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 ...

Today was the first day of our yearly middle school tours here at Career Center East. My mind was blown today when we had the first two schools come to visit. In the morning, we had Downing Middle School which feeds into Marcus High School, and Creek Valley Middle School which feeds into Hebron High School. We had our CCE designers greet the students and spend some time with each of them, and then we offered brochures and asked the students to sign an interest list if they felt that our class might be a good fit for them. There were 38 Downing students that signed the list in the morning, but there were a whopping 90 from Creek Valley who signed! In just one day, we have over 120 students who have shown interest in the class. That is amazing, especially considering that 120 is the maximum enrollment that we can handle here at CCE during the course of one school year! And we got that in one short day! It really makes me excited to see what happens the rest of this week when we hos...

Senior designer Amber Goddard copyright2011 This has been the "strangest" fall I have experienced in many years. For example, today is November 13th. The high temperature was 86 degrees. My daughter was wearing shorts all day and still complaining that it was kinda hot. Think about that for a minute... four degrees shy of 90? I can't really get into the spirit of planning for Thanksgiving dinner yet, and well, it's just days away now. But that isn't the only reason that this has been an unusual fall. I think that it is very strange how quickly the school year is passing. I know that the Spring semester always seems to go slower than the Fall semester does, but I think that this school year has gotten so far ahead of me that I am surprised by it. The students that I (seemingly) just started to work with will be gone within weeks. We are already turning in 3 week progress reports for the second 9 weeks! Yikes! I fear that I will blink an eye and we will be g...

There are a couple of students in a group that includes some of the best students that I have ever taught, who have distinguished themselves recently. One is a senior girl from Hebron HS, and the other is a senior boy student from The Colony. I am pleased to say that it looks as though they are in the process of developing the caliber of portfolio that they may receive significant scholarship offers for. I am very hopeful. The students that I selected as the top most outstanding students for the 9 weeks that just ended at Career Center East are: copyright2011, Kade O'Casey copyright2011, Erin Hotchkiss Erin Hotchkiss and Kade O'Casey . Erin is in her second semester, and Kade is also in his second semester. They are both already planning to attend top level schools to major in design and illustration, respectively. Here are a few examples of the work that Kade and Erin do. Click on them for a larger version. I am very happy to have both of these quality students in...

One of the more challenging things that I do in my life is to try to inspire high school students to understand how to "really" meet deadlines. By that, what I mean is to not just get the work done. That is easy (or it should be). The more difficult issue is how to get them not to merely turn something in on the day that it is due, but to get them to turn in something worthwhile. While I am relatively happy with the students' ability to get things done by the due date, I am asking myself if it is at the highest possible quality level. I have to continually ask myself to assess the skill levels of the people involved and to also assess how much artistic effort they have put into each piece. I know that effort is a real issue for all employers, and if they get an employee these days (in this economy) that they feel is putting forth minimal effort, they will let them go and find one of the VAST numbers of people out there looking for a job to replace them. So how do I impr...

Al fresco dining is on my radar. I still continue to be impressed by the beauty of fall in Texas. The air is warm and crisp, kind of like the most delicious Apple Brown Betty fresh from the oven. I walk outside and all I can think is that we should figure out a way to be outside all day long every day during this, the most gorgeous few weeks of our year. With that in mind, I can hardly wait to walk out the door this afternoon into the waiting world of blue skies and coolish air. I don't know what I want to do tonight, but I do know that I want to try to have dinner outdoors if possible. I want al fresco dining, and I want to get to a restaurant before the afternoon and evening crowds make the waits intolerable. Then who knows? Maybe a nice nap early in the evening so I can stay up late tonight. One thing is for sure. I am finished with work for the day! Hooray for leaving at 3:45 on a Friday afternoon! See you later!