Video

2018 Year in Photos and Video

Posted by Dean Shareski on in facebook, Personal, Video 0 Comment

Once again, it almost didn’t happen. Not only have I been less diligent in my photo a day effort but realizing this year’s photo has been dominated by my new love made me thing it would be too boring. Then my wife reminded me how boring other years have been with golf and conference images.

If you doubt how boring those other years were check out the previous 10.

2008
2009
2010 (aka, the year I tried something crazy)
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

After reading Alan’s annual post I was reminded that it’s not about a streak but a meaningful method to document life. It works for me. I will say the challenge was much greater in the first 4-5 years before mobile phones. Using a camera was sometimes awkward as well as it was far less automated in terms of uploading. Back then, my focus was to be mindful of my world and try to capture things some may find routine. While I still try and practice that, it certainly has become harder after 10s of thousands of photos later. Travelling lots makes this easier. This year was all about Harriet and I have … Read the rest

2017 in Photos and Video

Posted by Dean Shareski on in 365, Video 2 Comments

This year was going to be my 10th year of doing an annual video of my year in photos but it almost didn’t happen. In May I had an issue with my external hard drive and my normal routine of saving and uploading photos was in jeopardy.  Like losing your Fitbit and deciding exercise is futile, I was less diligent about my photo a day effort.

I still did take photos but missed way more days than I ever had. So as the year was ending I thought it might be the year I put my yearly video to rest. Our New Year’s Day tradition includes having my family endure the 20-minute video of my year after which I’m teased about the number of golf and conference photos and generally the boringness of it all. And yet when I announced a few weeks ago that I wouldn’t do it, those same kids told me I had to.

Once again, more golf photos than you’d like, lots of sunsets and dog photos. But as October came, all that changed with the birth of Harriet Marigold Hynes. Our granddaughter is now the dominant subject of all photos and videos. While I … Read the rest

What about Contentment?

Posted by Dean Shareski on in joy, Video 2 Comments

Well-being is a critical movement led by the province of Ontario that is essentially a response to the ever-increasing mental health issues of our students. While this is a complex issue with many factors, the one factor that we do control is the messages we send to students. Again this is tricky. On the one hand, it is our duty and privilege to empower students. We want them to realize their potential and see things that may not even know exists. We want them to feel as if they can change the(ir) world. On the other hand, this message often turns into a high-pressure environment where unreachable, unattainable goals and achievements have students consumed with stress.  So how do we provide both messages?

How do we empower students but at the same time protect and build their mental health?

I think a missing conversation is about contentment. Contentment is defined as being satisfied and not wanting more. The idea of being content can be seen as anti-innovation. Contentment is not very inspirational. It doesn’t do well on in a pretty image quotation. For some, it’s almost a downer or even a step backwards. Innovation is the buzzword of the … Read the rest

Is Sharing Still a Moral Imperative?

Posted by Dean Shareski on in Blogs, rants, Video, writing 1 Comment

The video I created in 2010 for the K-12 online called Sharing: The Moral Imperative remains a fairly widely used bit of content. I was proud of my efforts from a production, content and delivery perspective. Also if you want to see George Couros, before he was George Couros, have a look.


That was over six years ago. As I rewatched it, I had to ask if I feel the same today. What, if any changes would I make to this video if I were to update it?

Focusing solely on the content, I still value and believe sharing is integral to learning and our profession. My claims in the video focus mainly on efforts to share online. At the time, only a small number of educators were actively sharing content online. Blogs were beginning to take traction for some, but their value wasn’t anywhere near a universal belief. Twitter and social media opportunities were nowhere near where they are today. Twitter was seen much like Snapchat is perceived for many today.: wasteful and for posting of minutia.

My original message was to encourage and create a culture where teachers look to share their ideas, thoughts, lessons, resources … Read the rest

2016 in Photos and Video

Posted by Dean Shareski on in 365, flickr, Personal, travel, Video 2 Comments

Well, here it is, the moment you’ve been waiting for.

2017 will be my 10th year of taking a photo a day. It’s partly an act of mindfulness, partly documentation and by now pretty much a habit. While many people have on occasion, taken on this task, few have done it for as long and I don’t know many who take the photos and package them in any way. This year’s edition was about a 4-hour effort. I don’t do a whole lot of editing anymore, simply drop them in and do a bit of tweaking as needed, find some decent soundtracks and publish. At some point, I’ll force all my family members to watch it and we’ll be on to 2017. I actually go back every so often and look at past years. Taking 20 minutes or so to remember all the mostly great things that happened is a nice way to reflect and share a journey and you’ll certainly see what things are important to me.

While I’m certainly privileged to travel and see some amazing places, keep in mind I was doing this before my current life of travel. New and beautiful places are great but just … Read the rest