Dream It, Believe It, Do It

 In February, I formally announced that I was going to pass the torch of teaching yearbook to other educators at my school.  This decision was not an easy one for me, likely because I am someone who prides myself in commitment and seeing something through. I have taught yearbook for most of my 17 years of teaching and I learned so much from it.  But I finally accepted that if I was going to let myself dive deep into actually mentoring other teachers in my role as TOSA while still co-chairing a PBL pathway at my school and teaching, something had to give.

I finally accepted that I like being a leader and instead of being shy about it, I became much more confident that this is the journey I should be on.  As soon as I let go of the doubt and inner critic, so much has changed in my life. 

Timeline of the changes:

March 2019
I found out that my TOSA periods would shift from one to three for next year, giving me more time to meet with teachers and dream bigger for the impact I can have.

March 26 2019
I found out I was accepted to the Stanford Design Thinking Institute for a summer training.

April 22 2019
I found out I will have my first Student Teacher to mentor next year.  She is wonderful and I look forward to her input as we really envision my two 9th grade English classes in a co-teaching model.

May 4 2019
Completed my Google for Education Trainer Application.  Video Submission

June 1 2019
I decided that I wanted to work on earning my Admin Credential.  I met with a few mentors who I greatly respect and got their advice and they connected me with other educators at my district who went through the County Program.

June 6 2019
After completing finals at my school, I realized that I had the concept for an article that I wanted to share with a wider audience.  Thanks to the encouragement of a colleague, I emailed Edutopia with a concept for an article.

June 12 2019



I was accepted as a Google for Education Certified Trainer #GoogleET, an achievement I had worked this entire year as a TOSA towards.  I was ecstatic because this meant that I would have a cohort of other Trainers and we can share Professional Development ideas and strategies.  It also gave me a boost of confidence that things were moving in the right direction.




June 24 2019
I was accepted into the Santa Clara County Office of Education LEAP Program to earn my Admin Credential over the next 11 months.

June 26-28 2019

Attending Stanford's Design Thinking Institute set me on a path that just keeps moving forward. I worked on Design Thinking Projects and listened empathetically to 40 educators from around the world talk about education.  At the end of the conference we were all asked to write our How Might We, a question that drives all of Design Thinking Challenges. I wrote one for myself as a teacher related to a project and I wrote a second that dealt with Education, that bigger dream concept that I hadn't ever really let myself dive into.

June 20 2019
I completed an Adobe for Edu class on podcasting and made My First Podcast that will be part of my vision for helping my district staff share out cool things happening in their classrooms.

June 30 2019

After developing my How Might We at the Design Summit, I decided to to apply for Google Innovator. I had been following Innovators on twitter, reading their books, and watching their conference sessions and I finally realized I was ready.  I developed the concept for my video and put together my application and off I sent it. I told myself the advise that the Innovators on twitter shared, most applicants apply 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or more times.  So just do it and just keep applying if it doesn't happen.



July 3 2019
Heard from Edutopia and they wanted to publish my article!  This should publish later in July.

July 9 2019

Became a certified Apple Teacher after passing the quizzes through Apple Education Teacher Learning Center.



July 17 2019

I was accepted to the Google for Education Innovator Academy in Singapore #GoogleEI #SEA19!  I don't even know where to begin. It is a cohort of 36 people from around the world.  We are already working together and video conferencing.  I have been launched into the excitement of all that is to come.  In September I will fly to Singapore and will be at Google working to ideate, prototype, test, and present my concept on the Google stage!

I know I have worked hard for all that is to come, but it is still very surreal.  I always tell my students to dream big, I did it myself and look where I am now!  I cannot wait to share as my projects develop and am happy to connect with all of you over twitter: @StephEdTech.