My contributions to the LA Program

For most of my classes I provide extra materials to expand on the lessons the kids are learning. i usually do this by downloading educational materials from popular youtube channels.

My process is like this. A teacher will usually tell me what the next lesson will be on. I then look into the book and see where the kids are. Then I go online to find an educational video that expands on what the kids are learning. All the materials are copyrighted and I give credit to each creator. All materials I bring in videos pictures and powerpoint presentations (that I usually make myself are all 100% SWF and kid friendly.

I usually use have to be careful to select videos that are easy to understand and that the level of English isn’t too difficult for the students. Nothing with too advanced vocabulary, and nothing too boring.

Here’s a good example of one of the videos I use for history class. My advice to fellow Language Assistants is to learn the basics of video editing software if you can’t find a particular topic.

Here’s the software I use to download free videos its called 4k video downloader. Its very safe and easy to use:

https://www.4kdownload.com/products/product-videodownloader

https://www.4kdownload.com/

After I download the files I copy them onto my computer or a flash drive (known as a pen-drive here in Spain) and I’m ready to go! The program also downloads subtitles for the video simultaneously (if they’re included). Depending on how difficult the vocabulary is, I either play videos with English or Spanish subtitles. & I Because I like my students to have some variety I download several videos for each topic. During the end of class (when the kids are getting tired and tuning-out) I sometimes let them choose which video they’d like to see with a class vote.

Another tip for Language assistants. Always use VLC media player to play your videos. Its nearly universal and allows you to adjust the sound levels, & choose the language for audio and subtitles before you play; which is EXTREMELY helpful to new language learners!

Here are some excellent educational channels that I used made by professional content creators. I know that these are used in classrooms by teachers all over the world. :

https://www.youtube.com/user/TEDEducation/featured

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCajXeitgFL-rb5-gXI-aG8Q

https://www.youtube.com/user/RedEyesTakeWarning

https://www.youtube.com/user/ExtraCreditz