Autobiography

Hello everyone! My name is Jessica Benitez. I am twenty-one years old and Mexican American. I was born and raised in Naples, but I currently live in Bonita Springs. I come from a family of four girls and one boy. I am the oldest; this means I need to set a good example to my sisters and my brother. To this day, I feel like I'm doing a good job at that. I graduated from high school with honors and I'm still pursuing my career plan of becoming a teacher. I am a student at FGCU, but I'm just doing a few classes here at Edison State College this semester. I am also a die hard Dallas Cowboys fan! 

I plan on becoming a middle school science teacher because I believe not enough students are getting the right kind of science education. I want to help them love science the same way I do. 

In my spare time, I love to spend time with my family. I have two jobs so any extra time I have, I use wisely. I also like to go shopping, get my nails done, and all that fun girly stuff. I love taking pictures too. I have been anxious to get a new camera, but with the expenses for school it's been a little difficult. I do plan on getting that camera. I'm going to get it even if it takes me working extra hours. 

(Photo credits to Cheng Kiang)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chengkiang/7982567047/

Chapter 4

Integrating Technology and Creating Change

Focus Question
What are "digital inequality" and the "participatioin gap"?
Digital inequality, a term used in discussing the digital divide, is the idea that access to the latest computer technology varies greatly within society. Low-income and non-white Americans are less likely to be able to afford and use the newest tools. This perspective holds that simply adding more machines to homes or schools will not, in and of itself, address differences in access to technology among different social groups.
A participation gap is a term by Henry Jenkins (professor at Massachusetts Insitute of Technology) used to describe the idea that students who can access technology only through the public library or a school computer, will fall behind their online peers in skill and competencies, compared to students who have 24/7 access.

Tech Tool Link 
http://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt
Edutopia was a website I found to be a really good one. This website allows teachers from around the country to share their experiences as well as shares useful videos to help with the lesson planning process and the actual lesson itself. It also talks about how to adapt to the new ways of technology and slowly let go of the old ways. We all know that pretty soon, most of everything is going to be electronic. This website, I believe, would be very useful as a teacher to get new ideas and share experiences we have had with technology integration in the classroom. 

Summary and Connection
I feel that chapter 4 was very good at explaning how we need to adapt to the new technology that is being introduced in the classrooms every day. It is going to be necessary for everyone going into the field to know about how to integrate this way of teaching into their lessons. As a digital native, I won't be having a problem adapting, but I know that once I start teaching, there will be teachers that have been in the profession for so long that they feel the old ways are just fine. I hope to teach them a little bit about how fun and interesting it is to integrate technology. The students as well as the teacher will benefit from this. 

Chapter 3

Developing Lessons with Technology

Focus Question

What is "lesson development using technology"?
Lesson development refers to all the activities that teachers do as they create, teach, and evaluate lessons with students. It includes three interrelated elements

1. Academic content (what to teach)
2. Teaching goals, methods, and procedures (how to teach)
3. Learning assessments (how to know what students have learned)

Tech Tool Link
In the Tech Tool 3.3, the book talks about online rubrics and quizzes that can be used in the teaching profession. From experience, I know this is a very useful tool. I've used this website to make rubrics for lesson plans in my other education classes. I'd most definitely recommend it to anyone who's having a hard time creating a rubric.

Summary and Connection

This chapter is all about creating lessons. From the planning process, to grading the assignment, this chapter gave lots of useful information. With the content I got out of this chapter and information I've learned from previous chapters, I feel more prepared to plan a lesson now. 

Chapter 2

Transforming Learning with Unique, Powerful Technology

Focus Question
How do students use technology to access and assess information?
Students use internet websites, electronic encyclopedias and sometimes CD-ROMs to gain information. The ability to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively is called information literacy. With information literacy, come the skills to do so.

Tech Tool Link
The Visual Dictionary Online website (http://visual.merriam-webster.com/), I found very useful. For a person who is a visual learner, this dictionary is perfect. I'd definitely use it as a tool when I become a teacher. It has links to every different subject. One particular link I found super interesting was the science one. Once you clicked on it, it took you to different subdivisions of the subject. There was chemistry, physics- mechanics, physics- optics, among others. Maybe I found this specific part of the website interesting because the subject I want to teach is science.
http://visual.merriam-webster.com/science.php

Summary and Connection
Chapter two was one with lots of information. All of it was very useful. Part of the chapter discussed the different ways students learn, while other parts of it talked about student collaboration, engagement, and creativity. I feel the links they shared on the Tech Tools were all very useful. The one I looked into the most was one about a visual dictionary, but I also saw them talking about creativity in another one. This is all very important to me because I feel that with all the different forms of technology there are now, students don't really express their creativity or get much from the lessons they're being taught. 

Chapter 1

Becoming an e-Teacher

Focus Question

What six key issues should a teacher consider when looking to integrate technology?

The six key issues a teacher should consider when looking to integrate technology are 

1. Using technology in teaching
2. Motivating factors
3. Barriers to technology 
4. Ideas for technology use
5. Teaching methods
6. Students and technologies

Tech Tool Link

In Tech Tool 1.1, the text talks about choosing the correct laptop for each person's individual needs. If you're a frequent note taker, they say to consider the laptop's battery life; if you're a traveler, weight should be one's number once choosing factor; and if you plan on storing lots of data, hard disk size should be your focus. The website (www.lenovo.com), was useful. It categorized the electronics by price, size, color, weight, brand, etc. There was even a pop up that offered live assistance. If I were having a hard time deciding what type of computer I should buy, I'd definitely go to this website for help. 

Summary and Connection

Chapter one had lots of information. All of this information I found very useful. I feel like I'll use much of this in my teaching career. With the technology going at the pace it's going, I'm going to have to keep learning as the years go by.