Engaging Students Through Video

Engaging students through video sounds so simple, doesn’t it? That is until you think about the actual making of the video. Now you have to come up with the content and how you’re going to deliver it. What tools are you going to use? I am proud to say that many of you are knocking it out of the park with your creations and creativity. I admire those of you who are willing to put yourself out there and take a risk. I’ve always been afraid of failure and still my heart pounds whenever I upload a video for the world to see that I’ve created. Think of what we would miss if people weren’t willing to share of themselves – even their failures! I just watched an episode from Chef’s Table about a mistake that was made with a dropped tart. It made me think of how we can use our mistakes and failures to create new possibilities. Here’s a short clip of it if you’re interested:

I’m telling you all of this because I’m trying to convince you to be willing to share your creations with us – your peers. I learn so much from your ideas! Recently, I was talking to Heather Wolford, a math teacher at Pacific Crest Middle School, about connecting with students through video. She mentioned using a couple of tools in her creations and I jumped at the opportunity to ask if I could see some of them. She was gracious in sharing them with me and is even letting me share them with you. Sometimes she creates a math lesson using Explain Everything (Explain EDU) and sometimes she uses Clips for Friyay Math Pun Day and sometimes it’s simply creating a special invitation to a WebEx meeting using ChatterPix. Now you can take her ideas and create something new for your students.

Let us know in the comments how you’re engaging your students. Your ideas will help spark new ideas with others and help us all be the best educators we can be. Please share!

About Christie Boen

I have worked with Bend-La Pine Schools since 2007. I am an Instructional Technology Coach and District Librarian.