First Day at Palumbo

We prepared for weeks before going in to the classroom but I don’t think that any amount of preparation could have prepared us for what we experienced that very first day of High School Advertising Workshop at The Academy at Palumbo.  Those students exceeded all of our expectations.

We (the Temple students) walked in ready to teach these students about advertising and how it works, but surprisingly they already had a solid foundation about what advertising was and how it functions. Some of them even knew how to use Photoshop and other editing software. The talent in the group of students was phenomenal.  Although we came prepared to teach, I think we learned more that first day than the Palumbo students did.

As a group, we learned that our approach with the students was flawed. We assumed that the student’s knowledge about the subject matter was quite low – which was not the case at all. That first day taught us that we would be more successful by structuring the lessons around them and their interests and talents. Instead of assuming what they do or do not know, we should build on what they do know and go from there.

That first day was a crucial learning experience. From that first day, we have drastically improved. We were able to learn from our mistakes and we have been better than ever. The students – both high school and Temple students – are even more excited and it gets better every week.