Those were the first words I heard after being formally escorted into a meeting room at the Google offices in Kirkland, Washington at the first ever YouTube Teacher Studio. Displayed at each of the 15 chairs surrounding the table was a YouTube Flip HD video camera, a GorillaPod and a Bamboo tablet.
YouTubeSwag
Throughout this amazing day, our small class of 15 educators from around the world were treated to a several top-notch presentations and workshops. The first session was with history teacher James Sanders. He discussed various ways to incorporate YouTube effectively into a classroom and gave us lots of ideas regarding YouTube playlists, searching techniques and video quizzes.
The next session was with high school chemistry teacher and adjunct professor of education from the University of San Francisco, Ramsey Musallam. His expertise is in screencasting and the power of capturing direct instruction using an approach known as flip teaching. Ramsey demonstrated how to make screencasts and showed us examples of how he incorporates them into his curriculum. Later we got some hands on experience using our new Bamboo tablets, a product I had not ever tried before, and also practiced screencasting. I really enjoyed the Bamboo tablet and need to practice with it before school starts. It will be an innovative addition to my classroom!
The best presentation of the day (in my opinion) was given by the inspirational and engaging Jim Sill, a TV and movie industry veteran who now works as a high school video production teacher. He exposed us thebasics of video production and engaged us in a fascinating discussion about effective videos and digital storytelling. He showed us examples of good and bad videos and discussed their different components. Later we practiced by making and analyzing short videos using our brand new Flip Cams.
The YouTube Teacher Studio was an incredible experience and it was nice to get a chance to discuss with like-minded educators how we are already using video in our classrooms and brainstorm effective ways we could potentially incorporate YouTube. . After this intensive day (plus some follow up a few days later and several things I can't disclose due to the NDA) I am thrilled to be able to call myself by the official title, "YouTube Star Teacher" - one of only fifteen worldwide at this point!
A couple weeks ago I was casually checking my email, only to notice one of the most thrilling and exciting messages ever:
Congratulations! You have been selected to participate in the Google Teacher Academy - Washington. After reviewing your application, we believe that you have the experience and passion necessary to positively impact education in your region, and we are excited to have you join us at the Google office in Seattle.
Although I'd spent many hours working on my GTA application and creating the required movie, I was truly shocked, stunned and thrilled to actually be accepted into this prestigious program! There were approximately 4,000 applicants and 50 were accepted. In this age of instant communication the 49 other educators from around the globe who had also been accepted, almost immediately started connecting through tweets, emails, wikis and shared documents. Looking through the biographies of these amazing educators is quite humbling.
There is little information available regarding GTA and they have informed us all that we are not allowed to take any photos inside of Google and must sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before entering the building. However, I have heard from a few teachers who have attended previous Google Teacher Academies that the experience is life-changing and unlike any other training. Rumor has it that the academy will most likely exceed all of our expectations, and it is invaluable and inspirational.
I can't wait!
And believe it or not, it gets even better.
In the original acceptance email was an invitation to apply to the YouTube Teacher Academy:
We're inviting you to apply be part of our inaugural class at the first YouTube Teacher Academy, a 1-day workshop that will give you the basic training and equipment needed to become a part of a star teaching team on YouTube EDU. This workshop will occur the day before the GTA in Seattle. This does require another application (and is limited to 15 participants), but it is ONLY open to those of you who have already been accepted into the GTA.
I figured I may as well give it a shot although considering they were only accepting 15 out of the 50 of us. I felt pretty intimidated by the 49 I was up against after viewing their websites and reading about their extensive awards and technology experience. I realized the competition was very stiff.
However, a few days later I received this email:
After reviewing many thoughtful and creative applications for the inaugural session of the YouTube Teacher's Studio you have been selected to participate - congratulations!
We believe that this program has the potential to spark a transformation in the way teachers connect with students, both in the classroom and outside. Your ability to create engaging videos and envision a future classroom that thoroughly integrates YouTube EDU makes you all the ideal teachers to participate and evangelize the YouTube Teacher's Studio.
WOW! I was absolutely blown away and actually went back to the email a few times to make sure I had read it correctly.
This is the movie I created (with the help of some students, of course) to submit as part of my original application. We shot the footage the last few days of school and I did all the editing the first week of summer break. The movie was limited to a minute (and I didn't dare go even one second over for fear of being disqualified) so it is a little choppier than I would have liked. Since school was out by the time I started the editing process, I couldn't reshoot any of the footage.
I leave for Google next week. I'll keep blogging about my experience. :)
