Adteacher

Today we (the new faculty and staff members) got to see the new Career Center East, and it is fabulous. I am so happy to see how the studio space is shaping up... I was just overwhelmed by anticipation of a new challenge as I walked up those stairs to get to the studio. There is still dust on the floor and the windows are smeared with fingerprints, etc., due to construction, but it is all there! The furniture will be coming in by July, and at that time it will really start to shape up and look like a school. I love the design of the studio. It is 1800 square feet of heaven to me. There were about 10 or so people on this tour today. Mr. Carter, the STARS/GIS program instructor, Mr. Feany, the Engineering teacher who is coming over from Berkner HS in Richardson, Ms. Deaver who will be teaching Criminal Law, Mr. Jackson, who is the Audio/Video Production teacher, Ms. Lewis who is the Cosmetology instructor, plus the newly hired Health Science technology teacher whose name I hav...

This was one of those days that was so full, so rich, it is hard to describe. My students all made me so proud today. We had our annual spring semester hallway event today, where we try to take a product that is slightly difficult to sell and see how well we can do at promoting it. The students have to brainstorm and conceptualize a method of appeal to their peers. The product that we chose to promote this semester was the old favorite canned pork product, SPAM. All day long, the students had to display their talent for marketing and advertising by executing an event in our school's hallways that involved setting up a booth with promotional material and samples. It was great! There were 12 groups in all, and I can honestly say that no groups were failures. Some were much better than others, but no one dropped the ball and just didn't come through. It was a great event, lots of fun for the students and also for us as teachers. The winning group overall was the advanced group...

An automaton is described as the following: a mechanical figure or contrivance constructed to act as if by its own power. I've got to define it more narrowly to make you clearly understand the video above. More appropriate definition in this instance is a whimsical kinetic mechanized toy-like device which are made to move via such means as wind, water, or hand-cranking. This toy that my daughter made for her UNT Design class is a mechanical whirligig automaton, which I have recently begun to affectionately refer to as the "Twitterbox". The egg cracks open to reveal a small bird while other birds "fly" around the spiral as the hand crank is turned. The whole toy was handmade from wood and painted. This is an example of the interesting challenges faced in college design classes. Just thought you would be interested in seeing what a 3D design class assignment looks like. In other news, today was a gorgeous spring day in north Texas. I know it won't be too lon...

Ahh. Like a breath of fresh air, my mood is back to usual today. I don't like feeling down in the dumps. The happy train is back in the station, and boy is that a relief. What can you do to elevate your mood when you are feeling glum? Sometimes stress can actually cause you to feel sick. If you have a lot of stress, I have come up with some very simple ways to feel instantly better. These work for me, they may not for you - but if these don't work, there are probably some that are just as easy to accomplish that would work great. Really, all you have to do is ask one question. If someone looked at you and said, "Hey, tomorrow there will be no jobs that you have to get done, no chores, and no one is depending on you at all. You can do whatever you want to do for one 24 hour period, just because you want to do them." If someone gave you that permission, what would you choose to do? I have a few... I would take a long, relaxing bath. I would go to a florist with ...

Typically I feel so optimistic and happy on a Sunday afternoon. Not so much on this particular day, I'm less than peppy - kind of lethargic - I guess it just goes to show that no matter how good your life happens to be, we all go through a day that is less than perfect. I am just not feeling well. I guess I am just "out of sorts" or something. I have a zillion things to do, yet I can't face doing any of them right now. I kind of just want to go back to sleep. Ever have one of those days? "Out of sorts" - origin of the phrase : The most common story about this phrase refers to the printer’s word sorts for the individual metal characters in his boxes of type, so called because they have been arranged, each into its own compartment, with all of one kind together. It would obviously be a substantial inconvenience if a printer were to run out of a sort during composition. The problem with this story is that the figurative expression out of sorts is recorded...