Adteacher

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!

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" ...