It continues to be time for end-of-year “Best” lists.

Now it’s time for the Best Videos For Educators.

You can see all my previous “Best” lists related to videos and movies (and there are a lot since I’ve doing this since 2007) here. Note that they’re also continually revised and updated.

Here are my picks from the second half of 2023:

Even though a recent Gallup poll suggests that many in the public still hold teachers in high regard, many of us don’t feel like that.

Some people blame us for not doing enough to help students recover from “learning loss,” many states are banning books because they don’t trust our judgment to determine which ones to share with our students, and we’re being restricted about what we can say about LGBTQ issues.

Things are certainly different from when we could do no wrong during the worse of the COVID pandemic!

This sketch from Saturday Night Live demonstrates how many educators feel.  In it, people on airplane are comparing how important their jobs are.  Teachers are booed – not once, but twice!

 

I think this next Saturday Night Live piece is brilliant.

It could be used in American history classes to initiate a discussion on how enslaved people were viewed and in science courses to introduce weights and measures. Yeah, I know, quite a combination!

 

iCivics and Nickelodeon have just released a series of twelve Schoolhouse Rock-type videos about how government is supposed to work.

They’re pretty catchy, though, if you teach ELLs, you’ll want to change the speed to .75.

You can find them all here, and read about them at this NPR story.

The iCivics site says you can download viewing guides, but they don’t seem to be available yet (Update: If you go to “Download Resources” under the video, and log-in to iCivics, you can access the viewing guide).

Here’s one of the videos – it’s pretty catchy:

 

Yes, I’m sure we’re all a bit jaded by movies portraying a wonderfully inspirational teacher who tries to transform the cultures of their school and classroom against all odds.

Of course, they paint unrealistic pictures of what most of us can do in the classroom, especially since a whole lot of us, including me, are still sort of in pandemic survival mode.

Nevertheless, they can be entertaining and, often, moving to watch.

A new one has come from Mexico called “Radical.” I’ll certainly be watching it and, after you see these two trailers from it, I suspect you will be, too:

I’m adding it to The Best Places To Learn About (And View Video Clips Of) Teachers In The Movies.

 

I’m adding this video to The Best Videos Documenting The History Of The English Language:

@arumnatzorkhang Evolution of the english language. #linguistics #language ♬ original sound – Arum Natzorkhang

 

I’m adding this video to The Best Websites For Teaching & Learning About World History:

 

This new Netflix movie was great!

Check out the trailer and check out USING “A MILLION MILES AWAY” AS AN SEL OPPORTUNITY.

 

I’m adding this video to The Best Resources Sharing The History Of Teens Organizing For Justice:

 

“Bob Marley: One Love” is the title of a new and upcoming movie, and it looks great.

We often teach a unit on his life, and I’m adding this video to The Best Websites For Learning About Bob Marley.