Welcome to my TATC Portfolio Home

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 originally born in El Paso, Texas in 1968; the last of five children.  My family--Dad, Mom, Julie, Linda, Andrew, Susan, and me--moved to Arlington, Texas in 1972.  I've lived in Arlington my entire life, graduating from Lamar High School, then the University of Texas at Arlington.  That experience was the quintessential "middle-class" existence.  I've never been very poor nor very rich.  As a person, I'm an overachiever.  I've always been a very good, "award-winning" student; graduating 9th in a class of 625 at Lamar; winning the American Legion Award; serving as Drum Major of the Marching Band at Lamar and at UTA; graduating with honors from UTA.  I've even been the President of the UTA Band Alumni Association for almost 4 years now.  I usually take on a little too much, want to be absolutely perfect at it, and do very well in spite of my own criticism of my performance.

As for hobbies and interests, my main focus right now is my family, specifically my wife, Denise, and my son, Matthew (they're the people in the photo, naturally).  They're my life right now.  However, I also have many hobbies.  I love sports, having been a life-long Dallas Cowboys fan.  I also love basketball and golf.  I'm an amateur juggler, which is to say I juggle for fun, but not well enough to earn any pay.  I do it mainly because it scares away anything negative.  You simply can't feel anything bad when you're juggling.  It's too much fun.

Another major hobby of mine is P.A. announcing for a variety of events.  My main "gig" is for the UTA Marching Band, but I also announce a variety of events for Summit High School, most notable of which is boys and girls basketball.  SHS has an excellent sound system, and it's truly enjoyable to run music and sound at games and perhaps add some energy to the experience.  I also serve as the P.A. man for the Duncanville Marching Invitational (one of the more prestigious marching band contests in the state) each year.  Since I've got a band background but don't teach music, this is an easy way for me to stay connected to the activity.  And of course, it keeps me involved with a variety of sports.

Use the plug-in below to view a video clip of the UTA Marching Band (you can even hear me at the end if you listen closely.)

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Obviously, music is a major hobby of mine.  Beyond the band world, I like a wide range of pop music.  One of my current favorite tracks comes from John Mayer, called "No Such Thing."  Click here to listen in.

Significant Personal and Technology Events in My Life

I grew up not really caring much about technology.  We never owned a personal computer in my family, and when I started teaching I had precious little experience.  The most I had done up to then was use a Canon StarWriter 80 (it's dead now, rest it's soul) for word processing in college.  Not much, but a start, and it helped immensely.  When I started my teaching career at Mansfield High School, I was entrusted with an old Macintosh SE.  What I believe changed me forever was my summertime experience in the Mansfield ISD "Computer Boot Camp" in 1998.  I realized that 1) I was interested in this stuff, 2) I was good at it, and 3) I learned rather quickly in technology.  I bought a laptop that summer, and I've been soaking in knowledge ever since.

In 1999 I became the "Technology Lead Teacher" for MHS, a position I now hold at my new school, Summit High School.  This is what I do really well with technology--offer training and support to other teachers.  It's something I'd like to do full-time.  It's not always positive.  There are days I wish I could plead total ignorance and stay in my classroom.  But most of the time I have a great time with it.

Reasons for Wanting to be a Technology Applications Teacher

Well, this is tough, because I don't want to be a Technology Applications Teacher.  I'm engaged in TATC so that I can better serve those teachers as a Training and Support Specialist.  Jan North, the MISD's Director of Instructional Technology, and Ray Jaksa, the Chief Technology Officer for the MISD, have been very supportive in this endeavor.  Eventually, MISD will be willing to fund a full-time "Technologist," as we'll call it, and that's what I intend to do.

Preparing to Teach

Since this is my ninth year as a classroom teacher, I'll draw on memories.  Memories of the adrenaline that comes from your very first set of classes.  Actually, I still feel that every time I face a new set of students.  My routine is pretty simple--start with classroom business and focus on it.  I open up over time, but I never stray from the idea that we all have a job to do.  As a technology trainer, it's much easier, since teachers generally want the facts and very little more.  I try to maintain an easy-going manner with them, but I still focus on the business at hand.