Reflection
The TATC experience was an adventure that I will not forget. From the best of moments to the worst, I reached the point to which I have striven. The experience will be something I will always remember and treasure. During the past year I have learned a considerable amount as far as the TA TEKS are concerned. Each standard taught me a different TA course.
TATC has given me more than the education of the TA TEKS. It has given me new friends, new ideas and new outlooks. The new friends that I have made through TATC will now be life long friends due to the overwhelming support that they have given me. Going through TATC was going to be hard enough, but I had a baby in October and without the help of my friends and family I do not know if I could have made it to this point. Sharing resources is always a first when it comes to teachers and now I have so many new ideas to pull from that my curriculum areas will be taught with confidence. I know if I do not know how to implement the ideas that my fellow classmates have created, all I need to do is get in contact with them and they will be more than willing to help. This brings a whole new outlook to the term online learning. I found that online learning is interactive as well as proactive. I learned just as much through the discussions as I did the projects. I am glad to have had this experience.
There are some aspects of online learning that were a challenge to me that I would suggest changing for the next group of TATC'ers. One suggestion would be to open the classes before the actual time that they are going to begin. This would allow the participant to begin at their own pace and without the stress of already being behind the first few days. Since we all have full time teaching jobs and other duties assigned to us, this could alleviate the stress of begin overloaded. Many of the hours that were spent were catching up instead of producing quality projects.
I know when I am finished I will miss the challenge of this course and the camaraderie of my classmates. Taking a look back I will re-cap each standard and my learning experience to show the understanding of each Technology Application Standard.
Standards I-V
Using technology in the classroom is one matter, but to share your information and learning across the Internet is yet another. The ethical practices and problem solving are two issues that I was able to learn and implement through this learning experience. The Standards I-V impact the way we teach our students and the way TATC courses were taught. Planning organizing and delivering information in a number of ways to a number of different people was one of the concepts that enhanced my learning.
Standard VII
Desktop Publishing is Standard VII. My experience with Desktop Publishing was great. I had prior knowledge going into the class thus I felt that I was overall successful in this course. Using the appropriate hardware and software programs was essential to produce quality products. Learning to model the correct methods of Desktop Publishing became a challenge; however, I feel that I have a good quality product that will help me administer the TA TEKS for Desktop Publishing. Before Desktop Publishing began, I thought that this class was a "print it out on paper" course. Boy, was I wrong. I learned to conserve memory on your computer, because mine crashed. This was not included in the artifacts, but this was a lesson well learned. I learned to acquire information from a number of input devices and electronically. I learned how to evaluate and extend the learning process. Desktop Publishing was one of my favorite classes and I did my extended course on Desktop Publishing.
Standard VIII
Digital Graphics and Animation is Standard VIII. This was a high stress course. I feel that I still have a lot of room for improvement. Distinguishing between the elements and principles of design was an exciting and I feel that I was very successful in the production of an example that demonstrates these concepts (Artifact #8). The acquisition of the animation was a completely different story. This was almost a quitter. I had a really great idea and I could not get this to work. I think that I was expecting to much for my first assignment with animation. I ended up making a box move and I was really happy. This seems trivial; however, I now know how my students feel when the idea is there and the finished product is not. Digital Graphics and Animation was a challenge from the beginning and I will have to do extra work in the area before I embark on teaching this course.
Standard IX
Standard IX is Multimedia. I went in this course focused and ready to go. I thought this was going to be a snap. I had knowledge of PowerPoint and I was a proficient user. Creating the PowerPoint turned out not to be the problem. Getting the PowerPoint Presentation to the web was a difficult task. I had a lot of trouble with this portion of the curriculum. Selecting input devices, adding and editing sound, modeling, and making adjustments were all things that I feel confident in doing and modeling. Publishing your multimedia presentation to the web almost did me in. Overall Multimedia was a great course. I still have a lot to learn before I teach this class but I now have the background knowledge that I need.
Standard X
Video Technology is Standard X. This was my favorite class. I am so excited about this class I asked for it to be included in the curriculum for next year. I went into this class with absolutely no prior knowledge and when I was finished with Video Technology I had two working videos. During this course we worked in groups to acquire information in electronic formats , created a video product, researched information, and demonstrated a knowledge level that is conducive to the teaching of Video Technology. I am so proud of all that I learned during this course. I included artifact #13 as a best work. I made a video for the high school basketball team that won state. I have already made an additional video for high school graduation. The video was about 20 minutes long. The massive size on video files crashed computers and used up memory and space, however, the look on the seniors faces was worth all of the technical problems that I had to overcome. Thanks to TATC and Video Technology I will be able to capture and keep videos that I produced.
Standard XI
Standard XI is Web Mastering. During Vision IT, I was responsible for a portion of our web page. This was a real lifesaver when it came time to making a web page in GoLive. I had a some knowledge of the software, thanks to Vision IT. I think this is the only reason I was able to keep my head above water. One of the first assignments we had to do was the HTML password protected page. I did not know anything about writing web pages in HTML and this was a very difficult task for me to complete. I did include this assignment as one of my artifacts to show growth and development in this area. Thanks to all the instructional leaders, I was successful with HTML web page design.The next big project we did was creating a Travel Site. I had a lot of fun with this, and the overall experience was positive. Creating a Travel Site allowed the creativity and design without the stress of using HTML code. I hope that through these two artifacts that I have demonstrated proficiency in the TA TEKS for Web Mastering.
Closing
Ending this learning adventure is not a true statement. The actual course may be over but my adventure is just beginning. The implementation of the TA TEKS will now be tangible goal to which I will strive. One of my goals next year will be to successfully implement and administer the TEKS for Desktop Publishing and Video Technology. These two courses will be added to our curriculum next year. Taking the information presented to me through TATC and dissecting it will be yet another goal. My goals for the future are quite different than the ones that I had for myself at the beginning of TATC. My future goals are:
*Establish a well developed curriculum for Desktop Publishing and Video Technology
*Continue to work on the different TA course. to fine tune my skills
*Acquire and implement software and hardware needs to establish a well-rounded Technology Application department
*Complete the existing TIF Grants and automate the Library
*Continue with my quest to become a wireless campus
*Expand the community knowledge by offering application classes
All of these goals are related to my knowledge of technology and my quest to be the very best technology teacher. Thanks to the opportunity I had through ESC 11, I will now have the skills and knowledge to take back to the classroom and implement the TEKS of the TA classes. No road is straight and smooth. I know that I hit corners going too fast and hit bumps that I did not see coming; however, I made it to the final leg of my journey. I am pleased with the knowledge that I have learned and I am excited to share this knowledge with my peers and students.
