EDUC 5313: Blog Week #1 (Intro Learning Technologies)

Part 1: 

Hello!

My name is Jerry and I was born and raised in Chicago. I have my undergrad Bachelors of Arts in Communication Arts: Media Studies from a small liberal arts school in Illinois. I moved to the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas in 2017 and have since been with a charter school as a CTE teacher. I have taught everything from theatre, digital communications, graphic design, video production, and computer science. I very recently moved to the south Austin area and am now teaching CTE Commercial Photography to 11th and 12th graders. I also work as a freelance photographer and videographer since we all know, teaching in its own is not enough to make a livable wage. I am a big foodie and enjoy going to new restaurants and traveling to new spaces and parts of the world. I am a big live music fan and spend most of my PTO traveling to different shows of my favorite artists near and far. I have a large vinyl record collection (500+ last time I counted) and collect old and new cameras that I restore, display, and use from to time. This is my second half of the first fall semester and although the first half was challenging, I survived it and with a solid 4.0. Hoping for another successful half of a semester! 

*An interesting fact I have yet to share on this introduction assignment is I have two older brothers and a younger sister.

My current professional goals are to get fully certified as a Texas state teacher and to get a 4.0 for all my graduate school classes I'll be taking until July 2024 (I'm on my way!). My future professional goals is to be debt free in 5 years and to retire in 10. I would most likely continue to work, but I would do it for the love of the profession rather than the necessity to simply exist and sustain myself in this country. Once I have my masters, I think I would enjoy possibly teaching a few collegiate courses in my content as I think it would be a nice change of pace from all of my secondary educational experiences; but we shall see.

Part 2:  

ISTE Standard 1.6B Creative Communicator where "Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations", I think best aligns with my CTE TEK standard §130.100 (K) understand appropriate, current, and industry-standard production processes to produce photographs. The grade level and content I would like to use is my current one which is 11th and 12th grade students in a Commercial Photography II class.  As this is a more advanced leveled course, my hope is to create and offer projects to students that they can then take ownership and use their real world experiences to integrate into the project. To get more specific, the project here I would like to pose with students is one that involves showing a glimpse of their live outside of school. Since students have had opportunities to master the objectives of properly exposing and editing their images, they will take the content knowledge and use it to create a self portrait of themselves in an environment outside the confides of the school campus. The tools students will use will be the canon rebel series cameras (T7 and T8i) as well as a multitude of lenses (50mm 1.8f, 18-55mm, 10-18mm) a tripod, and any props to help convey their artistic method. My requirements are are follows:

• 1. Students MUST be in the portrait as it is a self portrait assignment
• 2. Student MUST use tools of exposure, lighting, movement, angles, and framing when shooting their image.
• 3. Students MUST tell a story with their composition that is easy to comprehend/understand and (Equally as important) is visually interesting/tells a visual narrative without words. 

Part 3: 

Based on Kolb's Triple E framework, I believe that my activity (that is aligned with my TEKS and ISTE standards) would receive a full Green Light for exceptional scoring under the Triple E Framework technology integration rubric. Of the three E's, my main focus of the assignment was to utilize the Extension of the learning goals, on top of how it would also align to Engagement and Enhancement. I believe that if students feel this project will provide them with an extension to themselves (showing a glimpse of their lives outside of school) then they can marry the two items of themselves and the photo project. This option will open the doors to full, raw, creativity that students can explore and learn for themselves outside the classroom walls how to complete a visual narrative. I feel this extension will motivate students, promote active learning and focus on this projects objectives and goals to further their understanding under the CTE umbrella of photography. By using this equipment and getting their hands dirty, they are learning by hands on rather than simply via worksheets and PowerPoints. Creating opportunities for authentic and genuine activities through integrating technology in a way that isn't normalized in most classrooms, I believe students will walk away with a much more diverse and skilled mindset. 

A clear predication of the rankings via the Triple E rubric results produced from this project.