Reflections of a Hopeful Teacher

  Image courtesy of VectorStock My Former Views About Technology and Use of It in the Classroom My former views about technology were that youth and adults rely on it too much for entertainment, information, social interaction, body image, and the list goes on. When they aren't on computers or phones for the aforementioned reasons, they're plugging away for school work or their professions. I believe these two sets of habits of leave many people exhausted without always realizing why. I was one of those people. When I completed my digital map, I saw that my online engagements were limited to entertainment (music on  YouTube  being quite a staple for me) and work - lots of work on applications like  GMail  and  Google Classroom ). I had barely begun to explore valuable education platforms ( Padlet  and  Jamboard  rarely got used) and had scattered experience integrating assistive technology. This was partly due to low confidence and an unstabl...

  Personal photo of me being candid Hello! My name is Jennifer Leon, and I am currently a special education teacher at a charter high school in Chicago. My background includes 18 years of certified teaching, which include 13 in special education and 5 in general education. Furthermore, I've worked as a nanny, a one-to-one teaching assistant, and a part-time ESL instructor for adults of all ages. As far education goes, I consider myself a "Jane of All Trades." Free stock image My relationship with technology has definitely been an "ebb and flow" beginning with my first use of a landline telephone at an age I don't recall and picking back up with my first use of a PC in 1985. As a 5th grader in the previously mentioned year, I enjoyed playing "Oregon Trail" and nothing more. I didn't use another PC until 1992 when I was determined to apply my rudimentary typing skills to begin producing my own finished essays; previously, my mother had begrudgin...