Hey there, I'm Amanda!
When I first started teaching, I had zero experience in a classroom. I had no idea what classroom management meant, no idea who to write a rubric, how to pace a lesson to fit bell to bell, or how to adapt lessons for differently abled or leveled students.
I had come straight from the creative industry where I had run my own business for over a decade while also pursuing multiple freelance opportunities, W2 Employment and running other creative's businesses throughout. I had extensive experience with Graphic Design, Photography and Video as well as Production Management, Business and Marketing. I had many skills in these areas, but I had no idea how to teach them and when I entered the classroom for the first day, I was fully unprepared.
I kept hearing from more experienced teachers that the first 5 years would be rough, but after my 5th year, I’d have it all together.
Wow, were they wrong!
My first year was in an old dilapidated building and my classes included “Photo 1,” “Photo 2,” and “Video.” Photo 1 and Photo 2 were just one semester each and the majority of students did not move on to Photo 2 the second semester... which meant, I saw some students their freshman year for Photo 1, but wouldn't see them return until their senior year for "Photo 2." Ultimately, it was just photo 1 over and over again. Oh and I had 5 very old DSLR cameras and Photoshop CS6 while industry standard was already in Adobe Creative Cloud.
The following year, our school moved to a temporary location and I had another new course added to my roster with no curriculum previously made. This time our students rotated through three of the CTE programs to get a "taste" of what our classes would be. About half way through the year, I had about 14 new students added to one photography class, none of which spoke very much English and I had to quickly learn how to adapt to teaching Language Learners.
Then COVID hit...
We had to turn our homes into our classrooms and redesign all of our curriculum to fit the needs of zoom via chromebooks, terrible internet connections, and limited student resources. Don't even get me started on how difficult it was to teach to a computer screen while seeing zero faces looking back at me, just black screens. , not to mention changing Oh, and because we were teaching online, we had longer class periods and we went from semester long pacing to quarter long (as well as adding a new course, no curriculum yet again).
The next several years all consisted of at least one new course per year, which meant new curriculum or new pacing plus new buildings, new students, constant schedule changes, new grading policies, new software and new requirements of the teachers.
After 5 years, I could only say that some things had gotten easier, but not much. Since every year was DRASTICALLY different from the year before, I had to learn to adapt and be much more flexible than I'd ever thought possible.
It is because of my own teaching experiences that I now create resources for other teachers, especially in the creative CTE & Art fields. There was really nothing there for me when I needed it getting started and I don't want to see other teachers getting burnt out and leaving when I know the impact they could have on students is incredible.
So if you are struggling, I'm happy you're here - looking for that much needed help!
AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER:
Everything I link on my website is to help you and provide you with the information in the fastest and easiest possible way. Links to Amazon will usually be affiliate links where I may make a few cents when you make a purchase, and ONLY if you make a purchase.
That being said, sometimes there are better deals on sites like B&H Photo or Adorama for Photography specific items. If that is the case, the Amazon link is there just to show you the option and get some info, but you'll see a disclaimer next to it that B&H or Adorama (or even your local camera shop) will be the best option for purchasing in bulk.
Please note, I do not post links to items randomly. I either have them in my classroom, use them in my own business or trust the brand I'm promoting.
