Google Certified Educator Level 1 - What I learned

I'm so excited that I recently passed my exam to become a Google Certified Educator Level 1!

Many people have wondered about the journey to Google Certification, so I will give some insight here.

1.  John Sowash gave me some great advice through an email series (after clicking scroll down to find the link to sign up for the email series) he has set up for those interested in Google Educator Certification.  One of his emails listed reasons TO get the certifications and reasons you shouldn't use for justifying getting the certification. He focussed on the good reason(s) being those that improve you as an educator.  I got my Google Educator Certification because going through the training and exam gave me more knowledge about how to use G-Suite tools to help me reach students better.  I also learned some things about productivity and how the G-Suite tools work best together that will make me a more efficient person and teacher.  I also attended a session on certifications at a GAFE Summit in Franklin Indiana.  (Side note:  If you EVER get a chance to go to a Google Summit for training - GO!)

2.  I had been using G-Suite for 3 years on a regular basis before attempting certification.  Because of that, I had little I needed to actually "train" for.  The Google training at the Google Training Center is amazing and helpful. You can pick and choose to complete sections you know you need help with. I only completed 2 actual trainings but took review tests at the end of each training module.  (Hint:  The actual test was not as difficult as the review tests that are part of the training).

3.  I spent around 8 hours total studying/preparing for the exam, and almost 3 hours to take the exam. You are given 3 hours and, because most of the exam is applications based, it really does take a good chunk of time. You are actually creating documents, sheets, forms, etc. and proving you know how to share and manipulate them.

4.  My biggest takeaways from the training/exam:

      A.  I learned I could tag a someone in a comment in a shared document.  I can also assign a comment to a certain person.  Can't wait to use this skill more next school year.

      B.  I learned a whole lot about Sheets because I had very little prior knowledge in this area.  I now see the value of using Sheets more in the classroom.

      C.  I learned how to filter email, create and use stars, and organize my inbox to help me be more efficient.  Students need know how to do these things as well!

     D.  I learned how to share my screen during a Hangout, and how to set bandwidth in Hangouts to improve quality.

    E.  I learned how to get a better experience when using YouTube, and that you can share videos from right within YouTube - no need to copy the link!

     F.  I learned about Google Groups - didn't even know they existed.  My mind is still thinking of ways to use this amazing collaboration tool.

    G.  I learned about Google Tasks - HOW did I not know about this before!  This one tool has already impacted my life to improve my productivity.

     H.  I learned how to use Google Keep as a task list with media features.  I also discovered Keep is a great way to save comments that I use over and over on student documents and IEPs.

5.  I HIGHLY recommend using the checklist by Eric Curts or the checklist by @shakeuplearning to help you determine if you have the needed skills to take the Google Exam for Level 1 Educator Certification.  I used Eric Curts list, googled some things, and completed the Google trianing for others.  You Can Do It!

I look forward to sharing about my journey to receive Google Certified Educator Level 2 status soon!