Class Review: Skinny Mini from Kim Klassen

One of my resolutions for this year is to learn photoshop elements, and the first step in the process was taking a free class on photoshop called the Skinny Mini, offered by Kim Klassen.  The class was run over two weeks, with new lessons posted each weekday.  The lessons alternated between videos explaining a concept and homework to go over those concepts.    The videos were incredibly clear and easy to follow.  I would run the videos on my ipad, while working in PSE on my computer.  I could pause and rewind the videos whenever I needed to.  The homeworks re-enforced the lessons presented in the videos and gave you the steps in a written format. The lessons covered using the layers panel, blending modes,adding text,  solid adjustments, textures, brushes, spot healing, masks, black & white conversions, making a blog banner and making a blog button.  Although the videos were only available for a week after the class ended, for a nominal fee of $5.00, a student can have permanent access to the videos.  I gladly paid the charge to have continued access to them.  There was a flickr group in which you could post your homework assignments, and other students often commented on them.  There was also a conversation page to post questions, and Kim answered every question posted to the conversation page promptly.
Overall, this was a great class!  It contained a huge amount of information, and it was all very clearly presented.  I learned enough to be able to process photographs in many interesting ways.  And it was free!  My one criticism is that Kim's approach to teaching might not appeal to everyone because, although she does a great job of showing off all the "trees" of photoshop, she never really describes the "forest."   I ended up having used a number of different tools available in PSE and feeling pretty good about how to use them, but I never understood the big picture of how they related to each other.  Now, not everybody wants the big picture.  Many people just want to jump in and know what button to push, drag or apply.  And Kim is fantastic at that!  But I do better with a little more introduction.  So, I'll be taking another class in the near future to hopefully learn more.  Still, for a free class, I give the class a solid A rating. I'd love to hear reactions from others who have taken a Kim Klassen class as to whether you think this is typical of her style, and, from everyone, whether you want a teacher who emphasizes the forest or trees.
My art journal page above summarizes my feelings about the class.  It reads, "In January, I took an introductory, free PS class and I learned how to do a lot of things, but I don't yet have a good overview.  I've signed up for another class and hope to learn even more.  I'm happy to emphasize photo processing." I incorporated images of an owl (for learning) and a forest and a tree (for what I learned & didn't learn).