Thing 10

Here is a video recording of a rap called "Knock out Illiteracy". I found it on YouTube and embedded it right from the YouTube site.



Some students might react positively to hearing this message from someone other than a teacher!

I tried to download another video from YouTube called "Literacy Empowers" but I was unsuccessful. I didn't know what image format to ask for and the Zamzar didn't default to any certain format. I will ask the right people a few questions and try again later. I'll edit my post and add it. The reason why I was so interested in this video is because I read a book titled Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, concerning his quest to build schools for tiny villages in Pakistan. He was repaying a village for their kindness when he was recovering after being separated from his mountain climbing party. His efforts launced the endowment of a philanthropic organization called The Central Asia Institute by a wealthy American businessman as he was dying from cancer. Mortenson built dozens of schools in Pakistan, and some in neighboring Afghanistan. The people were grateful and adopted a whole new attitude toward America based on their experience with this one man. I can't help but wonder how many of these schools are still standing after all the destruction that is currently taking place in Afghanistan. My hope is that a new administration will make ventures such as this a common way to reach out to those who view Americans with suspicion.

I am excited about the idea of being to embed or download videos! I love being able to click on your videos in each "thing" on this blog and gett instant instruction or information. I see a lot of possibilities for this capability in my classroom.