Five YouTube Channels Your Students Should Watch

When educators consider viable teaching tools, YouTube almost seems like a bad word. However, as more high school and college systems train teachers with methods to integrate technology into lessons, instructors are discovering that YouTube is more than just a video of a random person playing karaoke night at home. YouTube provides teachers with easy access to source of credible video clips that can be used to bolster lessons, provide review material or simply present material for a lesson in a novel and entertaining manner.

However, YouTube can be overwhelming even for regular users. Yet teachers and students can find credible sources of information through “channels.” YouTube channels are collections of videos produced by the same person or group. For example, there is a channel called Mr. Robb’s Math Videos that exhibits the math lessons Mr. Robb has given each day. It began as a means of review, but is now archived in brief video clips for all to use. Therefore, depending on the subject matter one teaches and the grade level, YouTube has a wide variety of channels that are appropriate and effective for classroom use. Here are a few:

• PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - One of the leaders in matching materials with classroom instruction, PBS breaks down a diverse output of information for teaching (history, politics, science, literature and a host of other subjects) into manageable video clips. On this site you will find interviews, lessons and documentaries. It is difficult not to find something to use here.

• Kaplan SAT and ACT Prep - The Kaplan SAT and ACT Prep channel offers concise demonstrated strategies for different types of questions posed on the SAT and the ACT covering math, writing and reading. These tips serve as a good introduction to the test and are great for reviewing purposes.

• History Channel - If one can swiftly move past recent uploads of “Pawn Stars” and “Axe Men,” there are excerpts from the History Channel’s reputable library of documentaries that cover topics such as: Benjamin Franklin, Rosa Parks, the Cold War and Edgar Allan Poe. There is also a “This Day in History” feature and a photo gallery. This channel would serve as a good place for students to start when searching for an historical topic for a project or paper.

• Associated Press - The channel provided by the Associated Press is an effective and credible source for current events, history or other journalistic research. This channel is a must-use for courses in journalism, as it supplies viewers with coverage of global events, and information on people from the world of celebrity to the battlefields of war.

• National Geographic - National Geographic offers a comprehensive channel that mirrors the popular magazine and television content. Clips cover animals, geography, the environment, scientific discoveries, politics, exploration, etc. With over 350 thousand subscribers, it's one of the most popular educational channels.

Both students and teachers can make use of YouTube in learning, whether used directly in the classroom or independently for assignments and research. The channels offer a method for sifting through some of the non-educational output and guaranteeing credible and accurate sources of information. As students (and teachers) become more tech savvy, YouTube can bring history and life to the classroom in a way no textbook can.

--Lindsey Wright is a music tutor, computer repair consultant, and substitute teacher in Washington State.

Educational Videos: Collecting & Organizing the Best Classroom Videos

Educational Videos is a brand new site with the goal to find and organize the best short, educational videos on the web that would be helpful in a classroom setting. Although there are still relatively few videos there, the site is adding more every day.

I like the idea of finding educational videos (all the ones I checked out from the site were from YouTube) and putting them all in one place. With some time and a lot of work, EV could build an archive large enough to save us the time of searching around the net for quality educational videos. Bookmark this one and return from time to time to see what they have found.

Online college courses has a page with academic and non-academic educational videos. Another useful source of learning materials.

Science Resources: Properties of Light | Thermal Energy | Forces |Magnetism & Friction

Social Studies Resources: Declaration of Independence | Constitution WebQuest

Math Resources: SMARTBoard Mini-Movies | Number Properties |Angles in Geometry

Teaching Math with the 'Tubes

One of the more popular posts on this blog was one I wrote about using YouTube as an instructional tool. Though YouTube does have its fair share of videos with some educational value, teachers have to be careful when recommending the site to students (hopefully the reasons are obvious). For this reason, many of us have started recommending sites like TeacherTube and SchoolTube to our students. Both of these sites house thousands of videos that were created by teachers and their students.

One problem with the videos on these two sites is that they may not be “just right”—they may not teach the skills or concepts your students are learning the way you would teach them. I've encountered this problem, so this year I've decided that I needed to do more than just direct my students to the sites--I needed to add some instructional videos myself. A couple weeks ago, I started making my own videos using SMART Recorder: the SMART tool that lets teachers record their SMARTBoard lessons, complete with voice narration, and save them as a Windows Media file. After recording the videos, I upload them to SchoolTube and then embed them on my classroom wiki. I’ve created just four videos to this point, but so far I feel they have been a big success. Here's why:

• There is more time in class for homework/enrichment/problem-solving - Though we have 55 minute math periods (a dream for most math teachers), I often find myself teaching up until the final minutes of class. Now that my students are viewing videos of the lessons, I can review the concepts/skills on the video and answer any questions the kids might have in a fraction of the time it would have taken me to teach the lesson. This leaves more time for kids to work on homework in class. More importantly, the instruction time saved will eventually free up time for enrichment activities like problem-solving and lessons on math concepts that don’t fall into the traditional curriculum (fractals, Fibonacci sequence, etc.).
• I have lessons for kids who are absent – I’ve already heard from parents that the videos have been helpful for students who are absent. They have been watching the videos at home and, as a result, haven’t fallen as far behind as they normally would have.
• Students can review the videos to prepare for tests and quizzes – The videos are there for eternity (or until Wikispaces closes up shop), so the kids can always go back and use them as review for tests and quizzes.

Now that you know how using the videos can benefit you, let’s get into how you make them. As I said, I make mine using SMART Recorder. This allows you to set up a lesson on SMART Notebook and teach it like you would in class (without the student interaction of course). Though it takes a little preparation, you don't have to memorize every action and word because you can pause your recording and then pick up where you left off. I keep my videos short--the longest one was just over 7 minutes--and lately I've tried to add a little enthusiasm to them. It's easy to speak in a monotone voice when you're focused on the quality of the lesson in the video.

As with every web-based instructional tool, there are issues with access--not every kid has the Internet at home. To deal with this, I create the videos ahead of time and give enough notice so that students without access to technology can make arrangements to watch them. In my school, we have a computer lab that is open to students after school four days a week and an after school "homework place" that also has computers for students to use. I know that my students who do not have internet access can go to these places and watch videos if they need to. If they get desperate, they can also go to the local library.

Hopefully this post has sparked your interest and you're entertaining the idea of creating instructional videos for your students. The technology is there, why not use it?

Technorati Tags: education| learning | SchoolTube

Check out: SMARTBoard Mini-Movies | Number Properties | Angles in Geometry

Goal for 2009-2010: Integrate iPods into the Subject Areas

A few years ago another teacher and I received a grant from Best Buy for the Online Science Fair. After purchasing the materials, we had quite a bit of money left over and decided to buy three iPods. Unfortunately, because of other priorities, the iPods were put in a box and set aside for the past three years, wasting away.

NO MORE! This year I have decided to put these tools to use. One of my goals for 2009-2010 is to find the best ways to use these three iPods in my classroom. At this point, my goal is to have my students consume information from the iPods rather than produce information for them. In other words, I have no plans to have my students create podcasts, videos, slideshows, or any other content. Instead, I'm looking to use the iPods in the following ways:

• Math Intervention: Students will view video podcasts and Unitedstreaming videos on topics that they are struggling with in math. For instance, say my students take a quiz on prime factorization and a few don't do so well. During a specified time they will be invited to my classroom to watch a video on an iPod that teaches prime factorization. After viewing the video and completing some more practice, they will be allowed to retake the quiz for a better score.
• Math Enrichment: It's unfortunate, but we math teachers often are so busy teaching our students the required concepts that we often don't get a chance to show them how cool math can be outside of the classroom. I'd like to have several videos/podcasts on the iPods that show situations in the real world where math is involved (like the Fibonacci sequence in nature, Game Theory, etc.). There are a few on the Math Guy Podcast.
• Science Enrichment: If a student shows an interest in a topic we are studying, I'd like to be able to find a podcast or video for him/her and have it ready for them to watch on an iPod. HowStuffWorks has a content channel on the Apple Learning Interchange with some interesting videos.
• Social Studies Enrichment: Current event videos come to mind here.

After doing a simple Google search (ipods classroom) I found some sites that will be helpful to any teacher looking to integrate iPods:

• Learning in Hand - Here I found out how to download a video from UnitedStreaming, add it to iTunes, and then convert it to a format that the iPod will understand.
• Education World has a nice page of links to some sites on iPods in the Classroom.
• Apple Learning Interchange

I Need Your Help

I don't get a ton of comments on this blog, but I'd like to ask if any readers have other ideas for using iPods with your students and/or if you know of other resources where I could find some. Thanks!

Check out: SMARTBoard Mini-movies Student Activities

Guest Post: 15 Free Math Resources for Students and Teachers

Learning math can be a struggle, but there are lots of online resources that can help. The web is full of tools, games, and websites that can be used to practice math problems. Here is a list of 15 math resources for students and teachers.

Illuminations - Illuminations is a free website from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The site offers more than 100 interactive math activities for kids, 500+ lesson plans for teachers, and web links to other online math resources.

NumberNut - NumberNut is a fun math site for people of all ages. It works like an interactive math textbook: it teaches a concept and then provides two activities to reinforce learning. NumberNut includes learning resources for basic math and advanced math.

Arcademic Skill Builders - Arcademic Skill Builders are entertaining educational games that can be played online. Game options include addition and subtraction games, multiplication and division games, and fraction and ratio games.

Math Playground - This website was created specifically for elementary and middle school students who need help with math. The site offers fun games, math videos, and logic problems.

Tutpup - On the Tutpup site, students can compete in educational math games with other students all over the world. Competitors race against the clock to solve math and algebra problems.

Math Arcade - Funbrain's Math Arcade provides access to 25 free math games that can be played online. Returning users can enter a password to try to beat their own high score.

Lure of the Labyrinth - For kids who like to game, Lure of the Labyrinth is the ultimate way to learn math. This online game guides players on a mythological quest to retrieve a beloved and lost pet.

Mathway - At first glance, Mathway looks like it is just a math problem solver, but it so much more. Mathway shows you how a problem can be solved so that you understand how the answer was calculated.

Multimedia Math Glossary - Harcourt's Multimedia Math Glossary is a fantastic resource for teachers and students who want to see visual definitions to math terms. Simply select your grade at the top of the page and browse through the list of terms to find what you need.

Ambleweb Addition Machine - The Ambleweb Addition Machine provides excellent practice for students who are learning addition. Students can choose their skill level, answer the question that pops up, and check their answer to see if it is right. The machine tracks scores so that students can compete with themselves or each other.

ClassBrain - ClassBrain provides a wide range of math games for students of all ages. All of the games are interactive and many can be used with a projector or interactive white board so the whole class can participate at once.

Teacher Led - Teacher Led offers a large collection of interactive white board resources and games for math teachers.

Crickweb - Although this website was created for UK students, it does provide a number of interactive math games that would be useful to any student. All of the games were designed for use with an interactive whiteboard and include fun activities that will reinforce learning in the classroom.

Math TV - Middle school students who are having difficulty solving complicated math problems will love Math TV's helpful videos. Math TV works especially well with projectors and interactive whiteboards.

iknowthat.com - This website offers a wonderful collection of math tools for teachers and students. The site hosts an arithmetic workshop, math stories, math videos, games, and other resources--most of which can be used with an interactive white board so that the whole class can participate at once.

Guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes about online college courses for OnlineColleges.org.

Check out: Interactive Student Activities | Mini-Movies for Your SmartBoard | Everything Geometry

2 Bright Ideas for the Science Classroom

1. Have your students make their own nature films - Wildlife Filmmaker is a cool toy from National Geographic that allows users to make a nature film complete with animal clips, sounds, music, and more. It's easy to use and doesn't take too long. Your kids should be able to make a movie in as little as two class periods.

2. Check out the Killer Clips at animalplanet.com - Sink your teeth into some of the wildest video on the planet. Then get the Killer Clips widget and embed the videos into your website (see below).

Click here for 8 more bright ideas for the science classroom.

SnagFilms Film Widget

Last week I wrote about the educational value of some of the videos that you can find on YouTube. This week I'm writing about another video sharing website, SnagFilms. From the site:

SnagFilms is committed to finding the world‘s most compelling documentaries, whether from established heavyweights or first-time filmmakers, and making them available to the wide audience these titles deserve.

SnagFilms.com is a website where you can watch full-length documentary films for free, but we’re also a platform that lets you “snag” a film and put it anywhere on the web. With a library of nearly 450 films, and rapidly growing, you’re bound to find films that resonate with your interests. We make it easy for you to find a film that shines a light on a cause you care about. You can then open a virtual movie theater on any web site, so any one can watch your favorite SnagFilms for free.

The site has films from National Geographic, PBS, and much more. Any number of films from the site are curriculum related meaning you're bound to find something there that you can show in your classroom.

The film below, Paperclips, is a video that I felt I had to share. You may have heard the story--a middle school class in Tennessee collected 6 million paper clips for each victim of the Holocaust. A great documentary that I found, watched, and snagged.





Technorati Tags: education| learning | SnagFilms

Check out what's new at misterteacher.com: Grants 101 | Bright Ideas | Learn about Pi