As of mid-April, I am back into K-12 education at Purdue Polytechnic High School (PPHS)- Englewood. After two and a half weeks, I am glad in spite of the commute being 10 times the distance of my previous commute to Traders Point Christian Schools (TPCS) until last summer when I left TPCS. At that time, not only was I going to "retire" (AGAIN!), but I wasn't necessarily going to volunteer in K-12 education to which I have devoted the last 7 years in my second career as a "refugee from higher education" which was rewarding so I shouldn't be surprised. It was rewarding because not only did I feel APPRECIATED AT TPCS, but I knew I was "needed" as I stated in a previous post,
In the five years since PPHS was founded, PPHS has had the wisdom to adopt Google Workspace for Education and Chromebooks which I championed at TPCS so I am not "needed" at PPHS as I was when I joined TPCS. Nevertheless, I learned so much during my transition to K-12 education so it certainly makes sense to continue to apply my experience to K-12 education as Warren Buffett recently advised. Especially, I learned so much about administering Google Workspace for Education and managing Chromebooks for students at TPCS which is precisely where I will be focusing at PPHS-Englewood. Asset management of Chromebooks and adoption of tools such as Clever which leverage Google Workspace for Education are top priorities. As devices issued to every student, Chromebooks represent a significant investment for PPHS and Google Workspace can make even more impact when leveraged with the adoption of Clever! Neither requires "rocket science" but they need to be done.
I also hope to enlist PPHS coaches (that's how PPHS designates "teachers") to join me among the ranks of Connected Educators. I don't YET know the need but I am willing to COACH them myself!
I "found" the job at PPHS as I was preparing to volunteer at PPHS-North which is closer to my home. I had been "wintering" in my boyhood home in Hawai'i which granted me the opportunity to consider my next step after failing to connect with PPHS when I tried last year after my retirement. PPHS is "near and dear to my heart" because it's an initiative of Purdue Polytechnic Institute where I had the good fortune of building the "undergraduate information technology education I would have wanted for myself" beginning in 1978.
Finally, I missed using Google Workspace. I even subscribed to Google Workspace Individual while I no longer had access to Google Workspace for Education. I have to "catch up" with so many new features, especially the ones that aren't available to Google Workspace Individual subscribers!
