Our world today is a visual society. Practically everything we see or hear about is delivered through visual media. We have television, DVD's, newspapers, magazines and movies. Those students who are fortunate to have computer access at home, come in every morning and say to me, "Ms. Marcino did you know there might be ice or water on the moon?", as an example of this morning. And, I reply, from where did you obtain this information? Answer, off the computer. I did not have this information yet because I had not listened to or viewed the news!
History was literally made and viewed on September 11th. History is made everyday and textbook publishing companies cannot keep up! I have mentioned this in times prior that our textbooks are outdated! Our students need to know what is going on in their world today.
In our previous studies, we learned that our brains are wired for images. Did you know that what we see registers must faster than what we read? Sixty thousand times faster in fact. This information can be found in most any science journal. In fact my fourth graders learned this fact last year in their science class.
I have done extensive research on how color affects behavior and learning. It is amazing how powerful color can be. Today, most homes have color television. You stop and think for a moment if your attention would be caught more by a black and white commercial or a color one. Think about how much you love to see the colors of Autumn, or the color of the ocean, particularly in north Florida.
My point is that video instruction is a necessity for the classroom. Just ask a student if they would rather see an instructional video or if they would rather listen to you instruct. Now be fair. We know our students love us dearly and may say they had rather listen to you to protect your feelings, but honestly, they want to watch the video.
Students will learn more quickly from watching a color animated video than you writing something on the board, or them trying to read a textbook or worksheet. Video is that important! I do not know the source of this quote, but I am gong to cite it anyway. It circulated on the Internet some time back and I saved it. It goes like this: "Dear God, I didn't think purple and orange went together until I saw the sunset you created on Tuesday. That was cool." Eugene. Just imagine, doesn't that pull at your hear strings? Maybe some of you saw this or know the source. If so, please leave me a comment.
Many of you are art teachers. Just imagine if you could post your students' art in a video and show it to the class. How proud would that student be to see his/her work on the Internet! We did this at my school two years ago. There was an art charity and our students painted pictures which were displayed on an auction site and sold to raise money for a worthwhile charity. The students were so proud as were we and their parents.
There are so many sources available to us now, that textbooks could most likely be eliminated. Imagine if we could get rid of the stringent benchmarks set forth for testing and just let our students learn in the manner that is best suited for them. And, I don't want to get started on the FCAT or any other state testing procedure for that matter. I think children should be allowed to learn at their own rate of speed and learn the basics yes, but pursue their interests and maximize their potential.
I am embedding a video that I think is a great example of teaching an important lesson. The video comes to you courtesy of BrainPop. Each week there is a different video. Please visit the site: http://www.brainpop.com. It is a wonderful site that I am going to do my best to convince our district to allow access.
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