Tonight’s readings, following on our late afternoon discussion, have me feeling confused and troubled. The seemingly simple question about the conditions under which students may use someone else’s composition or performance (30 seconds of music, 3 minutes of video, 3 poems by one poet, etc.) is clouded by the cultural imperative, even as it is very clear that we educators must deal with this and related questions with great integrity and transparency.

So now I feel reignited to network with colleagues in the secondary school world to better inform the guidelines I establish with my students for their work, including questions of venue (does it matter if the one-minute music video is only for in-class use and not to be posted to the web? wouldn’t our students be better off if I required them to make their own music? but what if I’m the only secondary school film teacher who is enforcing the letter of the law? how can I best educate about the spirit of that law? what are best practices and how are they evolving?

Thanks to my colleagues and to Summercore for stirring this pot. These are important questions.