Happy Friday Videos 2018 - 2019 Engage, Inspire, and Motivate

I sometimes struggled tremendously with the pace of the content in my Advanced Placement Environmental Science classes, so much so that I sometimes forget what is the most important thing in my classroom. My students and their growth as humans are so much more important than the content or the test we will all take. Don't get me wrong, I understand my responsibility to engage students in content, but I try to remember that it is not the only thing. This post is about remembering that content is not the most important part of my students' lives.

A few years ago I started a tradition of showing a funny, inspirational, or unique videos in class every Friday. While the videos were not always about being happy, we dubbed these our Happy Friday videos. I try to keep these short so we still have time for the Environment. I think the students looked forward to them almost as much as they did the weekend. I loved them because of the messages that were shared and discussed.

Last year without really thinking about it, I didn't show very many Happy Friday videos. I don't know why? I tried getting started a few times, but for reasons that I don't remember we never stuck with it. This is my list (Don't bother clicking on the link, not much is there.) from the 2017-18 School year.

When I reflected on the successes and failures of the 2017-18 school year, the lack of Happy Friday videos and discussions kept coming to the top of my failure list. I vowed that I would not let this happen again.

I am happy to say that I have remained committed and we have engaged in our Happy Friday Videos almost every Friday this school year. I am even planning a student takeover of the list to end the school year.

I wanted to share the list with everyone, maybe there is something here that you can use with your students? I will also continue to update this doc as we add videos this year.

Happy Friday Schedule 2018-19

If you have a video or list of videos that you love to share with students, would you consider sharing with us in the comments below?

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