Me give talk: Being a teacher, the ‘idle youth’
So I’m pretty much out the door right now – driving down to TypeCon.
And this Thursday morning I’ll be speaking as an ‘icebreaker’ in the Type & Design Education Forum. I’ll be going over a bunch of things I’ve learned while teaching; things that I’ve discovered work very well in a creative classroom.
get off your high horse
Being a human being – instead of an authority figure is a big part of this. My talk is going to center around how to make the connection with today’s college age students. And – hopefully – get them to love typography and design as much as the rest of us do.
real change is coming
Every group has to do something to irritate the hell out of the last. This falls in the category of ‘generation defining.’ Been going on for thousands of years. Joseph Conrad‘s probably written something about it.
The current group – labeled by the media as ‘idle youth’ – unfortunately has had a hard time discovering their place in a world gone . . . hopeless.
And the next group is really pissed off about it. Rightly so.
If you haven’t already, see what The Tiny Masters of Today are up to and – already a troublemaker for her frankness involving adult matters – actress/musician Taylor Momsen is pulling no punches.
‘Vodka eyeballing’ seems to be the first trend that’s already sending shocks from the next batch of kids. Hell, it can lead to blindness. Stupid as hell, don’t recommend anyone do something so ridiculous.
But history does show – things will get more patently offensive as time goes on.
Count on it.
Some human beings are the gateway between generations. They have that special something. You are that gateway human being Steve Mehallo. Enjoy sharing what you have experienced as a teacher at typcon. We are all better off because of your efforts.
I agree with annelise. I may have issues and choke on finals more often than I’d ever like to admit, but there should be more teachers like you out there.
PS: The ‘high horse’ bit is a good example of problems I’ve had with hundreds of other teachers. Don’t talk down to us like we’re eons behind. Most teachers would be surprised at how fast students will pick up the subject if they just spoke to them as equals. I have a twelve-year-old sister who is damned clever. I’ve been speaking to her as equals since she was five and she understands EVERYTHING I say (even the not-so-politically-correct things that we will often discuss when the parents aren’t in ear shot). Hell, we talked about Black Holes the other month.