YouTube Tip: How to get rid of commercials

I often use YouTube in my classroom as a way to engage students when they are listening to music.  The problem is that the ads that are on the side and often before the videos (and let's face it, the comments below the video!), are often not appropriate for students to see!  Well, I have a wonderful tip for you that I've been using this year:  quietube.

How to Use Quietube:
1.  Go to http://www.quietube.com/.  It won't look fancy at all (see below).  Drag the quietube logo up to your favorites bar. 

2.  Next, go to YouTube and find a video you want.

3.  Then click on the quietube logo on your favorites bar, it will take you to a new page with the video.

4.  There will no longer be an ad at the beginning of any video you show!  The side bar is gone too!  The pop-up ads can still happen, and there will be a small ad at the bottom on the quietube site.  I have yet to see one that's inappropriate.  In fact, once a student wanted to sing a song for me on YouTube and it was blocked by quietube because the video was considered inappropriate. You can also make it full-screen for no ads :)

5.  And just in case you want a different background, there's an option to switch between black and white.

I hope you find this quick tip to be helpful in your classroom!  The YouTube videos I use are part of my composer of the month activities.  Using YouTube means I can save money on buying examples of a composer's music and the students are very engaged watching the videos.  If you'd like a free sample of my composer of the month products, go here!
Catch you next time I have something noteworthy!