Welcome to Jane Abel's TATC Portfolio Home

The major components and navigation of my portfolio are presented on the left, at the top under the banner, and at the bottom of the page. The following components comprise my navigation and portfolio framework:

• TATC Portfolio Home - An introduction of myself including my Resume and my technology life history.
• Goals - A brief statement of the goals I have set for myself concerning technology and teaching.
• Observation - A reflective statement concerning my overall thoughts about my Observation experiences.
• Reflection - A reflective statement concerning my thoughts about the overall program of study.
• Standards I-XI - All of the Technology Applications (8-12) Standards and their artifacts are listed on one page with a link provided to each individual standard. Each standard has one or more captioned artifacts linked to it. Note that when you view an artifact representing any standard, a separate window will open for the artifact. When you finish viewing the artifact you can close the window.
  • I, II, III, IV, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI - Links to direct access of each individual standard and its captioned artifacts.
• Standard's Matrix - A matrix diagramming the relationship between the TA Standards and each of the associated indicators with my portfolio artifacts.

Personal Background / Significant Events / Reasons / Preparing to Teach / Resume / Top of Page

Personal Background

My twin sister and I were born in Dallas, Texas at Parkland Hospital, where Mom graduated from nursing school. We have a brother seven years younger than us. I have always considered Texas home, but I have no "home town" memories from my childhood. Dad, a pipe fitter, followed construction work, so we moved often, sometimes multiple times in a school year. To this day, I do not particularly enjoy traveling!

I earned my Bachelor's Degree at Sam Houston State Teachers College in 1960, the first place where I resided longer than two years and the place where I met the love of my life. My first teaching job in Hearne, Texas was understood to be temporary since my fiancé was a student at Texas A & M. I married Bob Abel while teaching in Hearne, and the location of my school mailbox moved from easy to reach, Morris, to impossible to reach, Abel.

As an adult, the only real long term goal that I had was to plant my feet permanently somewhere, so that my future children could attend school without the continual uprooting that I had experienced. When Bob graduated, we lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico for six years, a new record in my life. Our two children, Kelly and Mark, were born in Albuquerque.

But our families were back home, in Texas. In 1968 we moved to Arlington, our first long term home, which became the answer to my dream. Both of our children attended all twelve years of their public school education in the same school district.

My daughter, Kelly, a physical therapist, graduated from UTMB in Galveston. She lives in Killeen, Texas with her husband, Kim Barr. Kelly has given me two wonderful granddaughters, Lenna and Jessica. Both are gracious young ladies and terrific dancers.

My son, Mark, a building construction manager, graduated from Texas A & M like his Dad. He lives in Gainesville, Georgia with his wife, Shel. They have given me three wonderful grandchildren, Lindsay, Nathan, and Andrea. They live on Lake Lanier, and they all love to water ski.

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Significant Personal and Technology Events in My Life

On a personal level,

• I became a person, born to Irvin and Lenorah Morris, loving and supportive parents, sometimes beyond my wildest dreams.
• I became a Christian and came to understand that the love given by my earthly family is a model of the love given by my Heavenly Father, given unconditionally, without bound. Through the years I have learned that the difference in me as a good person and as a Godly person is a matter of who sets the standards in my life.
• I became a teacher and learned the joy of having an impact on young people, our future generations.
• I became a wife and learned that through the joys and triumphs of daily living, our married love grows wider and wider, like oil spreading on the surface of water, but through the trials and tribulations we face together, with God's help, our love grows deeper and stronger.
• I became a mother and experienced a new kind of love that has enriched my life immeasurably, seeing the love that I have given grow in my children.
• I became a grandmother, and I have stood in awe seeing the wonderful parents my children have become. What a beautiful validation of the character and principles we tried to instill in them as they were growing up. I have now been on the receiving end of the adoration I held for my own grandparents when I was a child.
• I became part of the "older" generation that reminisces.

I can remember the first television I ever saw, but I honestly can't remember the first computer. I can remember having party lines, where every family on the line could pick up the phone and hear your conversation. Among the four to eight families on the line, conference calls were easy! I can remember when laser technology was new and everyone wondered what in the world it would ever be good for. I can remember waiting for splash-down instead of landing after space flights. I can remember listening with my students as Alan Shepard made his first trip into space. I remember when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and declared "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind ...". I recall when Alan Shepard returned to space and planted our flag on the moon.

• As a teacher in Albuquerque, I had my first opportunity to take a computer programming course through a staff development program. The course in Fortran II was taught by the head of the computer laboratories at Sandia Labs. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
• I earned a Master of Arts with a major in Numerical Analysis at UTA. The computer work dealt with scientific conversion techniques in Fortran.
• I spent 13 years as a Programmer Analyst in industry, gaining experience with multiple programming languages, platforms, and database systems. I missed my students.
• In the spring of 1995 I returned to teaching and Lamar High School after 23 years out of the classroom. In the fall of 1995 I began teaching AP Computer Science.
• In the summer of 1999, I became a reader for the AP exam and brought valuable insights back to my classroom.
• In 2000, I became a College Board endorsed consultant, teaching Computer Science topics to teachers in AP workshops and AP Summer Institutes, sharing techniques that have been successful in my classroom with others.
• In 2002, I entered the TATC program to become certified to teach Tech Aps courses.

Reasons for Wanting to be a Technology Applications Teacher

AISD has offered Computer Science in each of its high schools for many years, but other Tech Aps courses appeal to a broader cross section of students. I have entered the TATC program hoping to make other Tech Aps courses readily available to students at Lamar High School. Other high schools in AISD began offering additional TA courses last year, but Lamar did not have classroom space for additional labs.

By offering the use of my lab during my conference periods, volunteering to combine some of my classes, and coercing and cajoling our staff at Lamar, I was influential in helping four sections of a Multimedia class become reality this year. Hopefully, this has opened the door so that additional Tech Aps courses will become available to our students in future years.

On a personal level, I have been interested in multimedia techniques for years, so this is my year to pursue the interest. It is much more viable within the framework of a well developed program.

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Preparing to Teach

I have long had a love for teaching, which I consider a gift from God. My part is to nourish the gift, adding as much as possible to my own knowledge base, continually searching for more effective techniques for conveying knowledge to my students, and guiding and encouraging them in learning techniques that help them become independent learners. Ultimately, I want to give them their own wheels, so they can go where they want to go without waiting for me to show them the way.

In Computer Science I have been able to introduce students to a field of knowledge that, in many cases, is completely new to them. For some it is a brief encounter, for some an instant love, and for others a slow awakening. It has been fun to work with each level of interest and to be a partner in each student's educational process.

In Tech Aps, I hope to help a different kind of student meet their own interests and needs technologically. Computer Science demands significant logic abilities, but some students have strengths in other areas. Other Tech Aps courses will support the technological needs of students with artistic interests and abilities.

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