A few weeks ago, I had a chance to visit the YouTube Headquarters and talk education with a variety of people over the course of a couple of days. I met many great content creators who were interested in finding out ways to help students and teachers understand complex ideas through the use of video. There were so many great people out there who are making awesome videos, but were not getting the attention I feel they deserve.
Running a YouTube channel can be a thankless job. Most people watch a 4 minute video and assume that it took just that long to put together. That could not be further from the truth. It takes days and weeks to put together a good 4 minute video that will be watched by only a few thousand people and then they start all over again. Some videos are watched more than others, but the same process is repeated over and over again because they want to educate. There is a great place for these videos in the classroom and I decided it would be nice to feature some of these content creators and their channels on my site every couple of weeks.
The first channel I want to feature is one that I have used in my classroom and will continue to do so as long as they keep making awesome videos.
SoulPancake
Most people know SoulPancake due to the very popular Kid President videos.
Running a YouTube channel can be a thankless job. Most people watch a 4 minute video and assume that it took just that long to put together. That could not be further from the truth. It takes days and weeks to put together a good 4 minute video that will be watched by only a few thousand people and then they start all over again. Some videos are watched more than others, but the same process is repeated over and over again because they want to educate. There is a great place for these videos in the classroom and I decided it would be nice to feature some of these content creators and their channels on my site every couple of weeks.
The first channel I want to feature is one that I have used in my classroom and will continue to do so as long as they keep making awesome videos.
SoulPancake
Most people know SoulPancake due to the very popular Kid President videos.
This pep talked was passed all around the world and shown in schools all over the country. It is a great video and it makes me smile every time I watch it. There is so much more to SoulPancake though. They have so many different parts to their channel that should not be overlooked. Here are just a few things that are worth sharing with your students or your staff.
This is one of my new favorite series on SoulPancake. The host takes actual research conducted on Happiness and sets up scenarios to see if the research hold up to testing. What you see are thought-provoking moments that are great for classroom discussion and replication. The video below is one I plan on doing with my students this year.
I get choked up every time I watch this video. It is touching and it makes me wonder how often we miss a chance to express our thanks to the people around us. I can't wait to see what this will look like in my classroom. Try to watch this and not cry. Here are some videos that people sent in recreating the letter writing and the phone call.
Here are a couple more videos that are perfect for the classroom.
Take a Seat - Make a Friend?
Talk to You 10 year Old Self
This is still not everything that SoulPancake brings to the table.
"A series following Zach Anner, a self-proclaimed religious idiot, and his journey to learn more about faith and different religions!"
"Our narrative series in which characters struggle with life's questions in both a comical and heartfelt way. Written and directed by award winning filmmaker Ben Shelton of SheltonFilms (recently of the web series "The Daly Show")."
"Our series documenting the struggles and uplifting stories of terminal illness."
These are just some of the awesome things that SoulPancake is doing on their YouTube Channel. If you check out their Twitter feed (@SoulPancake), you will see they pose some interesting questions that could be great conversation starters in class as well. A recent questions they posed was "Can good come from pain?"
Take some time and take a look at all of the awesome things SoulPancake is doing and see how they might fit into your classroom.
Give it a try!
@TheNerdyTeacher
Give it a try!
@TheNerdyTeacher
Just wanted to stop in and tell you how much I love your blog and I love to read about the amazing things you're doing with technology in your classroom. I teach in a district that is stuck in the dark ages so we are limited in what we can do with technology, but I try my hardest. I also show my students Soul Pancake videos--we are all in love with Kid President and have taken on his "Make Someone Else's Year Awesome" challenge. Anyway, I digress. Thanks for sharing what you do. :)
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