I’ve long been a fan of Google Suite for Education and first became a Google Certified Educator in October 2015. I don’t know why but I’ve never really tried to take this certification any further despite running regular training events in school since 2012, bar last school session.
I deliberately took the decision to not focus on technology working groups last session. It was a bit of a digital strategy detox and I wanted to experience another area of whole school strategy. As a result I opted to focus on Mental Health and Wellbeing and became a Mental Health First Aider. This was extremely valuable and supported my classroom practice, behaviour management and lesson planning. There were so many moments in the last school session when I was thankful for the training and discussion opportunities being part of the Mental Health and Wellbeing group enabled.
Tomorrow a new school year begins and I’m most likely heading back into digital strategy. I’m looking forward to contributing to an inclusive policy for my school whilst remaining mindful of anxiety and access issues digital opportunities can bring to students, staff and parents. I began preparation for this session by updating my GCE certification. Not only will this allow me to apply to become a Google Certified Trainer this year but I wanted to see if there were any new elements in the course relating to health and wellbeing. Unfortunately not but this has given me a focus for my GCT sessions in the next few months.
If you are a Google Certified Educator or Trainer what are your plans for the coming school session? I’d love to hear from you @familysimpson or in the comments below.
