Using Videos In The Classroom to Boost Pupil Engagement.
Using Videos in Lessons
On Youtube you can probably find a video that will link in with your lesson no matter what it is. These can be really effective teaching tools or a way to introduce a new voice to the lesson. If needed you can use a “safe” version of youtube (Youtube Kids) to remove the links, comments, and buttons that quite often link to less appropriate content.
Tips to Improve Engagement of SEN Pupils When Using Videos in the Classroom
Whilst some of your class may sit and take in the information I doubt all will be fully focused. I want to share something that works really well for all pupils in my class some of whom are PECS users – they even asked to do the activity again. This was based on an idea from our speech therapist that we adapted. The idea is that we can emphasise important points and gauge whether the student is engaged rather than just appearing to pay attention. This activity is more structured than asking questions. All my class have receptive or expressive language impairments.
We chose this video as it fits in with our transport topic, is less than 5 minutes, bright, clear and the presenter is enthusiastic.
You can download the Video Sheet resource free here!
So what we do is to take screenshots of anything interesting or that we might want to talk about. Some should be really obvious others harder to pick up. These are all the screenshots we used you can reduce the amount for some students (4 to a page maybe). I would print the page for some so they match the images. For others, they cross off or cover with a square of paper. You can also just use it as a memory jogger or put a text box under to write a fact.
This is another transport video we used in class to improve pupil engagement.
Here is the Jubilee Line Video Engagement Worksheet version
Tube Station Bingo.
As we will be looking at the tube for a couple of weeks and revisiting later in the term I made a simple tube station bingo. It’s slides 3 onward in this file. The station that says Stone Bay is editable add your school name or local station to generate discussion “1 of these is not a tube station, can you guess which one?” or just delete it and replace. This was quite challenging for some as the colours and shapes are similar. The bigger images can be flashcards.
Download the tube station bingo worksheets free here!
Tim Peake Principia Mission Video Matching.
For our Space Topic we focussed on Tim Peake and used his Journey to space as the basis for lessons.
Download The Tim Peak Video Worksheet Resource Here
Tim Peake’s Experiments in Space Video Matching.
Download Tim Peake Science Experiments in Space Video Resource Here
Tips for Using Videos Effectively in Your Classroom
There are some tips I have picked up along the way of how to make sure you are using videos as an effective teaching resource in your classroom.
- Choose appropriate videos for the attention span of your class. Generally less than 5 minutes
- Don’t be afraid to pause the video or stop it when you feel the point is made.
- When working with SEN pupils try to use videos that reflect the diversity of their backgrounds not just American videos.
- Videos should be age appropriate but engaging. As this is a planned learning session no nursery rhymes. Use the opportunity to broaden the videos your pupils may enjoy.
- Preview videos yourself and cue the relevant sections to show. Having viewed it yourself you’ll be prepared to pause and discuss key points.
- Provide a focus question or one of our video boards to guide students’ viewing. This helps ensure they stay engaged in the intended learning.
- Require students to take brief notes, either during or after, on facts or ideas from the video. This supports active watching and information retention.
- Consider showing videos in sections with time for discussion in between. Breaking it up maintains focus and allows the processing of concepts.
- Use videos as a stimulus for follow-up project work. Assigning related activities reinforces and expands on the video’s topic.
- Evaluate if the video achieved your learning goals. Select alternate teaching approaches if not. Reflect on ways to improve future use of videos.