The Back Story
Back in 1997, when my first kid started to crawl, my hubby sat me down in front of the computer and showed me how to edit our home movies. I was hooked. Like stars in my eyes, hooked. Like read-every-videography-book-magazine-and-article-and-suck-it-all-up-like-a-sponge hooked. THAT kind of hooked.
In 2013 I was asked to join the staff at the flagship New Technology High School in Napa as the Digital Media and Videography teacher. It wasn't long before I started dreaming of teaching in areas that were new to me as well! Sometimes I only manage to keep one step ahead of my students, but it makes every day an adventure at New Tech High. I now teach 3D Design as well as Game Design Principles using Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Autodesk Maya.
In 2013 I was asked to join the staff at the flagship New Technology High School in Napa as the Digital Media and Videography teacher. It wasn't long before I started dreaming of teaching in areas that were new to me as well! Sometimes I only manage to keep one step ahead of my students, but it makes every day an adventure at New Tech High. I now teach 3D Design as well as Game Design Principles using Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Autodesk Maya.
My students do amazing work, all of it fun, authentic and lasting learning. Just this last year they created Augmented Reality animations of classic paintings from Classical to Pop Art to Surrealism. Some students are working on a real board game to teach the Carbon Cycle to High Schoolers and some are creating special visual effects and titles for the Spanish students who are filming Telenovelas. No matter what the project, I'm am sure to learn something new along with my students!
Before becoming an "official" teacher, I homeschooled my two oldest kids for seven years, created custom curriculum for them, and had a blast doing it. I think I bring some of that mindset to my classroom every day and am so excited to see where education is headed in the world of PBL and personalized learning!
As always, I’m eager to share what we’ve done here at New Tech High and even more excited to dream up new ways of teaching and learning.
Lisa Gottfried, Educator
Before becoming an "official" teacher, I homeschooled my two oldest kids for seven years, created custom curriculum for them, and had a blast doing it. I think I bring some of that mindset to my classroom every day and am so excited to see where education is headed in the world of PBL and personalized learning!
As always, I’m eager to share what we’ve done here at New Tech High and even more excited to dream up new ways of teaching and learning.
Lisa Gottfried, Educator
BIO
Lisa Gottfried, M.Ed., is in her fifth year of teach Digital Design, Game Design and Video Storytelling for the flagship New Technology High School in Napa. In 2017, she was recognized internationally for Innovation in Education with Blog Portfolios through HundrED.org and also won the "Innovation in the Classroom" grant from the California Educational Research Association in 2015 for her Educational Games Project. She is currently an adjunct professor for Touro University, California in the Innovative Education Masters program. She has taught other educators through the Napa Learns Digital Innovators program on how to use and teach project management by stealing from the tech start-up company playbook. She adores all things Adobe as well as learning alongside her students. Her favorite things to hear from her students are "That is SO cool! How do you do that?" and "This is really hard, but I've GOT to figure it out!"
For the seventeen years leading up to teaching, Gottfried owned and operated her own video production company, Video in a Minute, focusing on promoting wineries, entrepreneurs, book authors and the gourmet food industry. Some of the companies she worked with include: Gloria Ferrer, Flora Springs, Rodney Strong, VGS, and Elkhorn Peak Cellars.
Prior to going into the video field, Gottfried worked in large account development and sales training for a national telephone headset company. Gottfried is an involved member of her local community, having served on her congregational board as well as the executive board for Napa Valley Nursery School. She also played a lead role as the tools coordincator in the community-wide build project, Playground Fantastico. She is a wife and mother of three children as well as a Reiki Master and First Keup in Tae Kwon Do.
For the seventeen years leading up to teaching, Gottfried owned and operated her own video production company, Video in a Minute, focusing on promoting wineries, entrepreneurs, book authors and the gourmet food industry. Some of the companies she worked with include: Gloria Ferrer, Flora Springs, Rodney Strong, VGS, and Elkhorn Peak Cellars.
Prior to going into the video field, Gottfried worked in large account development and sales training for a national telephone headset company. Gottfried is an involved member of her local community, having served on her congregational board as well as the executive board for Napa Valley Nursery School. She also played a lead role as the tools coordincator in the community-wide build project, Playground Fantastico. She is a wife and mother of three children as well as a Reiki Master and First Keup in Tae Kwon Do.
