Adteacher

More lights every day! CCE I am in my studio today surrounded by a wide variety of students who are doing various things. I have my "hard working and diligent" Trevor who is hanging lights from the rafters in here. I have my group of several other students, who are drawing and some who are talking and joking. But the funny thing is that I have seven people here voluntarily and it is almost 5 PM. (I even have an animator in here!) This studio has turned into one of those places that stays active until I say it is time to call it a day on most days. I love that...it has taken a year and a half, but it has gotten to be kind of like DJCC was for the students that went there back in the day. Not just a class, but a place to belong. I am very satisfied to see that the studio culture is settling in and that lots of people WANT to be here into the evening time. It is good preparation for how things will be for them when they go to college and design school. Sometimes it takes aw

 Our studio from my desk...becoming more festive every day. I am prone to become defensive when I hear people saying things to me like "Oh, you teach HIGH SCHOOL students! How can you stand them and their attitudes, aren't they difficult to deal with?" My eyebrows always get tied up in knots and I'm instantly perplexed by this. That's like saying, "Oh wow, you are an adult? How can you stand it? I know so many annoying adults ... it must be a pain." Categorizing all of any age group based on your perceptions of the worst of them is never a wise idea. In fact, I battle categorizations of all kinds. Stereotyping teen behavior is perhaps one of my least favorite categorizations made by adults who have minimal contact with the age group. I have some students who, admittedly, have a way to go before they are fully "grown up." I also have some others who are extremely mature and responsible, not to mention, kind-hearted and caring teens...and