One of thestandards that I teach in my math classes that is most prevalent throughout the year is adding and subtracting integers. Even for my students who have a good handle on basic mathematical facts, adding negatives creates an entirely new ball game. Luckily, others seem to have the same issues that I do, and there exists a wealth of resources on YouTube and TeacherTube that can be used to teach integer facts. One such YouTube video is created by a user caller SkyhawksMath and is embedded above. The teacher who is featured in the video explains the concepts fully and in a manner that is easy to understand for my students. She does such a good job in her videos, that I sought out more videos on more topics from the same user. Each is just as useful and just as informative. In many of the videos that I found, the teacher involved used a series of white boards of varying sizes to convey information and to work out problems. The simple use of a number of whiteboards in different sizes seems to better hold the attention of my students. I have tried the same tactic in my classroom, and it works just as well in real life as on the videos.
A second use that I found for YouTube when teaching integers was that there are many songs available that seek to teach students the rules for adding and subtracting integers. I have employed several of these with my students and have often found that the most useful are the simplest. One in particular that I have found sticks in my students' heads is set to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat and is embedded at the bottom of the page.
Even with the amount of information that is available on YouTube and TeacherTube, the right video about the right topic delivered in the right manner and using the right steps and techniques may not be available. If that is the case, many teacher have begun to create their own videos. Some of the teachers at my school who have taken this route, and myself as well, have noted that perhaps the most convenient solution is a screencast. At my school, we are fortunate to have Smartboards in every classroom and Smart software installed on all staff computers, and one part of that software is a user-friendly and seamless screencasting software. The majority of the videos that I produce for use on the web and on YouTube are of the screencast variety. This solves a couple of problems for me. First is that I hate to see myself on film. This seems to be a problem that many people face and one that can be solved by screencasting since a teacher is not required to appear on screen. Additionally, screencasting can often involve less set up and can be accomplished in fewer takes than a traditional video which further works to save time.
A screencast that is later posted to YouTube may have its most powerful use in teaching the use of technology, particularly software and websites, to other teachers in the professional development arena. I have created several screencasts that I posted on YouTube to instruct staff at my school on the use of such Web 2.0 tools as Polleverywhere, Socrative, and Classdojo. In this particular case, screencasting offers the unique advantage of allowing the viewer to clearly see every keystroke and mouse click of the instructor. Additionally, posting such a video to YouTube allows for teachers to view the professional development video in off time allowing teachers to utilize the same flipped classroom approach to professional development that they use in their own classes.
As with all technology tools, there can be technical difficulties that come along with the use of YouTube or TeacherTube in the classroom. The chief of these is one that our professors have mentioned in our own class, and that is that often YouTube videos are blocked for students and even teachers on our school networks. While this blockage is no problem with a flipped classroom use of YouTube since the students will be at home, it can be a headache if students need to watch a video on their own while on campus. But, just as our professors noted, there are ways to work around that issue on our own campuses. The first is to use a file conversion program to download the video. Zamzar was suggested, but has had some legal issues of late and is not always available. Similar sites include FileWiggler, Convert.Files andFree File Converter. A second option that has worked for me sometimes if to embed the file in a secondary website like Weebly or Edmodo. For some reason the embed option works sporadically.
In any event, and with technical problems aside, YouTube and TeacherTube can both offer teachers convenient avenues to flip the classroom with ready-made or custom-made videos.