As I read the first part of chapter 5 and using TV in the classroom, I was instantly turned back to my sophmore year of high school in chemistry when every day seemed to be another video we had to watch. We would watch the video, the bell would ring, we would leave and it would happen all over again the next day. We were never held accountable for any of the information onthe videos, so after a while we started doing other homework in class, writing notes to each other, etc. This was obviously not a teaching strategy that was worthwhile.
Now, as a fifth grade teacher, I find that I use videos in my lessons and also as a culmination to my lessons, but I always hold my students accountable for the information. I will have worksheets that they have to answer, vocabulary that they need to define, questions that they must answer, or a journal assignment that they must respond to. Either way they must watch and pay attention to what they are watching, what they are being taught, and the meaning behind the movie may be.
One example was watching the movie of "Ruby Bridges" during Black History month. Ruby was the first black girl to go to an all white elementary school. Before the movie began we talked about segregation and how people were treated. We talked about name calling, and how inappropriate this behavior would be considered now adays. After watching the movie, the students responded to some of my thoughts in their journals. Showing them this and asking them to respond to it in their own words was a way I could see how much they really learned from it, and it was truly enlightening, for me and them.
Television, shows and videos can be a true asset to teaching, but only if it is done in an academic way and for academic reasons.
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4 comments:
I think the use of TV and video in teaching has gotten a bad rap because of teachers like the one you had in chemistry. What a rich learning experience your students have, compared to what you did! I think that your examples of pre-viewing and post-viewing activities are exactly what we should be doing when using this technology.
What you had in high school was a lazy and/or burnt out teacher that should have retired or looked for new employment in a field that he/she had some passion about. Obviously, no passion here.
This is the kind of ammunition people use when they claim "teachers have such easy jobs."
I agree with both Kathy and Lauren. Putting on a video in class can look like a cop out when it come to lesson plans. It's easier to put in a video then plan a lesson. But I feel the strong teachers will incorporate a meaningful video or website into a lesson that goes along with the content being taught in the classroom. As a media specialist, I love teaching my kids the books are 99.9% of the time better than the movies, so at times I like to read books with the classes and when we are finished, show the movie and compare and contrast the movie to the book.
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