Media Sharing - Mr. Munroe, this is for you

I'm all for YouTube, even if I couldn't successfully find the Loud Family skit from SNL on it. My son treats me to Jeff Dunham videos (we've seen him live), my friend Tara sends me Lawrence Welk spoofs...

If you walk down our school hallways at about 11:15-11:30, you'll hear extremely loud music about halfway to the front lobby. One day I got curious (hey, it took me a while, since I'm usually on a dead run to lunch before my other job) because I could hear Gladys Knight and the Pips. What is going on? Well, wouldn't you know it - it's the 8th grade social studies teacher, Mr. Munroe's room. Apparently, several of the students each lunch in there and he has YouTube on override for an hour...and the kids wouldn't dream of abusing the privilege. (some days they're in there playing Rock Band or Guitar Hero, seriously)

Fast forward to last week, and meet Mr. I., our 6th grade social studies teacher. He's working on a Civil War unit, and wants to have the students view battle reenactments. Only problem is? He can't override the block... I go back to his classroom, use my password, no go. He's logged in, he has to use his password. Argh! Meanwhile, precious instructional time is flying by, and the students are losing interest. Finally, success! And now, Mr. I. doesn't need me anymore - next time he needs to gain access, he can do it all on his own. Now, explain to me why a veteran teacher of 20+ years hasn't had the professional development that would enable him to access what he needs for a simple visual?

Another teacher told me today that she was "afraid" to override sites she needed. No, really, that's what she said, no lie. I was all but jumping up and down, pulling my hair! Remember what I said in an earlier post, about operating from a point of trust? Sheesh!

I've checked SchoolTube and sites like it, and I think that with some tweaking and Pd, it could be used in a myriad of ways in our curriculum to enhance our students learning. Do I see it happening any time soon? I may have to go do some squeaking and get back to you on that one...