Teach Like the Tonight Show
I’m a big fan of Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show, and if you have attended one of my workshops, there is a good chance I found a way to use a Jimmy Fallon video or game during our time together. Engaging students is a challenge, to say the least, and let me tell you that engaging adults is not so easy either! But guess who never fails to engage his audience? Jimmy Fallon. So why not bring a little of the Fallon brilliance into the classroom? I will be sharing more “Teach Like the Tonight Show” ideas in another blog post this week. But how awesome would it be to make our classrooms a little more fun, collaborative and entertaining. Don’t get me wrong, I am not proposing you turn your classroom into a talk show, but many elements of the show have inspired me to do more engaging lessons with my students. Fallon introduces, games, technology, guest collaborations, and creativity abounds—working its way into every minute of the show.
How could you use this in your classroom? What kinds of hashtag challenges could you present to your students? Here are a few ideas:
- Retell a scene from Romeo & Juliet (or another piece your are studying).
- Write a song about the Pythagorean Theory
- Explain the results of your science experiment
- Share your favorite classroom #fail and explain what you learned from it!
[Tweet “Bring a little @FallonTonight Creativity into Your Classroom this week! #DLDayRap”]
The Digital Learning Day Hashtag Challenge:
Starting this week, and in honor of Digital Learning Day, which is Wednesday, Feb. 17th, I will be sharing some ideas to “Teach Like the Tonight Show.” To kick things off, I thought it would be appropriate to start a hashtag challenge. Jimmy always has something cooking on Twitter, and educators love to Tweet, so I’ve created a hashtag challenge just for Digital Learning Day.
Are you ready to get creative with 140 characters? Here’s the Digital Learning Day Hashtag Challenge:
In the style of Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show, I am facilitating a creative Twitter sharing activity, a hashtag challenge, in the form of a song or rap. Educators are encouraged to share their Digital Learning Day activities, successes, failures, ideas, etc. in the form of a rap or song in 140 characters or less on Twitter! Be sure to include the hashtag: #DLDayRap! The most creative tweets will be featured on the Shake Up Learning Blog! Who knows, maybe we can grab the attention of Jimmy Fallon himself!
[Tweet “Share your #DLDay activities, successes, failures, in the form of a rap/song #DLDayRap”]
Get Inspired by #SuperBowlRaps
If you aren’t familiar with this idea frequently seen on The Tonight Show, watch the video below and see some hilarious #SuperBowlRaps!
Take the Digital Learning Day Hashtag Challenge!
Take the Digital Learning Day Hashtag Challenge!Start crafting your Tweets! I’d love to see students sharing in this challenge with teachers, and collaborating with each other to write their rap or song! GET CREATIVE!
My #DLDayRap Examples:
[Tweet “Now watch me flip, flip, flip my classroom. Ooh, chrome books, chrome books! #DLDayRap”]
[Tweet “U better lose urself in the lesson, the moment. Let ur students own it, N never let it go #DLDayRap”]
The Results! Below is a Storify of Just Some of the Raps Shared During the Digital Learning Day Hashtag Challenge!
How can you use the Hashtag Challenge in your classroom? Please share in the comments below!
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