Thing 20

Videos can be used to express a point of view, persuade, teach, enhance a lesson, showcase knowledge on a subject, to share information, record a special event or moment . . . the list is only as limited as the user's or creator's imagination.  In fact, I'd love to explore how to create and edit videos more.  But that's not what this post it about.  This post is about the results of my video searches in Teachertube and Youtube, and my thoughts about having access to such a plethora of visually engaging materials.  Actually, reverse that.  First I'll tell you my thoughts about streaming videos in general.

I love it.  LOVE it.  I was one of those students who got more out of a lesson when some type of movie was used to emphasize a point, to explore an idea further, or to dig deeper.  For me, it was completely engaging.  As a freshman in High School, I was allowed to create a mini-movie for a science final.  I can still remember our topic (DNA and DNA testing), the actors, the scenes and the locations . . . I couldn't tell you a thing about any of my other finals that year, or any other for that matter.  Because I was allowed to create a movie, I retained more.  I remember sitting and watching the "Scarlet Letter: and "Midsummer Night's Dream,"but I don't remember reading the story or play in class.  I know we did, but the images in the films stuck with me more.  Why am I sharing all of this impertinent information? - Because movies and videos still touch and stay with students.  That's why it's wonderful to have such great resources as Teachertube and Youtube.  There is such a plethora of videos to stream out there that sifting through them all can be overwhelming at times, but it's well worth it.  In fact, my problem is usually narrowing down which one to use, not the inability to find one.  Now they've made it easier to download movies for use, as well, so there are ways to get around sites being blocked by districts. 

For libraries, I simply love book trailers. If reading is supposed to be like a movie in your mind, what better way to advertise a book than create a trailer for it?  I also love different videos showing reading strategies at work.  Take "The Crazy Professor Reading Game."  I would have been very skeptical about students retaining information or staying on task with this type of reading strategy.  The video, however, made me want to try it.  Watch for yourself:




The kids are actively engaged in reading, they're listening, comprehending, sharing, summarizing, retelling . . . I was impressed. I even liked the voice/volume-o-meter.  Granted, it may not work with every teacher or every class, but I would be willing to try it after seeing how engaged the students were in this video.

Although this next video was a little boring, I bet the students who participated in creating it remembered their skyping etiquette the next time they used Skype in class.

Other videos I liked:

LOVED this one!!  "The Librarian Song" by Joe Uveges is a, um, different take on librarians.  If you're extremely conservative, you might not like his tongue-in-cheek humor, but I did.





"The Dewey Decimal Rap" is hilarious and dorky. lol I have a feeling I'm going to be saying, "Hi, my name is Melville Dewey. Nice to meet you. How you doin?" for days . . .

Cool Tools Library 2.0: Picasa



Book Trailers!
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls
(If you are squeamish about gore and slasher films, don't watch this)



The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid, by Rick Riordan


If I Stay by Gayle Foreman



I could easily keep posting videos, especially book trailers; I absolutely love them. In fact, I think more students should create them for books they enjoy. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have an entire wiki page dedicated to student-made book trailers?!