I Have a YouTube Channel For My Classroom, and You Should Too
Let’s picture it: 6th period. You’re exhausted. Your 5th period made you want to cry, and now you’ve explained the directions to the 6th period at least twice. Your students are shouting out that they don’t know what they’re supposed to do, mostly because they didn’t listen the first time. Instant stress. Complete chaos. You’re repeating yourself 100 times, like a broken record. It sounds like a normal day, right? It would be great if you could just clone yourself and solve everything! If only those students with IEPs could have all of their needs met all the time. Imagine if students who can't read had a resource that read to them constantly. If only…
Well, that’s where I’ll stop you, my friend. Let me introduce the beauty of starting a YouTube channel for your students. After I’ve taught my lesson and I’m handing out the activity, this is when I have them log into google classroom and watch the video explaining their work.
I use about 2–3 minutes of my plan time to explicitly read the directions out loud, and then each question. I use metacognition to guide my students and explain how I might find the answer. This benefits them in 3 ways.
- They can replay the video and hear the instructions and questions as many times as they want.
- Hearing me explain my thinking can train students to find the answer using my strategies.
- Independence! For my non-readers, they can still participate in learning and answering questions. It’s a lot less embarrassing for every student to be watching a video and hearing directions than to be the kid always asking for help to read.
Now, why does this benefit you, the educator?
- You don’t have to repeat yourself a million times.
- Students can learn independently, and (hopefully) quietly.
- You’re teaching students that you’re available for questions, but that learning is their responsibility.
If you’d like to take a look at my channel to gain inspiration, check it out below! It isn’t fancy, glamourous, or has the best video/ sound quality- but it works. All footage is taken on selfie mode with my iphone, and my kiddos are learning all the same!
