*Apologies* This post was originally written for my own Blog about the GTA. I write to a much different audience than you all! I am going to remember one of my writing skills, and think about my audience – making a few tweaks. Here is the newly revised version of this post.

I wanted the onesy when I first laid my eyes on it – at 8:30am. The green outfit reminded me of both Yoda and Frogs – two creatures I have a lot of respect for. When it was first debuted, our instructor was wearing it (a 5’6″ woman). I never thought that I would be able to win my very own onesy during the first day… or that I would be wearing it by the end of the night.

The Coveted Onesy…

Welcome to the Google Teacher Academy

Well, it is official, I am a Google Certified Teacher. I went to Manila last month to attend the Google Teacher Academy. 53 selected applicants from around the world met at the Asian Institute of Management in downtown Manila. I flew in the night before in the middle of a torrential downpour – in some areas, we found knee-high water on the streets. The airport was great and I had no difficulties. Getting to the hotel – normally a 15-20 minute drive – took almost 2.5 hours. When the driver said we were getting close, I spotted a nice Thai place where I eventually went for dinner (and had crispy pork on a bed of kale with lemon ginger chicken satay). After so much waiting in the car, I was famished! The meal was fantastic, and I could not have asked for a better way to end my day of travel. After the meal, I went back to the hotel and tried to get some rest before the Academy started in the Morning.

At 8am on the 2nd of October, we all jammed into the elevators at the AIM Conference center to reach our fourth floor (windowless) training rooms. I could not help but feeling excited as I rode the elevator up to the fourth floor. Google did a great job of building hype for the event, the signs and balloons that we found everywhere definitely helped. When we walked into the training room, we were immediately overwhelmed by the Googleness of the Venue… (as you will see in photos later).

What Happens at a Google Teacher Academy?

The Google teacher academy started about 10 years ago. Google, seeing a lack of technology experience in Education as a clear problem started training groups of teachers on Google Products. Since they started, Google has trained 1300 Teachers around the world – all of whom receive the coveted Google Certified Teacher title. When I walked into the GTA, I had no idea what to expect, or what the Google Teacher Academy was…

…I still have almost no idea…

In between games, food, and socializing, we were taught about simple methods for using Google Apps more effectively in our organizations and classrooms. I was a bit disappointed since I have been working as an Administrator for Google Apps since 2008 and most of the sessions were geared for folks who were just starting out.

When the first morning started, I saw my prize: the Android Onesy. A Google Promotional Item to the core, but a great green Onesy designed for adults. I was immediately impressed by the suit, and started pondering how I could get one… until the Academy started, and I had to focus.

The first morning started with some wonderful talks – from the Conference Organizers “Blukore” (where I learned that there have been 21 Google Teacher Academy’s so far and approx 1300 Google Certified Teachers) and from Harry Kwa – VP of Asia Pacific – about the 10x Mantra.

Harry was a very inspiring speaker! His talk was engaging and had some fantastic one-liners…

“If technology can enhance student engagement and make it more personalized and connected, then make use of it. If it does not, then don’t [use technology].”

“Education is about teaching your students generic skill sets that they can use across a broad range of jobs and careers.”

“It is no longer a homogeneous world. Your students will work with multiple devices and technologies. Focusing on a single device will not work. When you teach drivers education, you do not teach students how to drive a Honda Civic, but how to drive a car.”

“For every minute of YouTube you watch, 100 hrs of new videos are uploaded.”

There were a couple of product revelations: GAFE becoming GDFE or as I like to say GooDFE (easier to pronounce). The Apps were re-branded as Drive along with a huge bump in Google Storage limits (up to 5tb per education user) and the notification that Google Vault would become free for GDFE users. Another reason that I liked Harry’s talk, he used the correct and updated Blooms Taxonomy in his slides – I see the old one way too often!

Team Isaw in the Google Photo Booth

During Day 1, I learned about a slew of new technologies: Virtual Field Trips, Google Science Fair, Google Cardboard, the Big Picture team, Problems of Practice, and Pagemeister Scripts. On top of learning, we spent a lot of time playing around with the Google Photo Booth and Props. I also got to learn more than my fair share about Philippine Street Food – which we were given as our morning Tea.

My favorite Activity of Day 1 was a program called the Minute-to-win-it. I was selected to play the part of the “Mad-Dog” (I now think that my official title should be “GCT Mad Dog”).

It was a struggle, and I came back dizzy, but I did beat out the competition for the title of “Mad-Dog.”

After winning the Mad-Dog, I was placed in the Final round for the Android Onesy, my only chance to win it… which I expertly won with a single rubber band shot to knock over a stack of empty soda cans.

Me and my rival preparing for the Mad-dog Competition (he already has the bone in his mouth).

After many meals, talks, and training sessions, we were officially “pinned” as Google Certified Teachers. This was at about 8pm and we all went out for a drink or two to celebrate in the Famous Greenbelt area of Manila. We found a place with some real beer and great burgers and all of us expats enjoyed some great food and company.

During Day 2, we started early so that we could cover as much as possible. We had a couple of break-out sessions and had an un-conference (which is designed to allow participants to determine the conference sessions). I ended up presenting at both of the Uncon sessions I attended: Gamification and Google Apps Administration.

Of course there was plenty of time to eat the food that google had for us and take wacky photo’s with my team…

Great shot of me and Team ISAW.

What are the benefits?

Well, first and foremost, networking! I have met and now interact with a great group of teachers from around the world. As I move forward, I get to interact with, and share my experiences with the Google Certified Teachers, through our own network and resource sharing sites. It is a great group of folks, and I am happy to be able to call myself a Google Certified Teacher.