I don’t know if you are aware of this or not, but there are Minecraft YouTube stars…I mean real celebrities who share nothing but Minecraft videos. Mind-numbing Minecraft videos. If you know any elementary students, ask them if they know Stampylongnose. Guaranteed, they will talk year off about him or someone else. Currently Dustin’s favorite Minecraft Youtuber is SP737, but certainly Stampy introduced him to this world. And now both boys are obsessed with becoming YouTubers also.
At first I resisted the pleas and made provided a list of reasons why I did not think it was a good idea. But then I got to thinking. I thought about the opening address Steve Wyborney delivered at the beginning of the school year and his subsequent reminders to create opportunities for students to produce. And I wondered…wouldn’t producing YouTube videos count as such an opportunity? So I set some ground rules and we set off on a Youtubing learning adventure.
Here is what I have found: My boys consume the stars’ videos in a different way now. They are no longer watching just for the entertainment. Instead they watch to analyze the style of each YouTuber. I have also watched Dustin, come out of his shell. He is typically shy, but not when he is creating a video. I have also seen the creativity of both boys increase. They are considering new ideas and wanting to branch out. They have started to learn coding and are considering other games to play. What I really like, however, is the opportunities YouTubing has provided for us to have authentic conversations about the importance of learning to use our language as a tool. We are having conversations about academics without resistance because they see the relevance.
If you have never considered it before, perhaps you will consider giving your children/students a similar experience.
As an added bonus…I have been able to use the software to create some screen cast videos to share on Math Mondays and Teaching Tuesdays.
So I have a request…If you are so inclined, checkout our channel and give the boys a like or comment. Fair warning…we are beginners…all of us, so there are some very raw moments….you can expect the occasional melt down, and some yelling…and not just from me…ha, ha.
And when we are famous Youtubers, you can say you knew us when
Wendy Mair Clark 