Bring Aquaman To The Classroom!

The Achievery

@LisaBerghoff

Anyone can make a video and post it online these days. Finding the right video for your content, that has good quality AND is entertaining can be a huge challenge and a massive time suck. The use of videos for learning is certainly not new but finding really good video content for classrooms is getting more and more challenging as there is so much content available. I did a Google search for videos on forces of motion and got 30,600,000 results. I then filtered for high school, medium length, and high quality. That narrowed it down some but not enough. I don't have the time or the motivation to watch that many videos before I will decide that it's not worth it and won't use any video for my class. Or, I will settle for one of the first ones that I find that gets close and then have to explain to my class that the video is mostly relevant but misses the mark in several ways. 

I was thrilled when I found out about The Achievery.

The Achievery is a collaboration between AT&T and Warner Bros. According to their website, it's a free online platform that is designed to connect k-12 students to digital learning through stories that spark curiosity and content that entertains and teaches. The platform offers seven subject-categories and over 5- videos, including clips from some of the most popular movies and shows. Lessons are available for download, but I think the videos are what makes the platform worth checking out. The lessons are common core and ISTE standards aligned. They also have collaborations with many well known companies like Cartoon Network, CNN 10, Code.org, Common Sense Media, NASA, NBA, and more. 

To get started, go to theachievery.com. From there, you can enter a title or description of what you are teaching. You can also filter and sort by grade level, category, subcategory, collaborator, and common core standards. The categories available are Digital Arts, Digital Literacy, English, Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Emotional Learning, and Technology and Engineering. Within those categories, there are many subcategories which should make it easier to find what you are looking for. 

I did a quick filter for all high school content from Warner Bros. Here is what it looks like:

Currently, The Achievery is approved for use in the classroom for teachers to show the videos. It is under review on the LearnPlatform for SOPPA compliance. Once that is approved, students will be able to log in and view on their own.

That said, I would rather show these short video clips to a whole class. There is so much to connect and unwrap together. 

Here is what I like about The Achievery:

1. The video clips are high quality and for the most part engaging. I did find a few that I would not use, but that's when I decided to filter by collaborator and then I knew I was going to find great content.

2. They are standards aligned so you don't have to figure out how you're going to fit them in to what you are teaching. They already fit.

3. They are short. Who has time to watch a whole movie in class? These are short clips that get to the point. You don't have to waste 45 minutes of a movie to get to the heart of the matter.

4. They include digital literacy and social emotional learning.

Many of the lessons contain multiple clips and you can disperse them throughout your teaching cycle. Here is an example of a lesson on momentum and impulse. There are clips from Scooby Doo and Craig of the Creek. 

Then, the lesson plan has the academic connection. Here is the one on momentum from Scooby Doo.

This is just one example.

I suggest you check out The Achievery and see what it has for you.

If you would like some help getting started, let me know. I'm happy to help!