Category: Teaching

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How YouTube Can Increase Students’ Awareness of God

YouTube LogoA while back I wrote a post about using YouTube videos in the Catholic classroom. Here’s one of my favorite YouTube videos to use at the beginning of the school year to help students be more aware of God’s presence. It can also be used in faculty meetings to help remind teachers to look for the ways God works in their school day. If you teach in a Jesuit school, it might be a good video to use when teaching the examen.

I’ve written a few points for discussion but watch the video closely yourself first to avoid spoilers.

For Meditation/Discussion:

  • God is always present in our lives, but we often fail to see him. We get caught up in the details, the busyness, the distractions of our day-to-day lives–in other words, we get so busy counting the passes that we miss the moonwalking bear. God is the moonwalking bear, and when we notice him, we can’t help but break into a smile.
  • When was the last time you noticed a “moonwalking bear” in your own life? What was it?
  • What are you so focused on that you miss the moonwalking bear?
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How to Download and Use YouTube Videos in the Catholic Classroom

Using a YouTube video with your students is like turning on a light in a dark room: the little moths just can’t resist. Their eyes snap up to the front of the room, their voices become hushed, and suddenly you have their full attention. From Susan Boyle to Rebecca Black, YouTube videos are the perfect jumping-off point for classrooms discussions about culture, morality and contemporary life. For the next thirty seconds or three minutes, you have a powerful and compelling way to connect students’ real lives with the Catholic faith–if…your school doesn’t have YouTube blocked; if…your broadband connection is working fast enough.

In this first of a series of articles about using YouTube in the Catholic classroom, I am going to show you how to download YouTube videos to your hard drive to avoid the following common YouTube problems:

  • School filtering that blocks access
  • Inappropriate videos appearing in the YouTube sidebar or after the video is over
  • Commercials popping up before or during the video
  • Videos that are no longer on YouTube
  • A slow connection that causes the video to hang

These problems will be a thing of the past once you learn the quick and easy method of downloading videos from YouTube.

How to Download YouTube Videos

There are several ways to get videos from  YouTube to your own computer, but I’m going to show you what I think is the easiest way, though the set up may be a little complicated if you aren’t used to customizing your browser.

First, you need to be using Firefox as your web browser. What I’m going to show you doesn’t work with Internet Explorer or Safari, but Firefox can be customized with special add-ons that are unavailable in other browsers. If you don’t have Firefox, it can be downloaded for free at Mozilla.org. The rest of these instructions assume you are following them using Firefox.

Visit the Firefox add-on page for the Easy YouTube Downloader.

Easy YouTube Downloader Add-On

Once there, click the green “Add to Firefox” button on the left hand side of the page. The add-on will begin downloading, and after a few moments you will receive a message warning you to only install add-ons from people you trust. Go ahead and click the “Install Now” button.

Installing Add-On

Once you have installed the add-on, you will be prompted to restart Firefox. When Firefox restarts, you will see a page that tells you the installation succeeded. That’s it!

NOTE: Easy YouTube Downloader is also available for the Google Chrome browser. You can download Chrome at Google.com/Chrome and you can get the Easy YouTube Downloader extension at the Chromeextensions.org.

Using the YouTube Easy Downloader

Once the add-on is installed, the rest is a snap. Go ahead and visit any video on YouTube, for instance, this video by Popple that my eighth graders created a few years ago. You should now see a new “Download as” button next to the “Share” button under the video.

Little White Square

To download the video, click the small arrow next to “Download As” and select “MP4 360p.”  A window should then pop up asking you where you want to save the file. Choose a location, click “save,” and then watch the video download. It’s that simple.

NOTE: The higher the number next to the “p,” the better the quality of the video, so feel free to choose the highest quality available. However, be sure to click MP4, and not FLV or MP3. FLV is another video format that requires special software to play, and MP3 only saves the audio.

What’s Next?

In future articles I’ll be discussing what to do with the videos once you’ve downloaded them, and I’ll share some of my favorites and how I use them in Religion class.

You can keep up with all the articles in the series by subscribing via email or through RSS readers like Google Reader.

Be sure to leave a comment and let me know how these instructions worked for you.

 

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6 Fun and Inspirational Videos for Teacher Appreciation Week

TeachingTeacher Appreciation Week is upon us, and just in time, as Spring fever has begun to bloom (in both students and teachers!). To celebrate with you I’ve selected the following videos to inspire and entertain; some will make you laugh, some will make you cry–just like teaching. Pass them along as you see fit.

Mr. Holland’s Last Day at School – Make sure you have a tissue handy

A Song for Teachers: You Have Made a Difference

Thank a Teacher

Goofy: Teachers Are People Too

I Love My Teacher

The Teacher Retirement Song – Lyrics reproduced below the video

Tears and fears and feeling small
The torture starts up every fall:
The awful things that I’ve been called
In classrooms every day.

The fire alarm could wake the dead
Water fountains spewing lead
While ceiling tiles fall on my head
I’ve thought of school that way

I’ve looked at school from both sides now
I think this year I’ll take a bow
From head to toe I’m stiff and sore
I really can’t take school anymore

The hungry sixth-grade mind inquires
By seventh, they’re accomplished liars
By eighth, they just might slash your tires
I’ve looked at kids that way

Some will start fights in the halls
Others hide in bathroom stalls
But won’t leave your room when nature calls
They’re all special in their way

I’ve looked at kids from both sides now
From short and tall
And I must avow
At least at my age, I can’t recall
The majority of them at all

Long vacations, decent pay,
A seven-hour working day,
Inservice naps and fog delays;
Some see this job that way

So now my colleagues think I’m strange.
They can’t believe I need a change.
But if you ask me, they’re all deranged
For coming back each day.

I’ve looked at work from both sides now
From rich and poor and still somehow
I’ve no illusions left at all.
I really won’t miss work at all.

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All Saints Catholic School Loves Reading

Narnia ReadathonAll Saints Catholic School in Spokane, WA where I teach, celebrated Read Across America with gusto this year. Not only did we stream a live unabridged reading of C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair, but we also recorded the 5th-8th graders dancing to “Gotta Keep Reading.”

For those of you who might have missed a portion of The Silver Chair, you’ll find a recording of our entire live stream below. But first, here are the All Saints 5th-8th grade students (with special guest The Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2) showing their love for reading:

“Gotta Keep Reading”

The Silver Chair, Part I

The Silver Chair, Part II

The Silver Chair, Part III

The Silver Chair, Part IV

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Teach Them Something That Lasts

Note: The following reflection was written for Catholic Schools Week 2011 as part of a series for ACE Advocates for Catholic Schools.

Holy Spirit by MurilloWhen I taught Amy she was a bright, athletic, beaming eighth grader. She loved her older sister, her younger brother, and playing soccer. A short two years later, her body was ravaged by leukemia, and after a long and valiant battle, she passed away. Attending her funeral was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. And yet, though it was many years ago, I still remember the theme of the homily: Amy’s life is changed, not ended.

I sometimes imagine Amy looking down from heaven and saying to me, “These students you teach will not be here forever. Teach them something that lasts.”

And that, indeed, is the mission of Catholic schools: to teach something that lasts. Not for a decade. Not for a generation. But forever. As a guest speaker once told our faculty, “Our calling is to get students into Heaven, not Harvard.”

Not that Catholic schools don’t care about providing a rigorous education. Any of numerous studies will tell you that Catholic schools provide an outstanding academic foundation–high graduation rates and top scores on standardized tests. However, what Catholic schools uniquely offer our children is the one thing that lasts: the opportunity to develop in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

In a culture that increasingly marginalizes religion, Catholic schools keep faith at the forefront. Each day students witness the lived faith of a believing community and learn how Christ permeates every aspect of life. From learning about Catholic contributions in science to exploring religious themes in literature, from daily school prayer to weekly school liturgies, Catholic schools offer students an ongoing invitation to recognize God in their lives.

Catholic schools give students the x-ray glasses they need to see through the false promises of our culture. Catholic schools give students the hearing aids they need to listen the voice of the Holy Spirit in their own lives. Catholic schools give students the inner compass they need to find their way to their true home.

Life is beautiful, but all too short. I advocate for Catholic schools because Catholic schools offer students an education that lasts a lifetime…and beyond.

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25 Kindle Books for Catholic Teachers

So, you got a Kindle for Christmas, and you want to do some professional reading. The following books may be just what you’re looking for:

Catholicism/Catechesis

Technology/Writing/Reading

General Education/Productivity

Just this past week, Amazon has implemented a rudimentary lending system for those with Kindles. If the publisher of a book allows, you can lend a Kindle book one time to someone else. They can have the book for no longer than 14 days, and while they have it, you cannot read your copy. It’s not a perfect lending solution, but it’s better than nothing.

I’ve noticed that Goodreads has already started a Kindle Lending group for people who want to exchange books. If you’re not a Goodreads member, I highly recommend it as a place to share with other readers. It’s free, and integrates easily with Facebook and Twitter. I would love to connect with other educators via Goodreads and compare reading lists, so please feel free to friend me.