Patricia (Tricia) Ratliff's Professional Portfolio
My name is Patricia Ratliff, and everyone calls me "Tricia." I am the Director of Project Administration at Chinquapin Preparatory School, located in Highlands, Texas. Our mission is to provide a high quality
college-preparatory education to able and motivated youth from low-income families in the Greater Houston area. I enjoy working at Chinquapin, as it is an environment that involves variety and professional growth, and also, enables me to share knowledge gained through personal and professional experiences and education. I handle projects for the school in a variety of areas including safety, programs for girls, faculty professional development, campus accreditation, career day, and more. Also, I am the Advisor for Chinquapin's chapter of the National Junior Honor Society. For exercise, I enjoy cycling, swimming, aerobics and walking, especially on the beach. For leisure time, I like to travel and to scrapbook, as well as to attend Baylor sporting events, movies, musicals and concerts. But, my favorite thing to do is to spend time with friends and family, especially my husband of 25 years.
college-preparatory education to able and motivated youth from low-income families in the Greater Houston area. I enjoy working at Chinquapin, as it is an environment that involves variety and professional growth, and also, enables me to share knowledge gained through personal and professional experiences and education. I handle projects for the school in a variety of areas including safety, programs for girls, faculty professional development, campus accreditation, career day, and more. Also, I am the Advisor for Chinquapin's chapter of the National Junior Honor Society. For exercise, I enjoy cycling, swimming, aerobics and walking, especially on the beach. For leisure time, I like to travel and to scrapbook, as well as to attend Baylor sporting events, movies, musicals and concerts. But, my favorite thing to do is to spend time with friends and family, especially my husband of 25 years.
Educational Philosophy
My educational philosophy centers around two primary beliefs: (1) gaining a formal education enhances quality of life and (2) learning is a lifetime process.
The process of learning takes place within the school, but also extends to the school's community. The American school reflects the community and seeks to improve it where needed. It is responsible for conserving the useful past and preparing the way for progess and change. It must be attentive to the needs of the community majority, and so school staff must behave in a spirit of
cooperation with the school's community. Even with full community cooperation, the school must recognize that is cannot please all people, and that its leaders will always be subject to criticism.
Everyone is responsible for safeguarding people and property at the school. No activity is so important to override the safety of an individual.
The student is the key element of the school, and the primary purpose of the school is to promote the student's learning. This purpose along with the school vision, goals, objectives and roles must be clearly communicated to the various social systems of which it is a part. Those persons with responsibility must regularly work with these social systems to revise and adapt the vision, goals, objectives and roles to changing times.
There are no invisible citizens. Those persons affected by administrative action should be involved in development of policy relative to action taken. Involvement will depend on the sophistication and maturity of the persons and on varying life circumstances.
The process of learning takes place within the school, but also extends to the school's community. The American school reflects the community and seeks to improve it where needed. It is responsible for conserving the useful past and preparing the way for progess and change. It must be attentive to the needs of the community majority, and so school staff must behave in a spirit of
cooperation with the school's community. Even with full community cooperation, the school must recognize that is cannot please all people, and that its leaders will always be subject to criticism.
Everyone is responsible for safeguarding people and property at the school. No activity is so important to override the safety of an individual.
The student is the key element of the school, and the primary purpose of the school is to promote the student's learning. This purpose along with the school vision, goals, objectives and roles must be clearly communicated to the various social systems of which it is a part. Those persons with responsibility must regularly work with these social systems to revise and adapt the vision, goals, objectives and roles to changing times.
There are no invisible citizens. Those persons affected by administrative action should be involved in development of policy relative to action taken. Involvement will depend on the sophistication and maturity of the persons and on varying life circumstances.
Texas Technology Educator Standards
Standard I. All teachers use technology-related terms, concepts, data input strategies, and ethical practices to make informed
decisions about current technologies and their applications.
Standard II. All teachers identify task requirements, apply search strategies, and use current technology to efficiently acquire,
analyze, and evaluate a variety of electronic information.
Standard III. All teachers use task-appropriate tools to synthesize knowledge, create and modify solutions, and evaluate results in a way that supports the work of individuals and groups in problem-solving situations.
Standard IV. All teachers communicate information in different formats and for diverse audiences.
Standard V. All teachers know how to plan, organize, deliver, and evaluate instruction for all students that incorporates the
effective use of current technology for teaching and integrating the Technology Applications Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) into the curriculum.
decisions about current technologies and their applications.
Standard II. All teachers identify task requirements, apply search strategies, and use current technology to efficiently acquire,
analyze, and evaluate a variety of electronic information.
Standard III. All teachers use task-appropriate tools to synthesize knowledge, create and modify solutions, and evaluate results in a way that supports the work of individuals and groups in problem-solving situations.
Standard IV. All teachers communicate information in different formats and for diverse audiences.
Standard V. All teachers know how to plan, organize, deliver, and evaluate instruction for all students that incorporates the
effective use of current technology for teaching and integrating the Technology Applications Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) into the curriculum.
Standard |
Artifact |
Reflection |
Standard I
|
I learned that a copyright owner has exclusive rights, but those rights are limited by Fair Use. Tangentially, I learned about Fair Use and its specific limitations regarding copyrighted audio, video and images for nonprofit educational use. I now understand the limitations for use of copyrighted material at school without concern about infringement.
|
Standard II |
|
I learned how to use powerful features of Microsoft Word, including Equation Editor and SmartArt. For students, I learned a great activity to have students tell about themselves, graphically through collage. Also, I learned that using a teacher collage on parent/teacher conference night is a great way for teachers to tell about themselves.
|
I learned about assistive technologies that I had never seen, such as the spoken dictionary and the electronic magnifying instrument. Also, I learned this new term, "assistive technology," since I had always heard these tools referred to as "adaptive technology." For students needing assistive technologies, I learned the importance of a teacher's input into the AT implementation and evaluation processes.
|
Standard III
|
I learned a great teaching tool for directing users to specific content sites on the Internet for independent learning: a Treasure Hunt. This Safety Treasure Hunt activity will be an excellent replacement of last year's boring and outdated safety video showings that were required of all employees. Additionally, I expect that faculty and staff will learn more about safety with the Treasure Hunt than they did while watching (sleeping through?) last year's videos. Also, faculty asked for something they could do independently after hours at their own pace, and this Treasure Hunt meets their requests. Net: Happier, safer faculty and staff!
|
I learned how to use Weebly to create a free web site. I saw how easy it is to create and modify pages, and then to publish them for anyone to see on the Internet. Weebly will provide a great tool for me to use at school to share safety information with students, faculty and staff.
|
Standard IV
|
IPhoto, YouTube Editor, GarageBand and iMovie are all useful Mac tools that I learned how to use in order to create and edit videos with audio. TEASe videos are excellent audio-visual options for teacher workshops. Also, TEASe videos can make student study units come alive, connect to students and grab their attention.
|
Standard V
|
I learned how to use Delicious.com, and I found it to be an excellent tool for collecting, organizing and sharing links to useful online items. Using this tool as a safety bookmark repository will keep me orgnized and help me keep track of valuable online safety information.
|