Saturday, January 24, 2009

Oh No! Pickles


I did not know about YouTube until teaching a unit on phobias and greek vocabulary. Andrew Pillow, class of 2007, immediately asked me if I'd seen a particular clip on YouTube and I asked him, what is that? He showed me immediately, and suddenly I had a new teaching vehicle. It is odd, indeed, that anyone can find an image they want to demonstrate a point they're trying to make simply by typing in an item -- fear of pickles -- into cyberspace and one can find such visual sensation. Is this exploitation? I'm unsure. What I do know is it is proof of our humanity. And so the world turns.

1 comment:

  1. the pickle phobia is a few levels above you not knowing what you tube is on the quirkiness scale....

    i've been using youtube to teach elementary kids both traditional (cats crap) and 'untraditional' methods of performing arts. sounds impossible, but there is literally everything on youtube, which makes our school internet service providers very nervous. they finally open the site up for access in school buildings. the major issue is all the other crap that comes up when looking for a specific video. i've been using www.savevid.com to download each video to a mp4 format (i.e. quicktime).

    i'm wrestling with the legitimacy of using the video medium. television is developing an alternative reality for some students, one that seems to subvert any critical thinking. oddly enough, i try to reinforce critical thinking about the performing arts using the video medium, hoping that they are being exposed to images that provoke more substance than high school musical and the like.
    here are a few of my favorite videos that i have taught with:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpfYt7vRHuY

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaKaXYwnj2E

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9-dmadaQ6I

    ~enjoy~

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