Today’s Contributor: Roger Grape has been the guybrarian at Blackshear Elementary Fine Arts Academy for nine years. He enjoys reading (duh!) running, yoga, and travel.
At the beginning of this school year, I (and I’m sure many of you) received an email from FriED Technology offering teachers the opportunity to take their online course to become a Google Certified Teacher, Level 1, at no charge.
Now, I have something to confess. Years ago, I took another online course to become a Google Certified Teacher, and I failed the test. 
So when given a second chance (especially a free chance), I decided to get back on the horse and try again.
This experience was much different than the previous one. FriED Technology has a methodical, step-by-step course that is self-paced and engaging. There was a deadline, but they give you plenty of time to get through the material.
The course highlights the major functions of Google applications such as Docs, Sheets, Forms, Drive, Calendar, Sites, Slides, YouTube, Draw, and of course Classroom. This is a “hands-on” course, which means you actually create items in the various applications as you are learning about them. That was really helpful for me as a visual/kinesthetic learner.
Bottom Line: If you get the chance to take this course, I would encourage you to do it. You are likely already seen by your colleagues as “the tech expert” on your campus. Knowing more about the ins and outs of Google applications will make you the Google expert too! And my principal gave me PLED credit when I showed him my certificate. 🙂
This flyer contains information on FriED Tech’s online course. Any interested Austin ISD staff may complete their interest form on the following website by selecting the ‘Application’ icon and then selecting ‘Austin ISD.’ https://fried.tech/state22-level1app
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