I had such a great time looking at videos! I looked up a cartoon I remember watching in the morning before school in the late 50's early 60's. I have found one person in my adult lifetime that can recall this cartoon, and I actually found many of the "adventures" on YouTube! I really didn't imagine it! I also watched some old Carol Burnett outtakes (loved that show!) , Ma and Pa Kettle doing math (a hoot!), Tom Lehrer's "New Math" with animation (hysterical!), and Supermac's "My teacher follows me on Twitter" - (he never really talked about Twitter at all!?).
Then I checked out TeacherTube, which I had never heard of. What a wonderful resource! I watched several lessons, including Kindergarten music using a Smart Board. I plan to check it in the future for ideas, including additions that will spice up my lesson repertoire as well as finding resource possibilities for students - especially if they need support at home. Many of my parents can't help their kids with Algebra. Our current text has an online tutor students have been using at home if they feel the need, but it would be nice to be able to give them another resource to check as well.
Like everyone else, I've received tons of emails from friends which include YouTube links. I can't think of any that have been anything but funny! Although I didn't see anything crude or malicious on YouTube for this experience, I'm sure some creepy things exist out there if one would take the time to look for them. I regularly hear my students discuss this or that video they've viewed on YouTube, and I am sure they are looking at things they shouldn't, because if they realize I'm listening, all of a sudden the volume drops or the subject changes.
So we come back to that age old question: what is appropriate for the classroom and what isn't? The problem is, "appropriate" means something different to each person. Some 7/8 grade parents don't care what their kids watch, and others don't want them watching anything that isn't a G or PG! I think it would be very difficult to police an entire class on YouTube.
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Great ideas for Math support. Students learn in different ways, and finding more options can help. I'm wondering if one way to use Youtube effectively by embedding the videos into your blog based on what you want them to see? Embedded, that's all they see, if you uncheck the box for related videos. Your students will really gain much in your class. Woot!
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