Hi guys,

So, I wanted to send you a quick hello from London!  The Google Innovator is underway and I want to share the beginning of my story with you.

To begin, I know all of you are wondering what it is like in London, right?  Well, it’s similar and very different to America.  For myself, the biggest differences are: the time zone, language, and transportation.  The time zone is totally different than California.  Currently, I am writing this blog post at 1:00 AM in London but it is 5:00 PM in California.  Isn’t that crazy?  Even crazier – at 4:00 PM London time, you guys have not even started class yet.  It’s been tripping me out this entire time and I want to thank those of you who have been patient on receiving emails.  Now, the language in London is English but it is also very different.  As an example, fries = chips, subway = tube, pants = trousers, line = queue, potato chips = crips, and so on.  Also – I guess asking for “non-caffeinated hot tea” is a weird questions, based upon the looks I received.  Finally, the transportation is simply amazing.  I have not driven a car since I left California.  The subway (AKA tube) system is amazing and you can easily get around London.

Now onto the important things…

The Google Innovator Academy is why I am visiting London.  It’s an academy that accepts 36 educators from all over the world to develop an innovation project that will create a positive change in education.  I want to transform teacher lesson plans to create more relevant and engaging lessons for students.  Sometimes, I worry that (us) teachers can become disconnected with what is important and relevant to the students.  Although we have content we need to cover, how do we create content that is interesting and engaging to you?  How do we make it relevant to your lives?  The Google Innovator program will be a yearlong program where I will be assigned a coach and mentor to assist me with this vision.  It’s going to be a lot of work but it is an amazing opportunity to make a difference.

The thing that I want you to take away from my experience is that life is full of possibilities.  It may be difficult to think about that right now as a middle school student but you have no idea where you could be in 10, 15, or 20 years.  Honestly, the entire world is ahead of you and you have the opportunity to make your dreams happen.  My advice: Find your passion, discover how it relates to a possible career or goal, and give it your everything.  Always work hard and do not be afraid of failure.  Failure is inevitable.  (That means it’s going to happen.)  The question is – how will handle your failures?  Will you let it destroy your passions?  Or will you allow it to transform your passions and your dreams into something even greater?

Keep these thoughts in your mind and think them over the next few days.  I am hoping to get back on and blog again to you tomorrow.  If you have any questions about my trip, email me these questions and I will respond to you in my next blog post.

Be awesome and have a great day!

Mrs. Kelly

This post is a part of a series of titled “Adventures in Innovation” and focuses on the release of my Google Innovator Project: BoostEDU.