The Mountain School

A lively demonstration and discussion at the Mountain School last Wednesday evening. A critically engaged crew, it was a pleasure to field their questions, technical to philosophical. I am hoping to hear how the pickles turned out, but the times, oh the times! People, they were good!

Thanks to Andrew, Val and Stella for their hospitality.

Raymond Avenue Community Garden in the LA Times!

My friend Julie Burleigh and the community garden she started across the street from her house are featured today in the LA Times. People together, fantastic!

Bonnie Bracey

Watch it on Academic Earth

In an insomniac journey, I have found my sixth grade teacher, Bonnie Bracey. This woman was THE COOLEST! During a very difficult and formative part of my childhood, she changed the course of my life. Through her strict and loving attention, I transitioned from being a troubled, aggressive kid into a curious, intellectually engaged human. She would frequently remind me of this metamorphosis, telling me that other teachers were weary of me. (I did, after all, break a boy's fingers in a door! Yikes!) "Everybody thought you were trouble, but then you came to ME!"

This morning I learned that she has had quite an august career as an educator. From Wikipedia:

Bonnie Laverne Bracey is an American teacher and technology consultant based in Washington, D.C.. One of the first teachers to promote the role of the Internet in the classroom, Bracey was the only teacher selected by the Clinton Administration for serving on the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council, whose work in the mid 1990s led to the creation of the E-rate program. She also served as lead educator on President Bill Clinton's 21st Century Teacher Initiative.

In 1993, Bracey was selected as a Christa McAuliffe Educator, and subsequently worked with NASA on various education programmes. Currently she is an international educational consultant; in this capacity she conducts outreach activities for the George Lucas Education Foundation and other groups. Bracey is an active member of the Digital Divide Network.

Education is empowerment. This woman helped me to become an independent learner and thinker at the age of eleven. What work, what a gift!

Pickling at the Hammer

Pickles for the People! The good people of the Hammer Student Association!

Videograms of a Revolution

There are so few times that people take back power. These are the times we are witnessing. I am reminded of "Videograms of a Revolution" which pieces together from home videos the fall of Romanian dictator Ceausescu in 1989.