For second period, I sort of co-teach with another special ed teacher. (The "sort of" is doing a lot of heavy lifting. It's a complicated story that I don't want to spend the time explaining.)
When I started the class, they were finishing up their World War I unit. For a final, Ms. L is having them write an essay about the movie they watched: All Quiet on the Western Front, the 1930 version.
Because they're special ed eighth graders, this was not something they're used to doing. So, it has taken a lot of pushing to get things going.
The plan was for them to write about certain portions of the movie. But, of course, they were having trouble recalling the scenes. Then somehow I ended up looking up where it could be streamed, and sure enough, it's currently streaming via Tubi.
Which they could access via their in school Chromebooks.
Suddenly, all the kiddos were rewatching the movie.
"So, I can actually watch movies at school."
Yeah, probably shouldn't have clued the eighth graders in on the fact that they can stream movies on their computers. (If you look, Tubi has a lot of content. Some of which the eighth graders would like.)
With me and Ms. L and our two instructional assistants in class, the kiddos couldn't really sneak in other movies. But they do have other classes.
One thing Ms. L wanted the kiddos to do was to find a photo from the scene of the movie they're writing about. There are a ton of images they can find. But one kiddo wasn't finding the precise image he wanted.
I reasoned that one could take a screenshot from the movie on their Chromebooks.
I explained this to the kiddo. He knew how to take a screenshot. And he managed to capture the image he wanted.
Ms. L isn't very techno savvy, so when she saw what the kiddo did, she had him instruct another classmate so he could get the image he wanted.
Yeah, I think I just created some problems. For later. And likely for other teachers.
But they were actually writing essays on the movie. And about World War I. So, maybe it's a good thing?
Maybe a problem, but you did get them engaged and that's a victory. I get an education from your posts, too - I've heard of Tubi but never investigated it until just now. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteMs. L had never heard of it either. There are a couple of these free apps that have all sorts of interesting shows and movies to stream.
DeleteAgree, you got them engaged, that's a win - especially for that age
ReplyDeleteMs. L did most of that. I was just assisting her, really.
DeleteThe technology is both a good thing and a bad thing. But I think you can consider this a success story,
ReplyDeleteIt was helpful in this case.
DeleteIt was a good thing! Ms. L might have learned something helpful too!
ReplyDeleteShe did. She had no idea they could stream the movie. And this helped them with their essays.
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