Thing #18

YouTube fun! Well, it can be! Many things in this course are new to me, but YouTube is not one of them. I had heard of it, but was not as familiar with it until I got my new ipod touch. Of course, it has a YouTube button and I started watching them on it. So many are very funny, and yes, there is some less than desirable content, but there are good, usable videos on there as well. For this exercise today, I typed in marching band. Well, since that is a common performing organization, there are a zillion (well, maybe not quite that many) videos of various marching bands from across the country and across the world, most taken by very supportive parents and friends of those marching. Well, we are no different here in Mesquite, so of course I typed in "Mighty Maroon Band" and "MMB" and found several videos of past years (with a different director) and some videos of my groups as well. Even the slide show from this year that we present at our banquet is on there. A few of them (my videos) I wish had not been posted, because they are early in the season and we do not sound all that good yet, but I know parents and friends are proud. Then, for the how to video I typed in "how to cook in a dutch oven" and of course there are videos on making almost anything that can be made. I like using YouTube as a learning tool. And if you want a laugh, type in "bulbous bouffant" a video I became familiar with when my wife used it at her school for a humorous teacher skit in preparation for TAKS testing week. As for as using YouTube for education, we (as marching band directors) use it when we research ideas for a show. There are very few new ideas, just recycled ones and you can learn a lot from what others have done before. We did a lot of research on this year's show and hopefully it will be a good one when it is posted on YouTube as I am sure it will be at some point.