His
Tales from the Classroom
March 14, 2012
In one of the rooms I teach in there is a chart that says “Outstanding Achievement” … After seeing what the name was for the 2nd week… I just HAD to add a number ONE to the end of it.
:-o
My 3rd Term
February 28, 2012
I recently concluded my third term of teaching, and as is tradition, I’d like to share some of the “reviews” I received from my students:
- Mr Merino is a very good instructor I don’t see how he could be a better teacher
- The best instructor I have had in the past two terms I been coming here to IADT, he make learning in his class fun and takes the time to help you one on one!
- He makes sure that lectures are explained thoroughly and will attend to anyone needing more help.
- It shows that he enjoys teaching.
- His class was awesome when I payed attention and decided to finally stop playing words with friends on my ipod. On the real side it was a very fun class and taught me a lot and I was able to be very interactive with my peers. And he has the cutest baby girl!! Two thumbs up!!
- you should provide food for the last day
- Luis is a very epic guy. He cracked jokes a lot and made the class fun for everyone. One time he even gave me change for a $5 bill. He always gave the class an appropriate amount of time to finish all projects. He expected just as much as he should for new college students to learn the material. I wish I could have him for every class. (:
My scored evaluations were thus:
- GRAPH160: 100%
- DESIGN140: 96%
- GRAPH110: 98.5%
Now, I don’t share this stuff because I’m trying to brag… to be honest, I’m just really proud of myself. I work really hard to create a class that’s challenging, but fair… fun, yet focused… and it’s so fulfilling to have that hard work be acknowledged and pay off.
A personal victory
February 26, 2012
So, last week, I was caught off guard when I was asked if I would speak at Church the following Sunday (today). All week I’d been worrying and stressing about writing it, making sure it was long enough, practicing it, delivering it, making sure it wouldn’t put people to sleep… etc, etc, y’know, all the normal stuff people worry about when giving talks or speaking publicly.
As Sunday approached, the draft for my talk kept getting sharper and sharper, as I’d add things, tweak things, and edit things out. Natalia eventually read the talk and said it was excellent (of course she has to say that though… right?!).
Today, when I entered the chapel, I was at complete ease. At that point, I was just ready to face it head on and get it over with. When it was my turn at the pulpit, It was almost second nature… (I thank teaching on a regular basis for that).
When all was said and done, by the time I got home from church, 25+ different people had pulled me aside and told me a mixture the following:
- Thank you for sharing your experiences
- That was a great talk… no, really, like a GREAT talk
- Good talk
- You’re an amazing public speaker, I wish I could speak like that
- You were articulate, clear, well-spoken. That talk was well written and overall put together well
- Thank you for your talk
About half of those 25+ people, had never really spoken to me before, so for them to stop me and say something really meant a lot. One of the 25+ was a 10 year-old kid I’d never even seen before. There’s nothing like having your really hard work pay off, and people really appreciate it.
So, for me, this talk was definitely a personal victory.
Proud teacher
September 30, 2011
Just a few days ago, I was walking down the hall at school when THIS wall caught my eye:
These were the final projects for one of my classes last term. The projects aren’t perfect, but they symbolize SUCH an improvement over the course of the class. Teaching definitely has its ups.
Teaching update
September 3, 2011
My 2nd term teaching started this past week, and I must say, I’m enjoying it quite thoroughly. Without all the anxiety and nervousness of last term’s start, this go-around has been exciting and even a bit rewarding.. and its only been ONE WEEK. I’m feeling more like a “real” “teacher.”
Perhaps teaching is something I never knew I had inside. ????
Only like 5 or so, of my 30 students last term filled out teacher evaluations. Here’s what some of them had to say (note: no revisions were made to spelling or punctuation, I’m re-posting these AS IS… which may or may not reflect on how academically-sound they are):
-this class testes your creativity and forces you to be on top of your shii …witch is good :D
-he so Kool! n chill! very helpful
-When ever I had a question he quickly replied by email every time.
-Luis is an good professor…..
-This class was very good I will benefit from it in the future.
-He is a great teacher really pushed the class to design spectacular things. I am glad he is a new teacher with our school.
Hopefully things continue to go smoothly, but chances are, they probably won’t. There’s always a bump right around the corner. But, I’m excited to be along for the ride.
SIDENOTE: Also, when I teach in the classroom right next to the vending machines, I always have to have:
Wednesday night class
July 25, 2011
I teach a class on Wednesday nights calls “Creativity in Design,” where I give them all sorts of creative challenges as they relate to Graphic Design. Well, a few weeks ago, we were working on this in-class project where, together as a class, and experimenting with a variety of brainstorming methods, brainstormed 100 different feature ideas for an iPhone app. At first, the class really didn’t think we could come up with 100 (there were only 3 students in class that night). But, we did it!
Online training
July 21, 2011
The company that owns the school where I teach has us take these online training courses about company policies and such. Featured in these trainings are UBER-cheesy videos about scenarios relating to the issues discussed. It definitely adds entertainment value to the trainings, although, not in the way the producers probably intended. But then again, who am I to criticize other people’s video work.
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