Certified!

It feels like it has been a long week... but very knowledgeable! I have officially now received my Apple Teacher status (with Swift Playgrounds) as well as my Google Certified Educator Level 1. 

As my current school is an Apple Distinguished Schools (ADS) candidate, we are starting to encourage teachers to complete the Apple Teacher program. I have been waiting for the opportunity and finally took it... less than an hour later (while multi-tasking), I was certified. A few days later, after playing with Swift Playgrounds I earned my new badge.

All week I was also studying for the Google Certified Educator Level 1 exam. This exam was a lot more stressful for me. The Apple one is calm, self-paced, and you can re-do anything immediately. The Google one has a set time, a webcam on you for verification, it is a paid exam, and if you fail there are time limits for when you can sit the exam next... all making for more of an uptight situation. However, after a week of studying I sat down Friday morning and completed it in an hour and a half (half the time given).

This blog is to showcase my beliefs and understandings of using these two certifications in my PYP classroom. I have taught the PYP curriculum for 6 years now, both as a classroom teacher and as an ICT specialist teacher. I currently work at an IB school in the UAE. I teach year 5, am the PYP Coordinator, and Computing Curriculum Coordinator. Many hats! We are planning an Apple Innovation event next month for our school community which we are very excited about, and are also working on our iBook to provide to the ADS team.

As my time in the Middle East is coming to an end, I wanted to share what I have learned in the past two years at this 1:1 iPad school. Next academic year I will be moving to Switzerland to an IB school there, hoping to implement these same things into the inquiry-based classrooms there. Some blog posts may be regarding technology, some maybe about inquiry, and some a combination of the two.