Will this be on the test? The best response EVER.

It's easy, during finals week, to get a little "test focused."

So I thought you might enjoy what may be the best response in history to the perennial student question, "Will this be on the test?"

It comes from Josh Green, author of several novels, including The Fault in Our Stars. This clip is from the Crash Course Video, "The Agricultural Revolution: Crash Course World History #1."

It's a nice reminder of why we do what we do.

Crash Course is  a series of funny, fast, irreverent -- and surprisingly intellectual -- content videos that might help you in your teaching.  

Green and his brother, Hank, have posted videos explaining all sorts of concepts in World History, Literature, Biology, and Ecology. (A tip of the hat to Rachel Maleski, for finding and sharing this fun series.)

Ecology

Literature

World History

Biology

How might these help you?

Homework? I have to watch a video...

• Well, a student might be more likely to watch a video than read a section of a textbook.  And this might be a great way to prime students for the content you will explore in your class -- especially if you 'flip' the video, using Ted-Ed tools to embed questions and links.

For kids who don't understand it the first time through

• We all want to provide alternate explanations for our students who just don't get things the way we explain them; this series may provide you with some ready-made alternate versions of the content some of your students struggle with.

To start a debate

• One of Green's strengths is that he focuses on a single intriguing question:  "Was Gatsby great?" or "Is globalization a good thing?" and then he lists the pros and cons -- it's not a bad way for students to begin to encounter questions with complex answers.

Warnings

• Green's irreverence occasionally spills over into some mildly inappropriate content: he calls Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby an "ass-hat," (which is true) and he numbers as one of the benefits of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle the greater number of leisure hours for the creation of art, music, storytelling, and ..."skoodlypooping," by which he means: sex.

• You can 'chop' out these sections before you share them with students, using tools like YouTube Video Editor, or TubeChop.

Obviously, this is no stand in for actual teaching -- you can deliver content and give opportunities for students to process, check for understanding, etc.  And these videos are so fast-paced that some students may   not have time to process all of the great information he includes.

But it's a great way for students to interact with the content, and to see yet another adult who burns with a geeky fire of passion for the things they teach.  

Happy finals, and happy break!