Michael C. Miller of Otsego recently returned from London, one of only 50 educators worldwide selected to attend the Google Teacher Academy there.
“I was pretty pumped about that,” said the 36-year-old Galesburg-Augusta High School business teacher who also offers a class through Education for Employment at Loy Norrix High School.
The Google Teacher Academy, which took place April 4-5, provided free professional development experience to select educators from around the world. It is “designed to help … teachers from around the globe get the most from innovative technologies,” according to the Google web site. “Upon completion, Academy participants become Google Certified Teachers who share what they learn with other primary and secondary educators in their local region.”
Now Miller is officially a Google Certified Teacher and he’s back in his classrooms in Kalamazoo County, sharing what he’s learned and networking with educators and technology engineers around the world. He is required to develop a personal action plan to extend his learning to the community, actively participate in the Google Certified Teacher online community, share the impact of his work with other Google Certified Teachers and offer them an end-of-the-year reflection as well.
Miller – whose favorite tech tool is the newest iPad (he ran out and got it the night it was released)-- said he has always “tried to incorporate technology into everything I’m doing.”
He grew up and graduated from high school in Otsego, then attended Western Michigan University where he earned a bachelor’s in business administration and a master’s in educational technology. He has been teaching desktop publishing and computer technology at Galesburg-Augusta since 2004. He and his wife, Kolene, have two children, a 6-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.
When he spotted an opportunity to apply for the Google Teacher Academy, Miller told his wife he wanted to try for it. He put together a 1-minute video and sent it off. Two factors were likely key in his successful application, he said: His experience in technology and his hardware background. “They just saw something in how I use technology and my passion for it,” he said.
The most important lesson he learned from his experience? “That I am part of a worldwide network of teachers with expertise in a variety of areas and, anytime I need to, I can use them as a resource.”
For Miller, leveraging that latest technology as a teacher is all about “being part of something bigger than yourself and, hopefully, having a real impact on education.”
EFE is a division of the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency. EFE offers 36 career and technical programs that cover all six career pathways. More than 3,900 high school students from Kalamazoo County participate in EFE courses throughout the county at various locations. For more information, call 269-250-9309.
