Texas Google Summit

Today I spent the day learning at the 2nd annual Texas Google Summit that was put on by the non-profit group Techs4Tex. This was an amazing day of learning for me. Many of the presenters were Google Educators or Google Certified Teachers who know so much about being Googley and about Google Apps For Education or GAFE.

Since Frisco ISD is a GAFE district, and many campuses are currently using Chromebooks or are getting Chromebooks, I felt like this would be a great place for me to go and learn more so I can be a better teacher.

And boy did I learn more! This blog post will only touch on my learning for the day, but my hope is that some of my learning may be inspiring or valuable to you!

The opening keynote by Kyle Pace was completely inspiring and got me so pumped for the day!

Some of the things I learned during the Keynote:

1. We as teachers need to challenge our students: What can’t you do today?
2. I am first and foremost a learner.
3. Kids should be creating more than they are consuming.
4. Through creativity, kids will fail, but through that failure (and the associated learning) they will succeed! (Watch the video below!)
5. Everyone has something worth sharing.
6. Courageously lead and show others how to follow!
7. Don’t just tell kids how to be good digital citizens, model it and be online with them. Show them through your online activity what good digital citizens do.
8. Be the chief storyteller of your school, classroom, or library and help the kids tell the story of their learning.
9. While helping kids be better students, help them be better people.
10. Be an active learner.

I went to about 10 different sessions today (even though there were only 6 different session times). I went in and out of some sessions to find just the right sessions for me to help me learn the things that would be most valuable to me. How powerful is that? Can you imagine what our kids could learn if they were allowed some choice in their learning?

Today I learned:

1. I learned how to find, install, and use a whole bunch of different Google Chrome extensions and apps.
2. I learned about how those Google apps and extensions can help me be a better teacher.
3. I learned how to use Google Scripts like Autocrat with Google Forms.
4. I learned what Google Draw is and how to use it.
5. I learned about Google Voice, installed it, and got a Google Voice number.
6. I learned about how to change up GoogleSites to make them more functional for my students.
7. I learned about the power of Google Hangout for learning and connecting my students to the world.

I spent the day with a lot of other educators that were there to learn too. I got to meet them, interact with them, and learn with them. The Texas Google Summit Googlelicious! Just let me know if there is something I can teach you from my Google learning!