I start teaching again this week. I’m a bit nervous this time around because I have a new upper-level web design course to teach. It’s supposed to be “easy” to teach because by this time around the students are well-trained and self-motivated so I’m really acting as more of a guide than a lecturer. But without having experienced it, I still anticipate some stumbling around and bad pacing for the semester. We’ll make the best of it I suppose…it’s not like I haven’t acted as a project manager before. I’ll imagine this class to be like I’ve hired 10 employees to work on 10 client websites.
It’s taken me all Summer to try to build an actual site that’s separate from my own. It’s taken me HOURS to throw something together, and yet, I’m still scrambling last minute. If you haven’t taught before, you have NO idea how much extra time is put into teaching before any actual class time even begins. And that’s all unpaid.
And my website is piddley and rushed over compared to my colleague’s website. He had asked me to take over his class this year and so that’s why I’m scrambling. Every detail is worked out perfectly on his site down to the tiny icons. I’m in awe of these full-time teacher’s dedication towards their students. You know, I’ve seen a lot of lazy instructors in my time…but these folks I’m working with are not among them.
Well…time to jump in the fire.
LoweStudio Inc was founded by me, Raphael Lowe, a Honolulu based illustrator and web designer. I presently design and manage a few dozen commercial websites, but my main focus these days is acting as the head developer for Kapiolani Community College and teaching