Value of Video

So the saying is "A picture is worth a thousand words." So that must mean that a video has to be exponentially more valuable.

I think that web based video has changed teaching because it can bring things alive and into the classroom, it gives classes & teachers a way to share globally, and it allows them to experience a variety of perspectives on single concepts or ideas. For me I feel that it can be especially powerful as a tool to share with my students' parents what is happening at school through a video rather than with just words on a page.

Here is my adventures in web based video last week:

Last week my class was working with the nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet". I thought it would be a good idea to find a dramatization of it so we could better understand some of the vocabulary and concepts. So I went to YouTube and searched for "Little Miss Muffet" - instantly the search came back with 455 hits. There were animations, songs, and recitations. Of course there were many that weren't what I was looking for. But, it only took me a minute to find a few that would be good to use. The students were then able to see the actions of "Little Miss Muffet", which added to their understanding.

Showing my students the web based videos was valuable for them but not as valuable as what I discovered while looking for a good video to use. I discovered that I could make a video that would do everything that I wanted it to do instead of trying to find something that would just "do". So after taking still pictures of my students dramatizing "Little Miss Muffet" and recording their adorable, precious voices I created our "Little Miss Muffet":



And here is another one:



Hope you enjoyed watching them as much as I enjoyed making them.