever, we were required to work on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. While it was a retreat with a shortened work day, it was still a day that I was not with my family. I was able to use the retreat to clear my head space. When I got home, I was spending time hanging out with my family. I saw a notification on my smart watch that said both Google and Congratulations. I had to run to my computer to check that it was true. Once I verified that it was right, there was jumping up and down and screaming in my house! That evening was a flurry on Twitter as members of the #MTV16 cohort of the #GoogleEI found each other. Let's just go with it was not my best night of sleep!
The hardest part of the acceptance was getting my boss to approve my being absent for 4 days. In the end, he did agree to let me go. After sending in my official information, the reality began to set in a bit. Many of us were anxiously waiting to hear about the next steps from Google.
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