Walking into Heritage High School I was struck by the early morning light as the interior of the the school balanced nicely against the early morning light of a sunrise. I also was struck by the lines and architectural design and structure of the building.
First period students hard at work on their artist statements in Mr. Strong’s photo 1 class.
Observing teacher Adam Strong was beneficial. He has a very relaxed and easy going style with his students. It was very apparent how much the photo 1 students really liked being around and learning from Adam. Note to self: it’s better to be liked by students than be respected.
Adam Strong is a wizard with computer technology and seamlessly moved from teaching students to broadcasting a video for morning announcements, as well as sharing a cool multimedia presentation of students’ best work. I look forward to learning a lot from Adam. By the way, Adam plays some seriously cool music during his class. I’ve already become a Spotify follower of his.
Photo 1 students hard at work on the artist statements and digital photography portfolio. I met a lot of really cool kids. They were all very pleasant, respectful and incredibly visually talented. Their mastery of digital technology is exceptional and inspiring. Everything is connected by computers, including portfolio presentation using free web based site like Webbly and WordPress. Very cool stuff I can’t wait to get started working with!
I encountered this very cool thank you note to Mr. Strong. It reads: Mr. Strong You’re an amazing photography teacher and Heritage thanks you for that. We appreciate your time and effort that you spend on helping students improve on their photography and videography skills. You’re so down-to-earth to students and don’t ever change that. Thank you! –ASB Leadership class This thank you note was very inspiring to me and let’s me know a lot about what makes a great teacher.
A super sweet studio space at Heritage High School for photography and video.
After visiting with Adam I had the great pleasure to meet and observe Lindsay Johnson. She is delightful and a very good teacher. It was very evident her students really enjoyed learning photography and year book from her. Her interaction with students was incredible to watch and learn from. Lindsay’s students thoroughly enjoyed her teaching style. Her students were incredibly polite, hard working and creative. I have some big shoes to fill!
A first hand look at my classroom! I absolutely love the disco ball.
Outside my future classroom is a presentation board. The students are doing fantastic work and I’m so excited to continue their visual education, share my passion for photography and help them grow as photographers and visual artists.
Lindsay Johnson helps a student write an artist statement. My favorite experience as a guest teacher was helping a student in yearbook class compose a copy block for a yearbook page she was working on. Together we slowly worked through what she had wrote and made some subtle changes and added some additional words to help put into context her photograph and story. After we finished and reread her copy, Brie turned to me and smiled. She said thank you. The feeling I got from that singular moment was incredibly rewarding and a wonderful introduction to what’s to come as a teacher at Heritage High School. I can’t wait to get started!
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