Is Señor Wooly Pro Worth It?

Confession: I love Señor Wooly. You’ve probably heard of him, or heard of his site and videos. Maybe you’ve heard of him and thought, “So what?YouTube has a ton of videos. My textbook has videos and listening files. Why should I buy this program when I have those things free or paid for already?”

I know as a teacher, there are TONS of things you could spend your money on, but here’s some arguments as to why you should make Señor Wooly part of your department, building, or personal budget. Also, in case you’re wondering, this is not a sponsored post in any way. I really do love these materials, and so do my students.

First of all, I’m going to send you to Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell’s post on why you should consider paying for apps and services. It’s a great thing to consider, not just for Señor Wooly, but for teaching in general! When you pay for a service for your classroom you support a resource that is perfect (or nearly so!) for you and your students. And you support the people behind that resource who put in the time and effort, so you don’t have to!

Okay, I don’t want this to turn into a post about why spending money can be a good thing. We’re here for the Wooly, so let’s focus on that.

What do you get with Señor Wooly?

You probably know that Señor Wooly has videos and songs, but did you know that Señor Wooly pro includes tons of supplemental resources? Let’s look at that:

• Pre, during, and post viewing activities at various levels
• Embedded readings – several versions of each different level
• Puzzles
• Grammar worksheets
• Audio files
• Screenshots of video stills – great for movie talk!
• Student accounts (enrichment, homework, sub plans!)

There are pages upon pages upon pages of resources that go with EACH SONG. You could treat it as a story and talk it in your classes, movie talk it, or just watch the video and use the resources that come with it! If I didn’t love trees I would print out the resources that go with just one song and show you the MOUNTAIN of paper it would be – but just envision it. A STACK of paper, all filled with awesome Spanish resources you didn’t have to make yourself.

They have a few of their videos on Youtube that you could check out, but truly, those are just the tip of the iceberg. Check out this fun classic:

Why Señor Wooly is wonderful for your classroom:

1. Do you have a vocab list to cover? Chances are Señor Wooly has a song that will help students practice that list.
2. Want a fun story to talk about? Señor Wooly videos are interesting, relatable, and engaging.
3. Grammar? No problem. Direct object pronouns can be a PAIN, but watch “No lo tengo” a few times in your classroom and students will start to naturally use them! There are videos you can connect to almost any grammar point!
4. HILARIOUS. I laugh so hard watching these videos and I laugh watching the students’ reactions to them. Who doesn’t want to laugh at work?
5. Catchy! The students wind up singing along in Spanish without even realizing it.
6. Resources for days. DAYS. If you didn’t have a curriculum and were struggling with what to do on your own, this is where I would spend my budget. You could easily do a whole year of Wooly resources and not run out of engaging content.
7. Affordable! Señor Wooly pro is $85/year (that’s $7/month) – truly incredible!
8. Professional development – the Facebook group is full of great ideas, support, and even more resources. Wooly Week (a week of lesson plans created and designed by the team) last year included videos of activities, as well as all of the materials to do them, AND where it could go in the sequence of using a new video.
9. The nuggets! Students explore and do online assignments with the songs in digestible, comprehensible chunks called nuggets. You can assign them pieces, or you can open a few different songs and let them choose. Possibly the best part? Automatically graded. Time saving win!

To me, it’s worth every penny. Here’s the link to check it out for yourself. I’m positive you will love it as much as I do!