YouTube

As teachers, YouTube can be the bane of many of our existences.  Students sneak on to watch videos that may be inappropriate or just a plain-old waste of time.  I've known teachers who outright ban YouTube from their classrooms and many districts block it on student accounts.
To that, I have one thing to say: really?
Alright.  I get it.  Letting students go on YouTube with no filtering or monitoring can lead to a whole slew of problems, but think about all that they'll be missing by leaving out this awesome tool!
"What about TeacherTube or other video hosting services," you ask?  Valid question.  They're fine, but they don't have the variety and scope of videos that you can find on YouTube and the search tools can often be awkward and frankly ineffective.
So what can you do to make YouTube a happier place for your students?
Here are three of my favorite suggestions:

Podcasting

Thinking about trying out podcasting?

A few years ago it seemed like this was going to be the future of education!  Podcasting is an excellent tool to support your curriculum.

For more information, please view the slideshow below and be sure to check out the links in the references for even more.

  

Why Blog?

Back in grad school, a classmate and I created this presentation on Blogging.

Now that I'm blogging, I figured what better time to share it?
Not only can you look at this to see what blogging is all about, you can also start to get an idea of how versatile Google Docs is.



Happy Blogging!

Flipped Classroom

Today I took a class on Flip Teaching.

The idea is to take what you'd normally do in the classroom and switch it with what you've been having your students do at home for homework.

Here's a website from the instructor so you can read more about it.

What do you think about a flipped classroom?

Grammar Goes on Vacation

Part Three - Bianca's Leafs

While driving to the beach this past year, I was aghast when I saw this billboard for Bianca's Tea Leafs.

Stay tuned to find out why...

Bruce Jenner - Not Just Kim's Stepfather

In the spirit of the Olympics, I thought I'd share a little secret with you:

Bruce Jenner was famous way before he married Kris Kardashian Jenner and became Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe's stepdad.


Shocking, I know.


Back at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada (when Kourtney was but a wee babe in arms and his nuptuals to Kris weren't even close to being on the radar), he won a gold medal in the decathlon and set a world record that stood for almost 5 years. 


After his win, he was handed an American Flag which he proudly waved as he ran a victory lap.  This iconic gesture has been repeated at every Olympic games since.  He was hailed as an American hero and even earned the title, "World's Greatest Athlete".  Jenner was featured on a Wheaties Box and became one of the company's first official spokespeople.  He has appeared on television shows, written books, was a successful race car driver, owns a company that sells aircraft supplies, and was the business development vice president for a staffing industry software application.  Jenner currently travels as a motivational speaker. 


He accomplished most of this well before famous stepdaughter Kim was even born. 


So next time you're watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians, head on over to Jenner's official website and check out the awesomeness