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The educational video creator community on YouTube is growing---which is so exciting----there
is so much great edu content out there to explore.
And while we believe edu videos are an awesome supplement, it is a tool and like all tools---it’s
how the tool is used that determines its effectiveness.
Our previous “all around the agar” video was focused more for students with study strategies,
but this one is more geared for our fellow teachers.
If you’re using our videos in the classroom, we want to share 3 ideas on how to use our
edu videos that we think can make them more effective, relevant, and meaningful.
First: Consider using our videos for more class discussion!
No lecture needed!
After students see our short video---and our videos are all short, always under 10 minutes---
students now have a foundation.
Afterwards, you can mute the video and fast forward through some of the cartoons to use
as "discussion starters.”
Use them to ask students about concepts and to expand if your level of content needs to
go in more depth.
Discussions give students a voice, and they make the content memorable.
By the way, this is similar to how our NEW Unlectured Series works---it features our
cartoons with questions as discussion starters.
Second: Use our videos to get more creation time in the classroom.
Do you know I still remember the plant book I made in my 7th grade science class?
I remember it, because creating it made it relevant to me.
Hands-on labs and the opportunities to create in the classroom tend to be the most memorable
parts to me when I was in science.
After students have the foundation of our videos, they can use that foundation (and
additional resources you may have them explore such as science articles or looking at data)
to create something.
There is so much learning in creating, and if there are any misconceptions, they will
show up in the creating so they can be addressed.
So, what might creating look like?
It could be a student created story, podcast, comic, blog entry, video, vocabulary puzzle,
skit…the list goes on.
We think student creation is so powerful that this is built in as a portion of our Unlectured
series.
Finally, use our videos to build curiosity.
Our short videos provide the basics.
Ask students to come up with their own topic related questions that are relevant to them!
Encourage students to record their questions while they’re watching our videos or keep
them up on a collaborative space online.
Providing time for students to research their own questions can make a great extension.
Then, students can share that information with the class and everyone will learn something
new.
In addition to our Unlectured Series, we create other resources that go with our videos.
Just like our videos, all of our resources are a tool – and their effectiveness depends
greatly on how they are used – we’d like to mention the suggested use of our resources.
Some of our videos offer annotated video script TEMPLATES which include an informal version
of our video script – cleaned up a bit to make it easier to annotate.
The template has an annotation key and spacious right margin, which provides an opportunity
for students to sketch or doodle, identify key points, recognize important vocabulary-
and our favorite- develop their own questions to explore.
We also have recap handouts for many video topics.
Our recap handouts include a lot of open-ended questions in addition to memorable comics
from our video.
All of our recap handouts are in a grid format – because they are designed to be used as
a series of exit tickets for those last 5 minutes of class.
One or two boxes at a time make a great 5 minute exit ticket for students to hand to
you before they leave the classroom.
Then, these questions can be discussed as a class first thing the next morning so students
can get quick feedback – faster feedback than they might get from something would require
grading – and this tool can be helpful when deciding how to adjust your lessons.
Since there are several boxes for each recap handout, they can continue to serve for quick
formative checks for multiple days.
In summary, we hope our short videos can help provide for more classroom discussion, more
student creation, and more curiosity.
We love to get feedback from our fellow teachers so we can keep improving- we have a helpful
question and answer section on our “contact us” page on our website.
But you can also find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and of course- here on YouTube.
Educational videos can never replace the amazing work you do as a teacher, but they can serve
as a helpful supplement for that amazing work that you do.
Thanks for all you do, fellow teachers, and have a wonderful school year!
Well that’s it for the Amoeba Sisters, and we remind you to stay curious!