Health & Fitness
Teach by Example Is the Way I Do Things
Have you heard about the "Flipped Classroom?" Do you know students who are using video to help facilitate their own learning? Find out more in this article.
My name is Mr. Goble, and I teach Broadcast Technology and short film making at Ladue High School. In other words, basic video production to high school students. But an amazing phenomena has occurred over the past few years. People from all over the world are doing my job now.
What do I mean? Well, I can’t help but go to SchoolTube, YouTube, and Vimeo to find thousands of video tutorials on the exact techniques I have been teaching for years.
Oh, but how I teach it is better for sure, right?
Well, probably not, because you see, students can’t stop me, rewind me, play me over again, pause me, fast forward me, rewind me again, watch me again, and follow me step by step until they get the skill down exactly the way they want or need.
A student can do this with a video tutorial. If they are absent from my class, no worries. They’ll just watch the video online. They’ll “Favorite” the video, tweet about it, share it on Facebook with their friends, and slowly, and repetitively, allow the lesson to sink in. Enthusiastically I might add.
So am I being replaced? I’ve wondered that myself some days, but ultimately, I’m not concerned. In fact, quite the opposite. This tool helps me to teach by example. There’s actually a term for it now. It’s called a “Flipped Classroom.”
How Video Tutorials Help Your Teaching
See, these video tutorial resources, which are helping my students with the transfer of knowledge throughout the learning process, have now freed me up to actually teach other skills.
Storytelling to be exact, is an art that I love engaging in. I’m also now able to hold students more accountable for time management. I can provide more one on one conferencing, and more detailed critiques with all this “free time” I now have during our actual class time.
By giving my students video tutorials to watch on their own, I’m now able to facilitate collaboration and teamwork, public speaking, and, how about this.... the art of taking initiative.
“Mr. Goble, I’ll just email Mr. X about that interview,” a student will say.
“Of course,” I reply, “but why don’t you follow that up with a phone call as well. Let’s look up the number. ”
Actually calling someone is a big deal for our students. Believe me. Using their smart phone to actually CALL someone?! GASP... I know.
Why am I telling you all this?! The fact that I teach video production automatically leads other teachers to believe that my students should then know how to produce videos. Obviously they’re right. That is what happens.
Using Video in Your Classroom
But guess what? These are the same students in your Math class, Science class, History class, English class, Yearbook class.....and they didn’t magically appear in my class knowing how to make videos. They took the time to learn how to do it. They are now taking more of THEIR time outside of class, to learn how to make videos on their OWN. They will do the same for your class.
This is a chance for you to teach by example and to allow them to teach YOU by example through the power of video.
The reality is that the current generation of students, and the next generation of students, enjoy creating. They crave creating. And they speak a “digital media” language, which is inherently creative.They have a hunger for Digital Media. It is their literacy. And yet, research indicates our students are “just not as creative as they used to be,” How is this happening? How can that research be true?
As educators, doesn’t it behoove us to begin finding more ways to allow our students to create and facilitate their own learning? Maybe to express themselves through the creation of video?
Shouldn’t we allow for this form of creation any chance we get? The fact is that the creation of video can lead to global innovation. And by encouraging this form of creation, we will be building upon the visual literacy our students already possess.
My name is Mr. Goble.....and I teach by example by allowing my students the freedom to create videos. Do you?
Do you allow students to create videos in your class? If not, why not? Do you need support to incorporate video in the classroom? I can help with that. Follow me on Twitter @dgoble2001 or email me at dgoble2001@yahoo.com.