| This
year has been an exciting, exhilarating, frustrating, frightening
and exhausting journey for me. Besides participating in the TATC
program, it was my first year back in the classroom after being
an administrator for ten years. However, it is true that there is
not a better place to be than in the classroom where there are opportunities
to make a difference in the lives of students.
The
TATC program has given me a good framework to develop and learn
in areas where I didn't even know I needed to grow. I have thoroughly
enjoyed the feedback I have receive from my fellow classmates and
instructors. The environment of the online program has been motivating
because of continual communication with classmates. I have received
so much encouragement from my buddy, mentor, instructors and other
online friends. Because I have worked so hard to produce the required
products, I am as proud of my accomplishments in this program as
I am of any other academic achievement I have received.
Observation
My
observation experience was wonderful! I spent time with and interviewed
a good friend who is a marketing executive at the Richards Group
in Dallas. Because of the interview, I gained new insights into
the job descriptions and expectations for people with Technology
Application skill sets. I was amazed at the importance of having
design talents and techniques. After completing the first few courses
in TATC, I knew the Elements of Design were important, but I now
understand that they are imperative. The web masters, desktop publishers
and presentation creators have to have an eye for good design. It
is essential in the business world to have the most effective web
page or presentation with an outstanding layout and design. I will
definitely focus on developing design techniques in everything that
I teach next year. It is paramount that students understand the
importance of good design and are able to incorporate design techniques
into their work.
Standards
I - V
The
topics in these standards are the basic technology skills that are
used in all of the Technology Application courses. Some of these
skills or concepts include using ethical practices, understanding
technology related terms, applying search strategies, using appropriate
tools to organize/create/evaluate products, communicating information
in different formats and incorporating technology effectively into
the classroom. I teach many of these topics, and they are critical
to students doing well in technology related courses. I was familiar
with all of the topics before I began the TATC program, but now
I have other tools and resources to use in the classroom. I will
teach differently next year because of the new resources I received
from the TATC program.
Standard
VII
Desktop
Publishing is one of my favorite areas. I though I would not learn
much because I am familiar with the Office Suite. However, in this
course I learned exciting principles of design to assist with creating
effective newsletters, brochures, business cards and other types
of correspondence. The Non-Designers Design Book by Robin
Williams is an excellent book that was a required reading. I hope
to purchase some extra copies to use in my classroom next year.
Learning the principles of contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity
have changed how I look at all Technology Application products.
This was an extremely beneficial class for me.
Standard
VIII
The
Digital Graphics and Animation course turned out to be one of my
favorites. Before the course I knew very little about animation
or the software used to create animations. Now, Flash is my favorite
program. I have seen how animations can be used to enhance web pages
and multimedia products to make them effective and interesting.
I taught my students how to use Flash last year, but I plan on incorporating
a unit on ActionScripting next year. I also enjoyed the comprehensive
information I received about digital graphics and file formats.
This information has also been very valuable to my students. I plan
on continuing to grow in this area by completing online tutorials
and reading reference materials.
Standard
IX
The
Multimedia course was overwhelming to me at first because I was
not familiar with audio and video. The skills I learned in creating
and editing audio have turned out to be my favorite areas in multimedia.
I had the opportunity to experiment with different programs to create
products required for the course. Next year I hope we will be able
to purchase audio editing software. The students would thoroughly
enjoy learning how to edit audio.
This
turned out to be an exciting course since all of the Technology
Application skills can be utilized in this course. Numerous peripherals
can be used in a multimedia course including digital cameras, digital
video cameras and scanners to incorporate images and videos to products.
My plans for the future include perfecting my skills in audio editing
software in order to teach my students.
Standard
X
I
had lots of anxiety about the Video Technology course because I
had never used a digital camera or video editing software. It is
ironic that some of my favorite projects were the video products
I created. I decided to attend some courses on my own to learn how
to use the video software my district uses. These courses helped
me to learn the software and use a digital camera which was very
helpful. I am very proud of the group project and my personal product
that I created in this course. I think I probably learned more new
material in this course that I did in any other course. I plan on
expanding the video skills I teach my students next year. I also
hope to teach them how to use a digital video camera and capture
video. My future goals include learning as much as I can about video
file formats and compression software.
Standard
XI
The
web courses I took were action packed. There is so much to learn
in this area especially including advanced HTML and JavaScript.
During this course I learned how to use Dreamweaver which has been
wonderful. I thoroughly enjoy using and teaching Dreamweaver. Most
all of the products created in the TATC program involved incorporating
presentations, graphics, videos and information into web pages.
Through TATC I have had lots of experience creating different types
of products to be displayed on the Internet. In the future I plan
to learn how to create interactive forms and incorporate more JavaScript
into my web pages. |
