Thing 9

Hey, You!--Tube. 


The cultural revolution that sucks hours and hours of our time away thanks to 'replay' and a sidebar of 'similar videos'. For me, it's kind of like a bag of Lays potato chips: I can't watch just one video! 


It is kind of amazing to think of a time when people didn't send out youtube videos as jokes, or post them to their Facebook walls. Or, when I would have to actually explain something I saw on TV or in a movie to other people rather than pull it up on YouTube and just show them. 


It is also amazing to me what you can find on YouTube. The really cool, the really informative, the really bizarre, and the really, well, dumb. It, like many things web-based, can be a bit overwhelming for an educator to utilize in the classroom. Many times, I just bring up things I think of in the moment. I find 'researching' on sites like YouTube becomes too cumbersome--I get sucked into wormholes of derailment and end up forgetting what I was originally searching for! 


That said, though, I do enjoy using video clips in my lessons and to illustrate point to my students. I am beginning to feel a bit like a broken record, but anyway, my students rely heavily on visuals and so this is a very good resource for me to use for lesson planning, etc. 


YouTube also ends up being one of my biggest motivators. It is not blocked in our district, so the students are able to search for some of their most favorite videos on their earned free times. This has to be done with direct adult supervision, though. Let's just say, it's ridiculous what some people will dub over cartoons! :o