WRITING
From long, ponderous prose set in far away fantasy lands to compelling literary reportage to sardonic media reviews to technical writing to straight journalism, I continue to write for purpose and pleasure. Here are a few examples.
I've now been actively involved in education for 15 years. It started here.
After years creating and performing, I found a true passion in teaching. I was recruited by Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore to teach media production as part of their Recording Arts, Media and Production track. There, I taught audio production, video and film, and video game development to eager young minds. In 2008, I helped advise and pilot the official CTE curriculum for video game development.
New England Institute of Technlogoy
Internship Lead and Instructor
Over the summer, I got to work with 18 exceptional young people from the state of Rhode Island in a joint effort between New England Institute of Technology, RI DIGI, and Skills for Rhode Island. This 8 week course was functionally more like an internship, where students used my software tools to develop games around the broad concept of health and wellness.
Teaching Youth
Game Development Workshop
As part of youth workshops on game development, I often reinforce the history of video games. In this video, as a primer for our lesson on basic game development, I teach a room full of elementary and middle school students about the early days of gaming, and start to breach the most elementary concepts of computer programming (what is a bit?). This video aptly captures my enthusiasm for teaching and my excitement for opening the door to new concepts to eager young minds.
Collegiate Instruction
Ringling College of Art and Design
Along with my role as senior content developer for the Communications Strategies department at Ringling, I also teach as an adjunct for the college. I have been able to bring my experience with all facets of media to the Creative Writing department, teaching Writing for Digital Media for all majors. Additionally, I often host workshops, helm game jams, and manage student projects. This particular video is taken from a midnight game development workshop as part of a 48 hour game jam.
Virtual Instruction
Ringling College of Art and Design
The year 2020 presented a series of unprecedented challenges for educators, especially for those of us who teach hands-on concepts like media production. Fortunately, I have had years of experience creating online instructional content.. Using Canvas, here is part of an adapted lesson plan, and a pre-recorded video that supplemented the direct instruction through zoom. Having these pre-recorded videos and stepwise instructions allowed an accommodation for students who were coping with extenuating circumstances.
Workshops and Speaking Engagements
Conventions, Expos, Trade Shows and College Campuses
Beyond traditional teaching, I have also done workshops, given lectures, and sat for panels at dozens of conventions and college campuses around the country. Some of the notable conventions at which I have workshopped are SXSW, GDC, PAX, and Portland Retro Gaming Expo. Some of the colleges at which I've had speaking engagements are UCLA, University of Baltimore, Towson University, University of Harrisburg, and Utica College. This video is an hour NESmaker panel and workshop at 2019's Portland Retro Gaming Expo.
Online Tutorials
Software Instruction
In being the primary developer for a complex piece of software, one of my roles has been to create tutorial content that can teach an end user how to use the tool chain both on a conceptual and technical level. In the last 2 years, I have created dozens of tutorial series exploring various concepts and potential workflows. In this 20 minute tutorial video, I show users step by step how to use our NESmaker tools to create a simple arcade style platform game that will ultimately be playable on real NES hardware.