SlidesYearbook is a Google Innovator Project, so it makes sense to create the #Lon19 Google Innovator Academy Yearbook. Since December 2016 when this #Mex16 project launched, I have created instructions in both English and Spanish (with more details in English) and created an online college course with EdTechTeam Online for those who want additional support and/or college credit. Coding and designing the #Lon19 yearbook is the next step.
Of course, collaboration makes quality work. This blog post introduces the major contributors (thus far) to the #Lon19 Yearbook.
Necessity prompts innovation. Jon asked Compton Jr. High yearbook students to create the first-ever Spring CUE 2019 Yearbook. Hand-inserting photos or using the photographer's antiquated software was not an option. We needed a coding solution.
Thanks to these students and Jon, new solutions and collaborators were discovered. Thanks to them, I am coding the #Lon19 Yearbook (with help, of course).
Autocrat Expert - Joe Schmidt
As a Google Certified Innovator, I am not afraid to ask questions, fail, and search for help. Thankfully, Joe Schmidt, a retired data analyst and Autocrat expert, jumped onto the #CUE19 project and has stayed with me.
If you have a question about Google Sheets formulas, Joe is your man! The code for SlidesYearbook includes Joe's formulas and organization ideas.
For the #Lon19 yearbook, Joe focused on a major problem - how to fill out individual yearbook sections. What if the last page of a section only had 9 photos and not 16? Joe's solution added filler rows using unique and countif formulas to keep track of the number of photos in that section. Such inspiration!
Coding Teacher - Alice Keeler
I have wanted to code the SlidesYearbook add-on for quite some time. To make that dream a reality, I have taken multiple #GoSlowWorkshops, with a focus on coding. Sign up for Alice's classes here. Her online classes, quality feedback, and consistent encouragement have revived my ancient HTML skills and have created a strong foundation in coding.
No, Alice will not read my code. She will not troubleshoot for me. That is my job. #GirlPower! But somehow, Alice always provides the lesson that I need just when I need it. The video to the right shows how today's Go Slow Coding Workshop enabled the next step in SlidesYearbook.
I work in the same city with Hans and Devin. I have worked with Hans on KernCUE projects and #teamBCSD projects with Devin.
Both Educators were accepted into the #Lon19 Innovator Cohort. Trust me when I saw that the mood was electric in our city. We are proud of their success.
Before, during, and after the Academy, Hans and Devin shared yearbook forms and information with their group. The #Lon19 Yearbook would not exist without them.
Graphic Designer - Luis Fernando Pertuz Escribano
Luis is a fellow educator from Colombia. We met last year when a mutual friend of ours, Fede Centeno, was attending ISTE. We fanboyed the conference using Twitter from our respective parts of the world.
When I tweeted updates on the #Lon19 Yearbook during the Academy, Luis offered to help. Of course, I said yes. Luis is creating decorations and Word Art for the yearbook so that I can focus on organization and coding.
As Luis works on the yearbook, he is also applying for the #NYC19 Google Innovator Academy. Good luck, sir! We appreciate your help!
Me searching through hundreds of Google fonts to match the Lon19 sign.@pertuzluisfer sipping his coffee in Colombia, "Oh that is Graduate."#Lon19 #Googleei #SlidesYearbook @HansTullmann @DevinRossiter #GiveMeSomeOfThatColombianCoffee pic.twitter.com/bepLNoHAzp
— Jennifer Scott (@Jentechnology) July 12, 2019
Second Coding Teacher - Clay Smith
Warning, if you offer to help, I will take you up on the offer. Clay is a newly minted graduate from #Lon19. The beauty of the Google Innovator community is that we help each other and anyone who asks.
Clay is a coder, hence the website name ClayCodes.org. His work includes Classroom Share, which uses a spreadsheet to send and pull assignment to Classroom, and Photos to Slides, which is the foundation that SlidesYearbook needs.
When he read the previous blogs about SlidesYearbook, ideas poured through his mind. He took what he already created and expanded it. What is super awesome is that Clay is taking a great deal of his time both coding and explaining the code to me when he could be working on his Innovator Project. I definitely owe him.
Thank you, Clay, for the inspiration and exponential learning I have experienced this past week. Your ideas are incredible, and you are opening doors I didn't think was possible.
SlidesYearbook - Jennifer Scott
I am also a contributor to SlidesYearbook. Two and a half years after this #Mex16 Google Innovator Project was launched, I am reaching my initial goals and soaring higher.
I have created an online course, provided free directions, and now I am coding this project so that even more schools can pull away from expensive yearbooks and give their students the opportunity to design their own memories.
Conclusion
Of course, there are more contributors to the #Lon19 yearbook. Innovators like Dave Leonard, who scoured the Official #LON19 Google Innovator Photos Album and tagged them. Innovators like Renee Bogacz, who submitted a third of the yearbook photos with captions.
Our last video Hangout was last Thursday and we meet again this Tuesday. I can't wait. Everyone involved in this project is making the SlidesYearbook add-on a reality.