Many teachers struggle to find ways to engage their students. They often struggle to get them under control so they can get their lesson started. Too often, a great deal of valuable time is lost in doing this.

When asked, many say it is ‘just a rowdy bunch’ or “a rough group of kids’. This may rub some of you the wrong way, but the fact is, if you struggle for that long to get them involved, it’s the way you are trying to engage them that is the problem.

This is not to say you are at fault, just that you haven’t found the magic bullet yet for each class. Obviously, groups of kids can be very different, and no one thing works for everyone. However, one thing I have found that consistently works to get kids involved and on task immediately is using movie clips.

When creating classroom experiences, I always try to find a clip that demonstrates what I am trying to get across. At first, this seems like a daunting task, however, it’s not as hard as you think it is. You just need to know where to look, and how to get it going.

There are many sites out there with clips from movies you can use. Obviously, YouTube is there. As long as you already know the clip you are looking for, YouTube is great. You may want to consider using an adblocker extension to avoid the commercials though. (see yesterday’s blog post for how to set that up).

More often than not, you just know what it is you want to get across, and are at a loss for what clip you wish to use. This is where a great website comes in. Steer your browser over to www.wingclips.com and take a look. Wingclips is organized so that you can search just by having a general idea of what you wish to show. It may not be for everybody, but I have often found great clips here. Be sure to save this one in your resources, and help end that beginning of class struggle!