learning all i can

This was one of the most enjoyable tasks I’ve completed, I think. I really love that we now have access to You Tube here at school. I’ve already used it to show the Zapruder film when discussing the JFK assasination. (For years that was a very hard thing to find due to copyright laws.) This week, I found the MLK “I Have a Dream” speech from the March on Washington as well as performers singing “We Shall Overcome” - both of which will be very helpful when covering the Civil Rights Movement with my 8th graders. In addition, I found several of FDR’s fireside chats that were recorded, and those will be helpful when covering the Great Depression. The beauty of these recordings is that they can be shown so quickly without having to show an entire documentary or full-length movie. That allows for more time for discussion with the students.

As far as the how-to assignment, I found many that interested me. For example, I found lots of organizational videos, my favorite being “How to organize your kitchen.” Also, I found “How to sell on ebay” that interested me as I would love to get rid of/share much of my “stuff.”

In my opinion, Teacher Tube has a lot of catching to do. When I searched for China’s Boxer Rebellion, it gave me 0 results compared with about 30 for You Tube (now I did have to weed a lot of those out, but at least there were some.) The same was true with “Opium War” and “Empress CiXi.” There might be some things I would consider posting to Teacher Tube such as group projects or some dramatizations we’ve done with the Great Depressions, the Integration of Central High School, the Vietnam War, etc.

The thing I am most excited about though is that I have finally found an episode of the Andy Griffith show that I’ve searched for for a long time. I’ve spent lots of time on Amazon trying to purchase this episode, only to find that for some reason that season was not available. Now I don’t have to buy an entire season just to get a few minutes! This is something I plan to use at the beginning of next year when I’m covering the Constitution. I have my students learn the 6 goals of the Constitution as outlined in the Preamble. So here is Barney Fife “reciting the Preamble.” I hope my students will enjoy it as much as I do (doubtful) but I hope YOU enjoy it: