Today’s Contributor: Andrea Houdek is the Librarian and Campus Innovation Connector at Houston Elementary.
Wow! I never thought being a YouTuber was worth all the hype. I mean seriously how hard could it be? Courtesy of COVID-19 I found out. And let me tell you there was a sharp learning curve. Thankfully I have in house tech support from my high school Senior who once declared “ I’ve finished YouTube! Now what?”
In the beginning when information was being thrown at us left and right I thought YouTube would be an easy way to share stories with my students. I found info on how to set up a channel the AISD way here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rL24Tl7D91Fzby3LgfOOOZuhgxzruyBTrRJlPRJYyJY/edit?usp=sharing
This info was great, but I’m a beginner to making video content. Screencastify didn’t give me enough time to finish a book and “talk” to the students. Loom wasn’t intuitive. I could only see a circle of the entire product while filming. At the end of my rope, my son stepped in and calmly helped me find a way to capture the storytelling experience. Keep in mind my school issued laptop is a refurbished 2013 Dell Latitude.
- Click on the Windows Icon in the lower left hand corner of your screen.
- Find “Camera” and click on it.
- When the camera opens you’ll see a video camera on the right hand side toolbar. Click to begin making your video.
- Your video will be in the camera roll in the bottom right hand corner when you are finished.
- Open up your YouTube channel and load your video.
Now I am able to share storytime with my younger students who haven’t been issued technology yet. Most parents have a smart phone which allows students to see me read them a story like in the times before COVID-19…almost.
I welcome easier, more elegant ideas. Please share them with me in the comments. Until we meet again, “May the odds be ever in your favor”.
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