Happy Friday Videos to Inspire and Engage Students

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I have to be honest, this statement is not me. My favorite day of the week is Monday! I think it is because I love teaching and learning as much as I do. Mondays to me are about new beginnings and new chances to learn with my students. I love being and educator! 

I am always reminding myself that no matter how much I love my content, the most important thing in my classroom is that I provide my students with opportunities to grow as humans. I understand my responsibility to engage students in content, but I try to remember that it is not the only thing my students need. This post is about one way that I use videos to engage my students as lifelong learners. 

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 each day to engage in our content. The students and I look forward to these and the discussions that are part of the viewing experience. Not every video is a hit, but when they do hit I think it is a great learning experience for everyone involved. 

This year I've shifted these videos to Mondays. We started Remote and are now on a split Hybrid schedule, so I don't get to see all of my students on Fridays. Since we are all remote on Mondays, the conversations about the videos are a bit more muted than they have been in past years, but I think my students are still enjoying the videos. Here is my schedule for the year. 

Happy Friday Schedule 2020 - 2021

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.

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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