In the Animation Lab

Finally I got a day to get into my school site and do some work in my animation lab. I love this space that I've built over the last few years. My students love it too! They frequently tell me how much they enjoy my class and how they wish they could spend more time here. I wish we could too. There is never enough time to teach them all I want, let alone spend enough time on our process and production. This will be the start of my sixth year teaching animation and the journey has been amazing. The person who helped propel me in my desire and ability to teach animation was my high school art teacher Nataha Lightfoot, who runs LightfootLtd. Animation supplies www.lightfootltd.com/. He told me when I was getting started that teaching animation would open doors to new opportunities, and he was certainly correct. In the time that I have worked on building this lab and teaching animation, I have had the chance to meet people in related industries, travel, and earn extra income.

Teaching and producing animation helped bridge my love of art/design and technology. I learn something new every day when working on my own, with my students, or with others. For my students, animation has been an challenge, both artistically and technically. Producing animation teaches my students how to manage complex tasks, think creatively, artistically, and work in production teams. It is an exciting way to teach students cross platform/software integration and workflows. They learn all about the various types of computer graphics that can be created, how to make them move, how to record audio, video, compositing, rendering, and file management.

So far in my classroom, my students learn to work with RETAS Pro,Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Flash, Premiere, Soundbooth, After Effects, Audacity. All this is after spending six weeks focused on foundational drawing and composition skills. They write scripts, analyze animation, study art, cartoon, and animation history. They learn to critique their own work. They produce PSAs for their school television broadcast. They have been involved with Adobe Youth Voices for over three years now. If all goes according to plans, this year I will finally roll out the intro to 3d modelling and animation unit.

This blog post is essentially my testimonial to the power of animation in the classroom for myself and my students. By choosing this path six years ago, I have rekindled a passion and a love for teaching that had been ebbing. I am also fortunate to have the support of a good colleague, administration, and funding from the California Career Partnerships Academies. However, I do want to mention that it has been some of the hardest work I have ever done. It has required countless outside hours learning software, techniques, and skills, and it is never enough. There is always more to learn, which, I think, is great for myself and my students, because once you start learning this stuff you want to continue. And isn't that what we want out of education..excited and inspired lifelong learners.

There is a lot more I could say about this, and will continue to do so. My goal this year, like every year, is to raise the bar, for the work we produce, but also to showcase it. I will try and use this space and others to document, and promote the success and power of our CAST Academy Animation and Video Production strands.

If you are an educator interested in, or already teaching animation I would love to hear from you personally. Please feel free to contact me.

Summer Internship at Adobe!!

So, this summer I applied for and received through IISME, an internship to work at Adobe with the Adobe Youth Voices Program. I feel really fortunate, and honored to have this chance to do the kind of work I love the most, that is working with youth and making media. So far, I've had the chance to go to Philadelphia and present workshops on animation, flash, and integrating the Adobe Youth Voices curriculum in the classroom. I am also helping with the planning and organizing of the International AYV Summit at the beginning of August. Out of this experience I am also developing a lesson plan for students and other teachers to use Adobe Acrobat Pro to create ePortfolios for their work this year. I am also using Summer time as a chance to work on developing some of my neglected skill sets, like web desgin, 3d modelling, and hopefully some Action Scripting for Flash. My family has just moved and is settling into a new place, and the boxes are still piled high, but I am very excited about our new arrangements and everything that is happening. It's great being able to spend more time with my daughter and partner, and although I miss the old collective living arrangement at Praxis House in some ways, I have been wanting to live in a smaller arrangement for many years. This summer feels very rewarding in both personal and professional ways. Looking forward to the months to come. The picture attached is a rough layout for a poster I am working on. It's still in the earlly stages.