Adteacher

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!

I guess I need to just step up and admit that I love October. Every year I feel the change of the seasons very strongly during this month, and it makes me happy to think that we are soon going to have little trick or treaters out running around and then Thanksgiving and the winter holidays that for years have included a lovely Christmas celebration for me and for my family. I love the warm glow of candles and fireplaces, and I like the smell of things that are delicious being cooked or baked in the kitchen. I guess I value this even more since we had a very difficult, long and extremely uncomfortably hot summer. I am having a great time with my students right now. We are starting new projects next week, but we have a school holiday on Monday for the State Fair of Texas. It is a much needed and anticipated day away from class to just have fun. I plan to do as much of that as I can this long, lovely fall weekend. My students are very busy preparing to attend National Portfolio ...

Sometimes I think that we are forever complaining about how busy we are. There is something that I noticed about myself after this summer. I had some days that were very empty as far as "work" is concerned...it seemed that all I had to do was to be completely directed by me. In other words, if I decided that I wanted to, I could sleep until noon and I could relax all day. That was not my favorite choice though, and I will try to explain why... I like to be busy. I like to feel that I have purpose in each day, and that each day has meaning to my life as a whole. Those days that I chose to sleep a lot and just "take it easy" are not the days that I remember the most about my summer (although they were nice every so often). The days that mean the most are the days that I went someplace amazing or did something productive. I have decided that I enjoy being a busy bee. That means a lot to a woman of my age. I am 53 years old, and will qualify to "retire" ...

Several "firsts" have occurred since the last time I posted. I missed the first day of the school year with the beginning of the school year "crud" and I feel like my immunity system has been exposed to plenty of germies already! Ha! I know we have had a few cases of gastrointestinal distress that proved to be pretty serious. Ugh. More pleasantly, we have had some gorgeous September weather too. That's VERY nice. There have been some very nice surprises in the studio in terms of some talents that are coming to light. I like the students this fall, they are very interesting and diverse. Maybe a little younger than I have taught for awhile, but that is interesting. I think that many of these students may just be around here for multiple years. It's a little bit hard to believe that we are almost halfway through September and we have the first three weeks of school in the can. I would say that we have done very well getting this year started successfull...

We are glad to have high school underway, and we wish our graduates all the best as they head off to college for another year. We handled the first week of classes here at Career Center East just beautifully! I am always worried about the first week, because high school students tend to have a very hard time "readjusting" their night owl habits to start the school year again. This year I have to compliment them. They showed up alert and ready to go on the first day! It was quite different than many years. I am really impressed with their willingness to work hard too. I know that I threw a whole lot of new information at them during the past five days, and they were just great about keeping up with me. It seems right now that this year is full of strong potential. As our school year gets underway, summer is still blazing its scorching heat down on us with 62 days over 100 degrees, continuing its seemingly unrelenting march toward the record of 69 days. (That i...

After three days of school, I have to say that this school year is going down like an ice cold glass of lemonade so far. We have had a great time up here in the loft so far. The studio looks great, and it's nice to be back. So far as the students go, I don't know all of their names yet... but I have so many that it is a challenge. I am getting a few more learned every day, and I am enjoying talking to more and more of the students as they lose their initial hesitancy to talk at school and now are beginning to let their real personalities emerge. It is a nice time. There are approximately 27 in the morning, and that is actually a perfect size...although I know I could take a few more. There is a waitlist and I suspect they could still decide to add someone else, but we shall see! In the afternoon, there are 30 and that is maxed out. I am also not counting two that are special situations that Mr. H and I are kind of "sharing" even though they are enrolled in Animati...