How can one measure Googliness? Do you have to become a Google Educator? Should a test measure your worth? Recently, I applied to be a part of the Google Teacher Academy, which normally takes place over the summer in at least one US location. I filmed random footage from classrooms over the last couple weeks and didn’t really have an overarching theme in mind. Instead, I just filmed, watched a lot of other teacher’s GTA submissions, and waited for inspiration to strike.
My Inspiration
At first, I picture 2001: A Space Odyssey and heard a slow dwelling symphony, tympani banging in my head. I thought of B.G. (Before Google in the Classroom) and the evolutionary clip entitled Dawn of Man from the 1968 movie. Here is a shortened version of this clip with music and I thought it would be interesting to say nothing but instead have the music playing and showing differences in the classroom “then and now.”
But I really just couldn’t think of a great storyboard. I was stumped. Then, inspiration hit in the form of edited-for-television movie I happened to find on TV one night. The movie was a Will Ferrel movie, which was nothing like your normal Will Ferrel movie. In the following clip, from Stranger than Fiction, there is a lot of kinetic text/data and tracking text following his movement. I was really impressed with these effects but I didn’t have much Data to share.
Instead, I focused on the silliness of narrating my GCT application. I don’t like talking myself up or bragging about anything I do. I mostly focus on the incremental changes I make with little to no recognition. I put the teachers and students I work with first and share what they did rather than add myself into the mix. For me, I am not in teaching for awards and recognition. I am not trying to build a legacy. Acknowledging my British narrator was me poking fun of my bragging in the third person.
With that said, I still share and connect with others in order to spread the “experience love.” At the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, I would be honored to be considered Google Certified. And the reason I want to become a Google Certified Teacher is to better myself for my teachers and students. The trailer below does a decent job of summarizing how he interacts with the narrator, which is an extremely rare tactic used in movies.
My Equipment
Hardware
- Camera – Canon 60D
- Recording Device – Zoom H1N
- Guitar – Martin D-28
Software
- Video Editing – Final Cut Pro X
- Audio Editing – GarageBand
- Effects – Motion 5 Templates
