Home

Goals

Observation

Reflection

Standards I-XI

I, II, III, IV, V,

VII, VIII, IX, X, XI

Standard's Matrix

Site Map

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 grew up in Abilene, Texas on a dairy farm and lived there until I was 10 years old. At that point in my life my parents decided to move to the "city", Abilene. We lived in a nice middle class neighborhood with many neighborhood children. My brother and I attended Abilene High School. I then went to Texas Woman's University where I graduated. I married in 1967. Shortly after graduation from College and the birth of our first child my husband was drafted into the Army. He served in the Army for 2 years. We lived in Wapaui, Hawaii for 18 months while my husband served as payroll clerk for troops in Viet Nam for the U.S.Army. We moved back to Cisco, Texas and begin to build a house on our ranch, We have 3 children and 4 grandchildren, we have very strong family ties within our family.

Significant Personal and Technology Events in My Life

The most significant personal event in my life was when my husband went into the United States Army. This was during the Viet Nam war. We seemed to have our life planned out well. We were to graduate from college in  December, have our first child in February, start a banking job in my husbands home town, begin building our home on our ranch and settle down to a great life. We had it planned well, but the war came along and my husband was drafted into the Army. He had a choice, he could go in as an officer and go directly to the front line or take the drafted route and serve for 2 years and see what happens. We took the drafted route and waited. Our daughter was 3 months old and her father was leaving to serve his country. That was a long summer for us, we went through boot camp and then waited for orders. My husband was stationed in Hawaii. We decided to move there and be with him as much as we could. At that time we had friends in the war zone, and some had already given their life for there country. We lived in an apartment complex that housed many officers wives and families and some enlisted people (the rent was 300 a month, no furnishings ) we made 240 dollars a month. We would not have been able to live here except we had savings to live on for the next 2 years. Living in this apartment for this period of time did change our lives. We had friends and neighbors that did not come home, this left their wives without husbands and children without fathers. It was a minute by minute encounter wondering if your unit would be deployed to the battle front, would the friend that my daughter plays with today lose their father. Wondering if your friends would see their loved ones ever again. This was living in a time of war, I had never experienced anything like this before and pray for all who are experiencing these feelings today.

Reasons for Wanting to be a Technology Applications Teacher

My reasons for wanting to be a technology application teacher go back to my childhood, and reflect a dream I have had for a long time.

After moving to the "city" my mom and dad enrolled me and my brother in Abilene Public Schools. As I progressed or didn't progress in school my teacher began to realize I was not on grade level with my reading and math. I had a great teacher in 6th grade that helped me improve and attain grade level skills.

When I went to junior high I was shy, but had many friends, cheerleaders, football players, all the right friends. But I was not really a leader. I had a physical education teacher that I believe helped me develop into a leader. She gave me a leading role in an organization and worked with me each day so that I would be successful and learn how to be successful. I believe she was the one person that inspired me to want to be a teacher. She had compassion for people and a love of teaching.

Many things have happened since those junior high days. But my love of teaching and love for the student has only been enhanced by todays' challenge in education. I believe technology will be a major stepping stone in any field our young people choose. Technology is developing so fast it is impossible to keep up with or even understand its impact on our society.

I believe being a technology teacher will allow me to not only help students with skills and knowledge they need to make it in the "real world" but this course work will also give me the training I need to educate our community in technology skills needed to survive in the business community. Our society has entered into the technology age, we must have a good foundation for all students so they can compete in todays world.

Preparing to Teach

First year teacher, standing in front of that first group, this make me nervous to think about it. I overcame this many years ago but when I think of the responsibility I have towards my students and their education I get nervous all over again. There is so much to learn and so much to keep up with that will be a challenge. I have been in the field of technology for 18 years and it is a constant learning experience. When I think of the information that I must know to become an effective teacher I realize that I must aggressively approach the material and content to not only learn the information but be able to teach it to my students effectively.

The experience I will need to accomplish this will come each day as I work in my classes and in reading and experiencing this information myself. I have learned many technology concepts simply by reading and applying the information to the situation. I believe with the formal education and the motivation to use the self teaching method I will be able to be an effective teacher for my students. The network of peers in this field is strong and most important in the learning process. I will continue each day to improve my teaching methods for the students at Cisco High School .