6 Videos to Motivate and Inspire

Below are a few of my personal favorite videos that relate to my work as a teacher. Please feel free to share and comment if you have one that I am missing!

This video is an advertisement for the new Windows cell phone. I like this video for one key reason. We need to unplug from technology and plug into the world around us. Sometimes we are so caught up in our blogs, tweets, updates, and youtube that we lose sight of the critically important things right in front of us which to me is people. Whether it is your students, children, spouses, of friends, we need to not lose sight of those human connections that are still of vital importance even in this digital world.


This next video was recently blogged about by George Courus and I cannot get enough of the video. I can’t believe that I see educational worth in a Katy Perry song, but I do. Not only does this song have an inspirational message but what the high school kids did was nothing short of amazing. The collaboration and effort that went into making this video in inspiring to me as a teacher. It speaks volumes to what kids can achieve when they work together towards a common goal. Also, this is an experience that I am sure everyone of those kids will carry with them for the rest of their lives.


Bullying is a pretty hot topic right now across our country with too many negative examples to point to. This video is a nicely done anti-bulliyng PSA that has a great message. There are no words but you can clearly identify what is being done and the message being sent. I think it hits the role of the bystander in the bullying-victim dynamic and how a simple gesture can stop bullying and make a huge difference.


After you watch this video I think the message will be crystal clear…no excuses, ever! This is a video that applies to athletics, education, and every facet of life that I can think of. As a person, you need to look at what you have and use that to accomplish your goals rather than looking at what you don’t and using that as an excuse.



The next video is very short but is one that I play quite often and is my current ring tone on my phone. It is my two year old son making a bold statement that he is Superman. Why would I include this? I did because as a two year old he thinks he is and can be Superman. He has never been told he can’t do something and therefore has dreams with no limits. I hope that we can all feel the same way and dream big as educators, parents, students and whatever other role we play. We can all be Superman if we want to and work hard enough!

The last video is one that is no surprise to any educator out there. It needs no introduction but is surely worthy of a re-watch even if you have seen it. Daniel Pink explores what motivates us and it goes against what most people would think. It is great food for thought and has clear connections to our work as educators.

1 comment:

tblanchet said...

When I saw the windows commercial, I really liked it too, but isn't it ironic that it's a cell phone commercial? As if ppl are not going to look at a "Windows phone constantly, yeah right! Anyway, good post. I <3 the vids you chose.