Weekly Reflection Supports Growth #NerdyCast #EdChat

One of the things I have challenged myself to do this year is to reflect more on my teaching. I've done this on my blog, but I felt like I only focused on isolated events in the classroom. I wanted to spend more time thinking about how the week went and what types of things I could change. I also wanted to set little goals for myself each week. This could be in relation to students or something instructional. No matter what it was during the week, I wanted to spend some time thinking about it and sharing it out there.

The traditional way would be to just write about it, but that can be very time consuming and I did not want to give myself any excuses as to why I was not doing something. So, I decided to add my reflections to #NerdyCast. It is a perfect place for me to sit down and share my thoughts on how things went in my classroom over the past week. I will always keep the videos around 4 minutes long and focus on what works and, most importantly, what didn't work.

I'm not a perfect teacher, but I feel that image is inadvertently displayed when I only write about the awesome lessons and the exciting things in class. By looking at the whole week and talking about it, I think I will be able to have a deeper reflection on how all things I do in class are connected, not just isolated events taken out of context. That's the thought process anyway. Here are my first 3 weeks of reflections. You can always jump to #NerdyCast to see the weekly reflection on Fridays after 3:30EST.

Please leave your thoughts in the comment section of the videos. I'm using this as a way to grow as a teacher, so feedback would be great. Thanks for watching!

Spanish Is Your Amigo with @espanoles2amigo #EdChat

Kristen Williams was one of the coolest people I met when I was in San Francisco in October. She is funny, smart and really good at Spanish. If you want to know how awesome she is, she has been featured on Univision. Something I have been trying to accomplish for a number of years. Kristen is the brains behind and the face in front of the camera. Spanish is your Amigo is her YouTube channel dedicated to teaching people spanish and she is awesome.

I have never been very good with language classes in school. I tried German and Spanish and was barely OK with both. Watching a couple of Kristen's videos and I started to remember some of the things I learned over 15 years ago. I was really surprised at how easily it came back to me after only a couple of videos. 

I love the move to video for language learning. You can see so many options to learn languages and they are very expensive. Here is a Spanish teacher sharing ways to help people learn Spanish for free. I think YouTube will continue to grow in education as more and more educators embrace it as an instructional tool and not just a place to watch kitten videos. 

You can check out more videos on her YouTube channel and her website. You can also check her out on Twitter if you want to tweet her about her awesomeness. She is a great new amiga and you should consider sharing her videos with those learning Spanish, those who want to learn Spanish, or those that are helping others learn Spanish.

Ron Burgundy needs Spanish is you Amigo.

Thug Notes - A Different Approach to Literary Analysis #EngChat

I wasn't sure what to think when I saw my first Thug Notes. It was interesting, weird and accurate.

Thug Notes plays on the preconceived bias of people. When you see the narrator and hear the way he speaks, do you expect him to drop some knowledge on you? Probably not, but you will listen to see what he has to say about To Kill a Mockingbird or Of Mice and Men. That interest is what grabs the viewer and allows Thug Notes to provide an entertaining recap of a famous novel that students can enjoy and teachers could show in class or provide links to on their website. Here is one of many videos worth exploring on Thug Notes. (Warning: These are designed for high school and might contain some language not intended for younger audiences.)

I really enjoyed this video on Of Mice and Men and it even made me think about the biblical connection in the story that I had not realized before. I've taught this book for a number of years and that is something I never considered. I always love exploring literature in different ways and Thug Notes takes a fun new approach to the standard pieces of literature at the high school level.

The one word of caution I have for teachers is to make sure to watch all of the video before you show it in class. Some of the language might be bothersome in some schools, so use your best judgement when showing these, or any video, in the classroom. I think they are funny and could show them, but that might not be true for you in your building or district.

+Jacob Salamon does an awesome job putting these together and the collection of videos they have uploaded is very diverse and would be a great spice to add to the lesson plans.

Take a minute and look over the collection of videos, leave a comment and share with your friends who might want to show these in class or need a refresher course on some great pieces of literature. 

Welcome to Science Class #SciChat

If you were ever looking for a different way to introduce Science ideas to students, look no further than +Tom McFadden and his YouTube channel. Here is an introductory video that you have to watch to appreciate the awesomeness that is Tom.

I met and had a chance to hang out with Tom while I was in San Francisco visiting YouTube a couple of months back and I was blown away by what Tom was doing. He was taking something he enjoyed and turning it into something amazing for his students. What I like most about these videos is that the students are involved in them and get to share in the process of creating and learning with others. These are the things students will remember years from now and might be the example that provides a spark to their curiosity in Science. 

Check out this video his students created discussing the people involved in the discovery of the Double Helix. 

There is something captivating about watching students share what they know with other students. This video works and it worth sharing with your students. Maybe it will encourage your students to attempt their own videos to explain Science topics to the class. 

We need more +Tom McFadden type teachers going out on a limb to do something different to engage students. If you have a minute, watch the videos, share them with Science teachers and leave Tom a comment. He is another example of an amazing teacher going beyond the bubble test to engage his students.

PS:

Here is Tom doing an impromptu Rap at YouTube

Add Some Soul(Pancake) to the Classroom #edchat

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to visit the YouTube Headquarters and talk education with a variety of people over the course of a couple of days. I met many great content creators who were interested in finding out ways to help students and teachers understand complex ideas through the use of video. There were so many great people out there who are making awesome videos, but were not getting the attention I feel they deserve.

Running a YouTube channel can be a thankless job. Most people watch a 4 minute video and assume that it took just that long to put together. That could not be further from the truth. It takes days and weeks to put together a good 4 minute video that will be watched by only a few thousand people and then they start all over again. Some videos are watched more than others, but the same process is repeated over and over again because they want to educate. There is a great place for these videos in the classroom and I decided it would be nice to feature some of these content creators and their channels on my site every couple of weeks.

The first channel I want to feature is one that I have used in my classroom and will continue to do so as long as they keep making awesome videos.

SoulPancake

Most people know SoulPancake due to the very popular Kid President videos.

This pep talked was passed all around the world and shown in schools all over the country. It is a great video and it makes me smile every time I watch it. There is so much more to SoulPancake though. They have so many different parts to their channel that should not be overlooked. Here are just a few things that are worth sharing with your students or your staff. 

The Science of Happiness

This is one of my new favorite series on SoulPancake. The host takes actual research conducted on Happiness and sets up scenarios to see if the research hold up to testing. What you see are thought-provoking moments that are great for classroom discussion and replication. The video below is one I plan on doing with my students this year.

I get choked up every time I watch this video. It is touching and it makes me wonder how often we miss a chance to express our thanks to the people around us. I can't wait to see what this will look like in my classroom. Try to watch this and not cry. Here are some videos that people sent in recreating the letter writing and the phone call. 

Here are a couple more videos that are perfect for the classroom. 

Take a Seat - Make a Friend?

Talk to You 10 year Old Self

This is still not everything that SoulPancake brings to the table. 

Have a Little Faith

"A series following Zach Anner, a self-proclaimed religious idiot, and his journey to learn more about faith and different religions!"

The Flip Side

"Our narrative series in which characters struggle with life's questions in both a comical and heartfelt way. Written and directed by award winning filmmaker Ben Shelton of SheltonFilms (recently of the web series "The Daly Show")."

My Last Days

"Our series documenting the struggles and uplifting stories of terminal illness."

These are just some of the awesome things that SoulPancake is doing on their YouTube Channel. If you check out their Twitter feed (@SoulPancake), you will see they pose some interesting questions that could be great conversation starters in class as well. A recent questions they posed was "Can good come from pain?" 

Take some time and take a look at all of the awesome things SoulPancake is doing and see how they might fit into your classroom. 

Give it a try!

@TheNerdyTeacher

YouTube Spacelab #SciChat

YouTube Spacelab

YouTube has put together a contest for students 14-18 to create an experiment that could be performed in space. The two winning experiments will be performed on the International Space Station live streamed on YouTube.

I love this idea. Giving students a chance to create an experiment and have it performed in space and live around the world is a very cool idea. I'm glad to see YouTube begin to embrace the education side of their audience.

Their Education and Teacher Channels are also nice additions to the YouTube family and I strongly encourage educators to take a look at these channels and see if there is anything there they could use in their classes.

Here is a video from YouTube with more information.

I really think this would be a fun project to your classroom and suggest you give it a try or pass it to the Science teacher in your building/district to see if they want to do something great with their students.

- @TheNerdyTeacher

Student Created Web2.0 Projects - Catcher in the Rye

Here are some great examples of student work I've been bragging about for the past few days. I tweeted some yesterday, but these were too good to live in Twitterland alone. The students have been great at posting on the presenters personal Wallwisher. It keeps them focused and the presenter has a great collection of comments to review later that day. The entire project is working very well and can be used with any content area. Take a look at the different projects and let me know what you think and I will pass them on to the students.

Here is one great example of a Blabberize created by a student.



Here is a cool project that used GoAnimate!

GoAnimate.com: Catcher in the Rye by Giggles415

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Here is a Puppet Show by two students. Just goofy good times.


Here is a very cool blog a student created. It's a site selling The Catcher in the Rye T-shirts. The best part about this project is that she actually made the shirts and gave them to me. Free swag always gets you a good grade! :-)

Here are just a few examples of what my students can do. There is another one I can't put up yet that is amazing. A student tooks clips from the movie Stand By Me and linked it up to the story line of The Catcher in the Rye. It was just good stuff. He used Tubechop.com and it worked very well. Please leave a comment if you liked something or have a suggestion to improve the lesson. I'm always open to becoming a better teacher and making lesson stronger for the kids. I'll have some more projects later in the week. Thanks for stopping.

Great Youtube Editing Tool: Tube Chop

Here is a great site for teachers that want to show some youtube videos but might only want to show certain selections. Tubechop is a website that lets you take any youtube clip and chop it down to size. It is very simple to use and does not take very long. Just select the video you want, select the portion you want to watch and click the chop button. You will be given a link or a code to embed into a website. Below you will find a chopped version of The Ghostbusters Music Video by Ray Parker Jr. The orginal clip has an extra minute at the end that I don't need to see, so I chopped it out. Take a look at the video.

For those that like to show video of interviews or clips from movies, this is a great way to condense that information. No longer will you have to waste class time searching for the right part of the clip you want to show. You can set it up ahead of time and post on your website for kids to use safely.

- @TheNerdyTeacher