Introduction/Expectations for the course

Hello! My name is Rachel Mezger. I am from Nashville, Tennessee. I am currently studying at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, double majoring in Studio Arts with a focus in Printmaking and Art Education K-12. My love for art has been developing over many years. When deciding what to do with my life, I thought, their is nothing I love more than the thought of getting to create art all day long. As an art teacher, I get to share my art experiences with students while creating art myself all day long and getting paid to do it. Art has been a constant in my life when other things have seemed so out of my control. I can only hope that I pass along to my students the same things my art teachers instilled in me. Through teaching students how to communicate that which sometimes cannot be verbalized, I aim to provide an environment where students can interactively learn about art and about themselves in a creative, expressive way.

As for the TPTE course, my expectations were somewhat limited in the beginning. I did not know very much about the technology aspect for this course. I have already found great uses for the things that have been covered and the technology aspect that lends itself to another form of communication. Being able to know how to create a website for my classroom is already the greatest thing! I could not ask for a better way to, freely, communicate with my students, parents, other faculty and staff about what I am doing with the students in my classroom. Art is such a visual way of learning and it is extremely hands on, so this technology course has given me lots to think about when planning my future classroom expectation for myself and my students. With what has already been covered, the website and blog creations, I can easily share photos and news about the works of art my students are creating. Technology can be such a great tool if used in the right ways. For this class, I have high expectations of learning all that I can. I want to absorb what I can while I have the safe and comfortable environment of my own learning classroom to try everything out. I expect to build upon the website, linking all of the other things we create together. I expect to be able to manage and update all of my sites within reasonable timing and on my own.