PE6_Flash CS5

In the first few years of teaching, I bought and read an amazing number of Flash books. Surprisingly, each of them seemed to approach Flash in virtually the same manner. Thinking it must stand apart, I finally bought the Flash MX 2004 Bible. Though I read through much of that hefty tomb in the early years of teaching, I've rejected most of the strategies in all of these Holy Books as each seems to offer the same dogmatic method of introducing one to the interactive nature of the almighty program.

I began to develop my own approach to reaching and teaching Flash, all the while trying to impress upon my students the high standards that the Mac Lab has come to be know for. An underclassman named Michael dove into Flash with relish, eager to tell his tale. His first video was met with cheers. The rest of the story unfolds as told in one of my first blog posts:

I challenged him several times, Is that the best you can do? He responded with this and this and this. That's it? That's the best you got? That's pitiful! And the kids around him laughed, though not at him. He was a hero for taking the pro-PC stand against Skocko—for putting down Skocko's beloved Macs. But he knew what I really meant. He felt the challenge. And he rose to meet it (press the play button).

Now we were getting somewhere. While the other kids just saw a cooler version of destroying a Mac, he and I discussed the robot and its movement. What he'd accomplished was actually quite impressive. It showed real promise and I encouraged him to take the animation further. He worked. We talked. He came up with this series of animations (resize the browser window to better fit the SWFs): one, two, three, and four. Only those who understand Flash can begin to appreciate just how far this student pushed himself. That's a journey one doesn't easily forget. 

But I digress. Now back to the story of my partial resurrection as a Flasher...



Flash Example | Higher Quality Version of the Video

Credits: Flash MX 2004 Bible image courtesy of PhotoshopSupport.com.