My name is Gabriel D’Amato, and I am the Instructor for the Digital Media & Multimedia Design program at McFatter Technical College. I have been at the school for about a decade, and this is my first teaching job, which, I gotta say is a strange way to earn a buck. For most of my life I have been a designer of all things, and a total nerd at the same time. My Portfolio is a reflection of my love of all forms of design, since I can’t pick just one.

My classroom philosophy is very different from most Instructors at McFatter. I treat my classroom as if it were a Design Studio, and the Student are Employees. I have basic expectations from the group that are very in step with real world industry studios. I am extremely laid back and quick to joke so long as the work is being done. However, when Students start to under perform or fall behind, I become very much like a boss, who has expectations of his or her employees.

Generally, I will let the students do their own thing with class or online time, just so long as the work is getting done on time, and good enough for the “client”.  More often than not, you can see me wandering around the room checking in on the various projects while drinking lots and lots of coffee.

The classroom is quiet, dark and relaxed to let the students be free to creatively and technically solve the problems I throw at them with the various projects. Usually, I stream whatever video game I am currently researching or playing on the big screen (unless I can find some good creative channels to watch).

Please feel free to email gabriel.damato@browardschools.com if you have any questions before, during or after the course.