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About the Author: Suzeth Gonzalez Baker 

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emI am the mother of a college student, a sister, aunt, and a teacher.  I was born and raised in Guatemala.  I had the opportunity to come to U.S.  as an exchange student when I was 18.  It was a life changing experience for me that it set the course for my future.  As soon as I came in  I was immersed in the English Language.  I met many wonderful teachers and saw  the challenges that  California Schools face.  I wanted to be part of that world and became passionate about being involved in education.   Based on my personal experience , I knew that immersion was the fastest way a person can learn a second or third language.  I became a bilingual teacher and began teaching at a Spanish-English Dual Immersion school in California 15 years ago.  As  educators we know that teaching is a very rewarding career, but it can be exhausting and frustrating if students aren't achieving as expected regardless of countless hours of work and preparation.  That is the reason I decided to come to the Innovative Learning Program.  I needed to be more prepared to 21st century skills.  Through this program I learned that technology is key in order to prepare students for this century.  



Lasting Learning from the Innovative Learning program
I am so grateful that I learned that technology can be my friend and can ease my workload.  I used to be intimidated by technology.  I thought technology was just play time for children.  I didn't know how I could make good use of educational games.   Now, I can use student's  time invested in technology  to collect data, improve their reading skills, engage them in collaborative activities and be engaged in something more meaningful than my lectures.   I also learned about websites that can help me create tutorials for my students, create quizzes and get immediate data and results.  There is so much I still need to explore.  I am looking forward to creating an innovative classroom.  

​Reflections on My Journey 
Through the T-Pack model    I learned that pedagogy, technology and content need to be balanced in order to achieve the goal of preparing our students for the 21st century.   Through this program I learned that students can collaborate, think critically, be creative and communicate effectively. First, through explicit direct instruction on how to achieve all 4C's.  Second,  to engage students in meaningful activities that speak student's digital language.  Our current generation of students understand technology differently than we do.  They were born with communication devices therefore, they require more visual stimulation than older generations. Technology needs to  be embedded in schools daily.  I also learned that as much training, education, and great intentions educators might have, our educational system isn't quite prepared to supply the technology needed for today's needs.  However, I am thankful that my school district is doing everything it can to provide  resources and technology  to prepare teachers and students to meet 21st century skills needs.