Teacher Tube — Math Raps & more

Math Raps & More

Teacher tube is the educational and fun version of Youtube for use in the classroom. Video shorts, made by educators, are available in core subject areas such as math, science, social studies, reading as well as by grade range (elementary, middle school). While the quality ranges, there are many examples of useful, engaging materials that students will love.

Teachers can access videos by searching directly or browsing using the tabs. The “Video” tab provides a listing of all channels by subject along with options such as “recently added,” “most viewed,” “most discussed,” and “top rated.”  One of the most viewed videos is a middle school winner on “Class Rules”

Class Rules

 

The “Channels” tab provides subject or category access:

Channels

 There’s a wealth of teacher and performance talent. Of special note, is Mr. Duey Raps Fractions.  Mr. Duey, originally from the suburbs of Detroit, raps to teach about math, social studies and English. This video is a sure hit and testimonials attest to the improvement in student scores:

Mr. Duey Raps Fractions

Other great videos are “Abbot and Costello math” and the “50 States and Capitals” song — Keep track of newly uploaded videos using the RSS feeds (at the bottom of the main screen). Videos may be played full screen by selecting the squarish symbol near the volume on the player:

Other teacher tube strengths are tutorials on a wide variety of topics, “partner videos”, (social studies as of this writing) and student works. Teachers can make and upload their own videos. Inappropriate videos are flagged for removal to keep the environment kid-friendly. “Featured videos” showcase new and/or interesting shorts. Great resource, especially for middle and high school!

 

Professional Development: English Language Learners

Doing What Works is a federal initiative to disseminate research based best practices in education.  There are several parts to the resource, including a newly developed digital workshop with a focus on English Language Learners which accompanies the ELL segment on the main web site. The site provides research supporting best practices as well as the top 5 most effective instructional strategies, presented in a variety of formats with accompanying resource materials.

Each of the 5 strategies is discussed in a tri-part format: Learn What Works, See How It Works and Do What works so that educators can understand the underlying pedagogy as well as learn how it may be successfully implemented. Tools to facilitate integration of the strategies are also included.

 Resource materials for the English Language Learners digital workshop are available at: http://www.t2tweb.us/doingwhatworks/Workshop_01/resources/downloads/DWW_handouts.pdf