We exchange a lot of written ideas here, but think how much more helpful to new people it would be if we had a huge collection of videotapes that provides examples of all of the various strategies we use. Eric Herman’s video of MT got 68 comments and it was only posted a little while ago. Clearly, people want more video. Our current collection (hard link across the top of this page) grows every week, with recent contributions by Sean, Diane and Jim.
And we need to drop the idea that they have to be really good. That is a poisonous idea in this work. We learn from everything we share. We are growing into a way of teaching that is really new, so leaving our egos at the door is a requirement. When are we going to realize that peer coaching via the internet can be worth lots of conferences (hence, lots of dollars), and that by looking at each other both the teacher on video and the viewer can send in feedback in the comment fields. We can derive as much learning from the videos as we can at a summer conference. Here, we can watch one video a hundred times over and over if we want. The more times we watch a particular video, the more we will see and the more of what we see will transfer into our own teaching.
I am convinced that new people in particular, or people who can’t get to a summer conference, can find in the videos here the key to some great growth for a lot of us. Thanks to all those who have shared video on that hard link already. They are my heroes.
We need video on the use of any of these activities:
Word Associations
Circling with Balls
One Word Images
Word Chunk Team Activity
Dictée
Look and Discuss
Verb Slam Activity
Textivate
Free Writes
Interactive Whiteboards
Super Mini Stories
MovieTalk
So if you think about it, do it. Send the links of what you get to me and I will add them to the growing selection.
As Laurie Clarcq said:
…you know that you are doing it right when you are constantly EVOLVING! It leads you to look at students, at instruction, at evaluation, at assessment, at communication, and even at INPUT in new, more enlightened ways. We constantly support each other and offer each other new insights and ideas, but the approach itself develops us….
I think more video would help this evolution immensely. Don’t let pride get in the way! Who cares? Just remember that we all suck at this, as per:
https://benslavic.com/blog/its-ok-to-suck/