Summer is a time when many of us are thinking about and planning professional development workshops for our schools and for other schools. I’ve always found that a short 3-5 minute video can be a good introduction to a PD sessions and or make for a nice thought-provoking break during a PD session. Here are seven videos that I think serve those purposes well.

The “classic” of course is the various incarnations of Karl Fisch’s and Scott McLeod’s Did You Know? Version 4.0 is embedded below, but I still prefer this version.

Educational Change Challenge is a video that I came across just last week on the first day of ISTE 2010. It presents some good questions that teachers and school administrators should consider as they prepare for the 2010-2011 school year.

Here’s another “classic” in the field. A Vision of Students Today, created by Michael Wesch, presents some important statistics about our students.

Social Media Revolution is a must-watch for all of those who think social media is nothing more than a time-sink. Here’s a quote from the video that school administrators should take note of, “2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction.” Read all of the statistics in the video here.

And when you’re wondering what teachers make, Taylor Mali has some answers for you.

Here’s a good one produced by Kevin Honeycutt about the need for teachers to continuously improve, adapt, and adopt new strategies for reaching their students.

Finally, on a lighter note for fans of The Office. Don’t let your classroom become like this one.