Using Video Resources

Why Use Video Resources

Obviously - video can be a very powerful tool to teach! Why reinvent the wheel when there are great lessons out there for you already made? Online resources such as Khan Academy and YouTube have changed the way we teach.

When to Use Video Resources - Less is More

It can be very tempting to throw on a video and let the screen teach the class for the day. But keep in mind a couple of very important things: 1. Kids' attention spans are pretty short, and 2. We should be supplementing our standards, not just showing video or its engagement/entertainment value. 

For middle school students, 3-5 minutes is ideal, but I would probably avoid anything more than 10 minutes at a time without breaking the video up into chunks for debriefing in between.  

If you are presenting a video in Google Slides, you can customize the start/stop point for students. For instance, if you have a 30 minute video, but you only want your students to watch minutes 6 - 10, you can set the video to start and stop at those time markers in the video.

All of the material on this page may be daunting if you are not tech-savvy. I am more than happy to work with you one on one if you want to see some of this stuff in more detail!

Best Practices for Using Video Resources

• Show videos in short increments of no more than 10 minutes at a time (attention spans may be LOW!)

  • If you have a longer video, consider taking a pause every few minutes to review key concepts

  • Keep your eye on students during the video - if most have checked out, pause the video and get everyone caught up

• Make sure your video content matches what you are teaching

  • You don't need to show the WHOLE thing, only use the parts of the video that support your concept/standard

• Consider using Sentence Frames [link] to pre-load your students so they know what they will be expected to look/listen for

• Record your own videos! Students may be more engaged if you record some of them, and use the recording as a debrief/review. 

• Encourage students to record themselves performing/explaining topics - try flipgrid . I have a whole Resource Page dedicated to Flipgrid if you are unfamiliar.

• Get your technology in order beforehand, plan for the worst! See the next section for details

Student Access to Video Resources 

• Technology can ALWAYS go wrong! Have a backup plan. Some videos allow you to download them, I have found keeping a copy in my google drive can be helpful. Just make sure you have the permissions set so that anyone in Desert Sands Unified School District can VIEW.

• When sharing with students through Google Classroom or a Google Doc, I usually provide a link to a file that I keep in my google drive (Google seems to like using that integration in slides/chromebooks/etc). I may also upload the video to my YouTube Account, and share the link that way. Then, there is universal access at home when students are away from District WiFi, or may need to access something on their phones. 

Using YouTube

• We all have a YouTube account! If you want to do some sort of a lesson demonstration as a screen share, or record something in-class that you want to show your students later, this can be a great tool!

• Uploading videos from your phone or computer is fairly simple. I usually have a couple of suggestions for settings: Make sure the video is UNPUBLISHED, and that IT IS MADE FOR KIDS. That way, students should be able to access everything OK. 

• You can create timestamps in the comments, if you want students to be able to jump to certain parts of the video. In the comments, just type something like "Step 1 (1:32)" and YouTube will intelligently make 1:32 a link where the user can click on the timestamp and jump to that part of the video.

  • You can also cue up a YouTube video at a certain point (say, at the 5:33 mark) and THEN share the link. When students click on the link, it will take them to minute 5:33 in the video instead of the beginning.

• I love using YouTube Playlists. In the past, I have shared one playlist with my students, and continued to add to the list throughout the year so that they could always have easy access to all of my custom videos I made. I also like finding specific videos on YouTube, and creating a playlist for students. The only consideration - is that you must make sure the videos are all cleared by DSUSD Technology for student viewing (Webfilter Release Form).

• You will need to submit your videos to DSUSD Technology for YouTube Clearance so that your students can view the videos (Webfilter Release Form). I make a lot of videos, so I requested that my YouTube Channel be unblocked, so any content I create is accessible to students. If you like one particular YouTube Channel, you can have the entire channel released instead of making requests for each individual video. I have found that you can also submit a YouTube Playlist for clearance without submitting each individual video.

Extensions/Resources

• Webfilter Release: YouTube Clearance form

• Khan Academy - TONS of free educational videos!

• EdPuzzle (this is a cool way to embed tests INTO your videos, there is a free version)

• Screencastify - there is a free version, but I pay for the unlimited version

• Loom

• Flipgrid (I have a Resource Page dedicated to Flipgrid)

• More to come...