I'm going into my 3rd semester of game development, and i have kinda come to an interesting question about building my portfolio. My game design teacher has mastered in creative writing and did writing and a few other various projects before becoming a teacher. Talking to him he says i am wasting my time with learning stuff out of this book http://www.amazon.com/Game-Development-Unity-Michelle-Menard/dp/1435456580/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300072378&sr=8-1

this book teaches me how to use the basics of unity 3D, the courses themselves teach programming of c# (with xna framework) c++ (basics and object orientation all console based) and ios (haven't taken the class yet) anyways back onto the subject at hand. he is telling me that i should look at game companies i'm interested in working for and use their level building software/editor's to show what i can do rather than create something all on my own using an engine or building from scratch.

what do you guys think?

I've got two beliefs about your statement.

First, learn whatever you want. If you want to learn about using the Unity engine, then it seems like a reasonable book.

Second, be careful at schools like the one you describe. Schools that focus on "game development" are typically trade schools. They will forgo the breadth and depth of learning and instead focus only on the tools in use today. The will ignore the past, they will ignore the future, and they have blinders against other fields. That is the main reason that traditional schools with full computer science degrees are preferred over trade school graduates. While it is useful to learn specific tools (including Unity) it is much more useful to learn the fundamentals in multiple areas, learn things outside the industry, learn the math and science that make the magic work, in addition to learning the tools, algorithms and languages you will encounter on the job.

i have kinda come to an interesting question... he says i am wasting my time with learning stuff out of this book http://www.amazon.co...00072378&sr=8-1
he is telling me that i should look at game companies i'm interested in working for and use their level building software/editor's to show what i can do rather than create something all on my own using an engine or building from scratch.
what do you guys think?

I think you (or your parents) are spending a lot of money on a school that doesn't teach you the importance of the Shift key.
Surely your teacher is not calling learning "wasting time." I'm a teacher, and I believe learning is never a waste of one's time. Learn whatever you want! But yes, if you want to get a job at Company X, then you do need to make at least one portfolio piece using Company X's favored tools. That doesn't mean you should only use Company X's tools to the exclusion of all others. Learn! Explore!
And why couldn't you just type out the book's title and author for us?

Sorry had the link up and it was easier to copy and paste. It's a 2 year community college not a trade school. I just wanted to get some opinions on things my game design teacher just seems kind of a flake when coming to things like this. I just wanted to double check his advice and make sure it is accurate.

Thanks for the advice and help!