YouTube in My Classroom

I must confess that I'm not too keen YouTube. I feel my ROI (return on investment) is quite small. I always thought I had good search heuristics, but I found myself sifting through loads of rubbish, like a '49er panning through pyrite, certain there must be gold somewhere.

Here are the few nuggets I feel certain I could use:

For speech/drama classes: Voice Warm-Ups
This is the first in a series of exercises for actors, public speakers and anyone who wants to project a strong, confident voice. I love that the performer shares my sense of quirky humor and feel this would play well both in the classroom and posted on a wiki for practice at home.

For English classes: The Tell Tale Heart
This is a short animated 1953 film based on the classic Poe tale. The dark animation is exquisitely narrated by James Mason. Apparently this is the first British animation to receive an X rating. It's a gripping rendition of Poe's short story and frankly the caliber of work I had hoped I'd find for each one of my searches.

I had less success when hunting for a pair of contrasting works. I was looking for different tones of war poetry. At one end of the spectrum was The Soldier by Rupert Chawner Brooke, who celebrated and glorified service as had so many idealistic poets before him. At the other end was Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est with its grim depiction of war. I had hoped to show clips of more equivalent length. If any of you have suggestions, please share.

Although I am no fan of the horror story genre, I am enjoying Stephen King's nonfiction On Writing. I tried to locate an excerpt from this memoir, but could only find a clip of him advising Yale aspiring writers to read and write a lot. I did find a collection of other authors Inspiring Authors with more quotable sound bytes and a nice assortment of quotations from Writers on Writing.

Lastly I imagine I will find some way to use my all-time favorite Bob Newhart Mo Collins STOP IT skit for a humorous introduction to self reflection and inquiry. What do you fear? What thoughts or habits limit you? Is there anything you wish you could just stop?

I would like to just stop searching for better YouTube materials now. If you need me, I'll be curled up with Stephen King's memoir...right after I wash my hands.