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 / Resume

Personal Background

I was born in Austin, Texas, Nov. 4, 1957. At the time, my father worked on the MK&T railroad out of Smithville. But shortly afterwards, he and my mother moved back to their hometown of DeLeon, Texas, where he continued to work for the railroad and farm peanuts. I spent 12 years in the DeLeon school system, and roaming the fields and woods around the little (population 2,000) town. In high school, I was a typical student -- the most notable event of my school years was when I played defensive end on the 1975 state champion football team as a senior.
From there, I went first to Ranger Junior College (now known as Ranger College) and then to Tarleton State University. During college, I became interested in journalism. By the time I graduated from TSU, I was working full-time as a reporter/photographer at the Stephenville Empire-Tribune. After a few years there, I went to the Big Spring Herald, where I worked first as a photographer, then a reporter/photographer, and finally as wire desk editor. When the opportunity presented itself, I took the job as managing editor for the Stephenville Empire-Tribune, a position I held for three years before resigning to enter TSU's Tarleton Model for Accelerated Teacher Education inaugural class.
While in the TMATE program, I began teaching English and journalism at Hamilton High School. Five years later, when an English position came open in DeLeon and after I had completed my master's degree in English, I began teaching in my old high school. For a couple of years, I also edited and produced a bimonthly magazine on the history and people of the area.
I'm married, live on a 130-acre piece of land outside of DeLeon, and have three children. Jeremy, the oldest, attends Tarrant County College and spends his summers working at Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, NM. Jessie, my daughter, attends middle school in Burleson; and James, the youngest attends DeLeon Elementary.
I have a variety of interests, including playing music in the DeLeon FUMC praise team (click here to hear a sample of one of our songs), backpacking and buckskinning (re-creating the fur trade era of American History).

Significant Personal and Technology Events in My Life

I think everything that happens to us has an effect, so in that sense, everything can be "significant." But, when I first went into journalism, we typed our stories on manual or (if you were lucky) electric typewriters, then used rubber cement to cut and paste stories together. My typing skills weren't all that good at the time (partially because my high school typing teacher always screamed, "Go!" at the beginning of timed tests, causing me to jam eight or ten keys together every time), so I was enthralled when the first paper I interned at had rudimentary word processors that would hold 12 files of about 300 words each on 5 1/4 inch disks. Writing, rewriting and editing were made so much easier through the technology. When we "laid out" or designed the pages using stories and graphics, we had to either physically measure or estimate the size of elements. Later, software became available to do the layouts with the actual stories and photos. While there is a glory in using a camera and film to capture images, digital photography has made it easier to manipulate images to produce the "pre-visualized" (to use Ansel Adams' term) result. The technology has made it possible to grow creatively in ways never anticipated.

Reasons for Wanting to be a Technology Applications Teacher

Along with its positive effect on me, journalism also influenced me in a negative way. As a reporter and photographer, one not only sees people at the best, but also at their worst. Over time, most journalists grow cynical about the human condition. As I have never enjoyed being cynical, I eventually began to look elsewhere for a career. One day, while I was managing editor of the Stephenville Empire-Tribune, we ran a story about a new program that Tarleton State University was offering called the TMATE program. Teaching struck me as possibly the most optimistic career choice of all, and I investigated and enrolled into the program. I've never looked back. I can still write and photograph when I want, and I've taught both journalism and photography; so I have the best of both worlds.
Technology Applications offers a rare chance to teach kids something they both enjoy and need -- the best of both worlds, again.

Preparing to Teach

As a first year teacher, I came with a built-in advantage. I had spent several years in the "real world," and was somewhat older than the usual beginning teacher. Therefore, I wasn't too worried about handling the students, and I knew the subject matter (one of the things that the TMATE program required was that you have a degree in your subject matter). And, I came equipped with one of the most vital requirements for a teacher -- a sense of humor. Years later, I still know the subject matter, I still have the sense of humor -- and I'm still older.

• August 1990 -- present: DeLeon High School, DeLeon, Texas; classroom teacher of junior and senior English, world literature, webmastering, creative writing, journalism and photography.
• 1998 -- 2000: The Messenger, DeLeon, Texas; editor.
• August 1986 -- August 1990: Hamilton High School, Hamilton, Texas; classroom teacher of freshman English, freshman-senior correlated language arts and journalism.
• May, 1983 -- June, 1986: Stephenville Empire-Tribune, managing editor.
• January, 1983 -- May, 1983: Big Spring Herald, wire editor.
• July, 1982 -- January, 1983: Big Spring Herald, feature editor.
• March, 1982 -- June, 1982: Big Spring Herald, photographer.
• December, 1980 -- March, 1982: Stephenville Empire-Tribune, general assignments reporter/photographer.
• Fall, 1980: Stephenville Empire-Tribune, part-time sportswriter/photographer.
• Fall, 1980: The J-TAC, Tarleton State University, managing editor.
• Spring, 1980: The J-TAC, assistant editor.
• Fall, 1979: The J-TAC, editorial assistant.
• Fall, 1978 -- Fall 1979: self-employed peanut farmer.

• 1990: Master's degree in English literature, Tarleton State University
• 1987: Graduate of Tarleton Model for Accelerated Teacher Education program with certification in English and journalism
• 1981: Bachelor of Arts in English, journalism minor, Tarleton State University