Hello LessonStreamers –
It’s lovely to see you here. It’s been a while!
This is the very first blog post of the brand-new new LessonStream website. So, I thought I would begin by telling you the story of how we got here.
First of all, please let me introduce myself. My name is Jamie Keddie. I am a Barcelona-based teacher, trainer, and author. And this story begins in 2006 – the year that YouTube was born.
As a teacher, the emergence of online video had a great impact on me. I had always been a huge fan of video in the classroom. I was that teacher who would always book the school TV – remember the one that you had to wheel into your classroom? No? You’re too young.
Anyway, online video was very exciting. It meant different types of material for the classroom, total accessibility, and – of course – new possibilities for video cameras in language learning. It was nothing less than a storytelling revolution. And in 2007, I set up a website called TEFLclips – a site for exploring possibilities for YouTube and online video in the language classroom. I wonder if you remember it?
In 2009, TEFLclips won a British Council ELTons award for innovation. Here I am getting my prize from Neil Kinnock. In case you don’t know who he is, he is the greatest prime minister that the UK never had.
In 2008 TEFLclips was rebranded as LessonStream.org – a site for me to share story-based lesson plans. Some of the most popular lesson plans were:
- English on the London Underground
- Mr Men
- Things to do before you die
- Message in a bottle
- The blue whale
Many of the lesson plans on the site made use of a technique which I refer to as ‘videotelling’. More about that another day.
Please note that you can still access the old lesson plans. Just click here to do so.
Since 2016, I have been sending out the LessonStream Post – a bimonthly email that currently goes out to over 8000 teachers. Twice a month, I share a story or storytelling idea for the classroom. It would be lovely to have you on board and you can sign up for it here (it’s free).
In 2018, I launched the LessonStream Membership – a community of 250 teachers, united in our passion for story and storytelling in and out of the classroom. The community is called the Fishbowl. And one day I’ll tell you how we got the name.
At the time of writing, we are still in a state of lockdown. Teachers all over the world have been required to make a transition to online teaching. And LessonStream members are no exception. Over the last two months, we have been exploring possibilities for story-based teaching ideas on live online video platforms such as Zoom and also video sharing sites such as Flipgrid.
There is a lot coming on this new site – blog posts, teaching ideas and a podcast. So feel free to subscribe to the site and join the LessonStream Facebook group. I am looking forward to meeting you soon.
Happy LessonStreaming!
Jamie (May, 2020)
