Jane Abel
Standards: Standard V

 


Home

Goals

Observation

Reflection

Standards I-XI 

I, II, III, IV, V,

VII, VIII, IX, X, XI

Standard's Matrix

Site Map

 

Standard V

Instruction that Incorporates Technology

Know how to plan, organize, deliver, and evaluate instruction for all students that incorporates the effective use of current technology for teaching and integrating the Technology Applications Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) into the curriculum.

Reflection:

Working with the indicators in the TEKS has been invaluable this year. Learning ways to "tweak" a project to pick up several more indicators is invaluable. Sometimes we get tunnel-vision, and it helps to step back and look at the bigger picture. "This project would appeal to my students" must be carefully balanced with "Does this project help teach needed concepts?" or with "How could I alter this project to make it more valuable or to stimulate more creativity?"

One of my complaints with some of the online Tech Aps curriculums I have seen is that no rationale is given for steps the students are asked to follow. It is important to take a top-down approach so that students do more than just create a product using specified software. They need to be aware of overall objectives and broad tasks being accomplished, as well as detailed steps. As a teacher I need to make them aware of how many concepts are being learned as they create a product and of their value in the real world.


Caption 8

Creating a formal lesson with step-by-step instructions, vocabulary for technical terms, study materials to reinforce learning, examples, and teacher notes certainly put me on firmer ground with delivering instruction in Tech Aps courses. Using top-down design for this lesson worked well.

Indicators: I, II, III, IV, V, 7.4, 7.19, 7.20, 8.1, 8.2, 8.4, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, 8.10, 8.11, 8.13, 8.14, 8.15, 8.19, 8.20, 8.21, 8.22, 8.24, 8.26, 8.27, 8.28, 8.29, 8.30, 8.31, 8.32, 8.33, 8.34, 8.35, 8.36, 8.38, 8.39, 8.40, 8.42, 8.43, 8.45, 8.46, 8.47, 9.6, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.13, 9.16, 9.20, 9.22, 9.24, 9.30, 9.32, 9.39, 9.40, 9.42, 10.15, 10.28, 10.30, 11.9, 11.11, 11.12, 11.16, 11.17, 11.18, 11.19, 11.20, 11.23, 11.24, 11.25, 11.26, 11.27, 11.28, 11.30, 11.35, 11.39

Artifact #8

Descriptors: Animation, delivering instruction, reading technical documentation, writing technical documentation, modeling ethical practices


Title: The Ladybug's Journey, A HowTo for Flash MX Motion Tweening

Course: TATC 101 Digital Graphics and Animation

Date Created: November, 2002

Source: Studied Macromedia Dreamweaver MX Help Files, ladybug and tulip weaves from web sites

Media: Macromedia Flash MX, Dreamweaver MX, Photoshop Elements


Description: As part of a lesson to present to a class, we were to provide step-by-step instructions for a digital graphics project with supporting teaching materials. All of the components of the lesson were to be linked in a web page designed to present them.

The step-by-steps instructions can appear as:

  • outlined steps,
  • web tutorials, or
  • any other form you desire

You may link us to sites for tutorials instead of creating these steps yourself.

Contents of the web site:

  • The Home Page for Your Site, with access to supporting graphic files
  • Vocabulary
  • Sample of Finish Product for the lesson
  • Lecture Notes/Handouts
  • Step-by-Step Instructions
  • A Credits Page should show links to helpful sites and sites where you obtained your information
  • All pages clearly Linked to Each other
  • Vocabulary and Lecture Notes/Handouts Documents provided as a downloadable, universally assessable format

Rationale: Early in the TATC course, there was so much new to me that I struggled! I was learning to create animation in Flash MX as I worked on this assignment. Every time I thought I had it down, I would walk through the steps again and something else would go wrong. There are so many choices of places to click with your mouse at any given moment, and a wrong choice can be treacherous! I would try creating the tweens again and rework the instructions. It certainly made me aware of the level of detail needed to accomplish an involved assignment with new, complex software. I gained a lot of facility as I worked with this project, and when the time came to use Flash in the classroom, I had a decent foundation.

Implications for future: In my classroom, I would be careful to introduce my students to such complex software with a less threatening assignment. I would introduce them to animation with a much shorter sequence of tweens. I have been introduced to software this year that makes snagging a view of all or part of the contents of a computer screen quick and easy. I will include images of the screen in my handouts and web lessons when it is helpful.


Reviewer's Comments: I just love your ladybug. That was a great animation! I bet the students would get very creative with this ladybug. :-) Your instructions are so indepth! How did you have the time to outline all of that?! WOW! Thank you for the hard work! We are all going to benefit.

Reviewer's Name: Diana Saenz

Title: TATC Colleague

Date Reviewed: November 7, 2002


Reviewer's Comments: This is a great lesson. I think I will use it with my kids. I like your step-by-step instructions!

Reviewer's Name: Mary-Dawn Hudspeth

Title: TATC Colleague

Date Reviewed: November 8, 2002

Top of Page