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Bringing Animation to Life in the Classroom

Joshua Frisch • October 13, 2022

Here at CTeLearning, we love getting the chance to work with our wonderful teachers and students on a daily basis. Today we are highlighting Jadah M., one of our teachers in Colorado, and her classes. Jadah is the K-12 Art Teacher at Hoehne School District in Trinidad and uses the Animation Curriculum in her classroom. Jadah connected with CTeLearning after the principal of her school, Yvonne Wiening, first reached out to CTeLearning founder and lead developer Steve Waddell to discuss curriculum options for Hoehne.

To kick things off, the students were thrilled to received a personalized message from Simon Otto, best known as the Head of Character Animation for the wildly successful How to Train Your Dragon film series (a personal favorite of Jadah). Simon discussed the animation and encouraged the students to explore it as an exciting career pathway.

Throughout the course, Jadah’s students learn about all aspects of animation including character creation, character development, audio engineering, storyboarding, script writing and much more through interactive and media-rich tutorials. Thanks to a partnership spearheaded by CTeLearning and the Web Professionals Global Organization that underwrites certification costs, students are able to earn industry-backed Web Animator Certifications free of charge. These certifications are not about taking a test. Instead, students meet certification milestones as they work through the course and build real-world projects. This approach measures aptitude instead of the ability to take a test, allowing the students to earn valuable credentials recognized and respected by industry. Students can proudly take these certifications with them into their future educational and professional careers.

In addition to learning the technical side of animation, Jadah’s students learn soft skills like marketing as well as what it means to show ethics in the workplace, which they earn micro-credentials (mini certifications) for completing. CTeLearning believes in preparing the whole learner, which means empowering students with both technical skills and soft skills to succeed in the global economy.

She invited Steve Waddell to a Zoom meeting with her class to talk more about the animation industry, career opportunities and how students can earn and learn their way to the Web Animator Certification.

Engaging Students with Exciting Curriculum

Jadah had this to say about the Animation course and working with CTeLearning: “I have a student I was worried about at first. He just was not motivated to do much of anything in my class. As their teacher this worried me. I have never seen him excited about anything until yesterday when he started looking at all the th ings he was going to do in your Animation course. There was joy and excitement all over his face. I would also like to go ahead and set up a time for you to talk to my class. Thanks for sharing this with us. I see some kids with brighter futures because of you and your team.”

Jadah also discussed the success her students had throughout the first week of her class: “ I have to tell you that all of my students passed both quizzes and printed their certificates for the ethics in the workplace section. They were so excited. I had to help read the questions to one of my struggling students because they are so used to thinking that they will fail and just clicking an answer that they didn’t want to try. Once I slowed them down and they retook and passed the quiz, you could tell they had a little more confidence than the first time. We had been over the material so many times trying to find what we missed so they could take the test that they knew the information, they just didn’t realize they did. I am just so happy for them. I know some of them have never passed a test with more than a ‘D’ grade. This is huge for them. This curriculum is helping me with all my learners regardless of how they have or have not struggled in the past.”

We also asked Jadah how she found out about our curriculum: “I am so thankful that my principal Yvonne Wiening found out about CTeLearning, saw the courses with industry certifications, and contacted me over the summer to look into the curriculum. I am so fortunate to have a great administrative team here. I know that is not always the case at every school, but here the teachers and students are very lucky.”

Steve Waddell, founder and lead developer of CTeLearning said, “I think that post-COVID we have so many students who have become disconnected from education and school. Most teachers tell us that it is a struggle to get students to re-engage with learning. On top of everything else a teacher must do, added to it is winning students back to learning in the classroom. Much of what we do in our curriculum is to help teachers win their students back. Students also seem to have lost some of their confidence in learning and even trying. This is why our courses offer so many concise projects to help students take small steps to reach greater successes. Small bite-size projects combine to grow confidence that leads to the knowledge and self-esteem to successfully take on and complete bigger real-world projects. Our approach is to have the student journey be exciting and valued. The goal of completing the curriculum and earning the certification is certainly important, but as every educator knows, it is the journey to that goal where all the learning happens. What can I say? We love what we do.”

We love hearing from our teachers and students who are having success in the classroom using our courses. We can’t wait to see what Jadah’s students do next and continue working with the students who enter her classroom for years to come.

Connect with us Today

If you are like Jadah and are seeking to engage your students with innovative and impactful courses, contact us today. Our course creators can give you a free 20-minute demonstration of our curriculum offerings and explain how we can help you equip your students for the future. Call or email us directly at 913-764-4272 or swaddell@ctelearning.com.

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