Life is physically and mentally too cramped for me to write the posts I’ve been planning about Pink’s Whole New Mind and Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody.  I’m tutoring three days a week, finishing up my change of visa status (I never thought I’d need a Green Card, but there it is), and moving into our [...]

Lesson learned: if you start a digital video, finish it quickly. I started this months ago as part of the “Visionary Student Blogging” project for my AP Literature seniors. Some crazy introductory idea that I hoped would help them see how blogging could be an escape from school-as-usual. I didn’t finish it the way I [...]

After my first outing doing a rather “schooly” self-assignment for AP Literature, I got what I asked for: friendly and constructive criticism – “assessment”? – from Dean Shareski, Bud Hunt, AnneO, Diane Cordell, and my flat world team-teacher/blood brother Chris Watson – all whom I thank for taking the time. So you’ll notice these changes: [...]

Dean Shareski and Cindy Barnsley gave me valuable (though tactfully veiled) criticism for my original “Cutting the Crap (from Student Movies)” video. To paraphrase, “That first part was really good.” I took the hint. I’ve divided the original into two shorter efforts, and added end credits attributing the Flickr photos I used to model that [...]

Eight minutes on how to 1) find content on Creative Commons, 2) use Zamzar to download YouTube and other videos for mashups. (It’s also posted on my “Teaching Gallery” static page.) [Update: Photos credited in final titles, plus CC licensing added.] Coming in Episode 2: Still Photo Skills: Advanced use of the Ken Burns Effect.

[Welcome to Beyond School's new home, by the way. This is my first post since leaving Blogger. If you subscribed to the old "BS," please update your feed by subscribing to this new home on my own WordPress install. I'm excited to learn more about customizing WordPress by administering my own blog. You can expect [...]