I’m sure you’ve done it. You remember it. At some point in your school career, you had to stand before the class and teach a lesson or share something you had learned. Our teachers, and their teachers before them, knew what we still know:
“Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach.” - Aristotle
"While we teach, we learn." ~ Seneca
"To teach is to learn twice over." ~ Joseph Joubert
Teachers know from experience that the preparation for teaching requires effort and time, You must have props ready, you must know your material, and you must plan how to present it so that it’s clear and memorable- even entertaining. In that process, you can’t help but grow in your own understanding of the concepts or skills.
Studies show that students who learn something in order to teach it and then actually do teach it, gain a deeper understanding of what they teach, better retain what they learn, and even benefit socially and emotionally.
Today’s students are media-savvy, and dozens of technology tools are making it easier for teachers to capitalize on the “protege effect,” or the learning by teaching method – through videos. There’s never been a better time to incorporate student-created visual media. And kid-friendly sites, such as Kids’ Vid, help kids learn how to create quality videos.
At the time of this writing, schools are closed. Why not challenge students to create an educational video to share with classmates? Some of your students may already have YouTube videos or YouTube channels. We’d like to highlight a few on a new KIDS WITH CLASS page, just added to this site. Please click here to learn more.
HOW CAN STUDENT-CREATED VIDEOS BE INTEGRATED INTO STUDIES?
| lessons demonstrations | storytelling reciting or retelling | debate speeches | book talks | “how-to” videos instructions |
| persuasive presentations | experiments experiment logs | project logs | tech tutorials | assessments oral essays |
Also, if your students work on “Genius Hour” or any ongoing personal projects, student-created videos can be used throughout the creative process rather than just for final presentations. Students might create video journals documenting their progress, their questions, research findings, and goals.
THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME FOR KIDS TO USE VISUAL MEDIA TO TEACH OTHERS! CHECK OUT THESE INSPIRING EXAMPLES OF STUDENT-CREATED VIDEOS!
IN THIS VIDEO, CLAIRE, A FORMER STUDENT OF MINE, DEMONSTRATES HOW TO MAKE AN ELECTRIC QUIZ BOARD. THOUGH MADE LONG AGO, I STILL REMEMBER HOW MUCH WE BOTH LEARNED IN THE MAKING OF THIS VIDEO!
In this great article, elementary teacher Courtney Sears writes:
Video is a key way my children gather and share information. The same is true for my students. They aren’t just consumers of videos—they create videos to share their opinions and skills with the world.
– Edutopia, Sept. 2018
If you have KID-CREATED VIDEOS you’d like to share, or if you can offer additional helpful hints or ideas, please leave a comment below!