Short update:
It’s over a 100° F and humid in Japan, so I have been making camp under the A/C in my apartment. This year I will be finishing my graduate courses at Boise State University for Educational Technology and continuing development of the new middle school at the Deutsche Schule Kobe / European School Kobe.
Thank you @satyadamours for making sure I had a productive summer! Now I’ve got my eye on that Google Innovator Program.
I also just passed the Google Educator Certification, Level 2. So now I can proudly display my new badge for the world to see. Using Google Apps for Education in my daily teaching practice provided me with enough experience to whizz through the test itself, and passing has given me more confidence in my Google skills.
Funnily enough, I learned a lot by taking the test. I am already applying some of the tools and skills that were introduced to me through the test-taking.
Looking at this next year, I will be working my professional development after a frantic year setting up a middle school program.
To that end, I am wading through the piles of teaching resources I bookmarked to look at “when I have time”. In that mix, I found some great stuff to use this year. I will be sharing my finds here.
Recommendation: ProDivas for Inquiry-based teaching
ProDivas is a resource that provides short, sweet resources for educators. A colleague at work recommended it to me at school, and I came across it today while creating my teacher planner for the year.
One of the areas I am looking to improve on is incorporating inquiry more effectively into my subject-specific teaching. Since I will be moving into more and more specialized levels of science and mathematics with Grade 8, I need to hammer out a plan for balancing higher level concepts and content with the project-based learning my students are familiar with.
This chart by Natasha Hutchins lays out a helpful breakdown of Inquiry Cycle steps into easy to digest, action-oriented parts. I will try to be doing the same in greater detail before the school year starts.
Ms. Lee Makes Lessons 