Blog Post #4

Langwitches Flat Stanley Podcast

The first graders at Langwitches read Flat Stanley and then decided to go on some flat adventures themselves. With the help of their parents, the students chose a location and wrote briefly about their flat adventure there. Each student then recorded their adventures, and was combined to make their Flat Stanley podcast.

Langwitches Listening-Comprehension Podcasting

In this blog, students record sentences from the Hebrew story Purim. After they finished recording their sentences in Garageband, they connected the computer to a smart board. This allowed the students to be able to use their fingers to drag the sound clips of their sentences into the proper order. The kids were able to have lots of fun with the project and experience a hands-on approach. They are also learning to use new technology, but the post strongly emphasizes that the lesson was not about the technology. The students learned speaking and listening skills, comprehension, and collaboration to name a few.

The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom

Joe Dale presents a video clip by Doug Saunders called Podcasting In The Classroom. The clip describes the benefits of using podcasts in the classroom. Some of these benefits include: ease of use, opportunities for distance learning, and promotes creativity and innovation. Mr. Dale also provides video tutorial links on how to podcast and how to do so using garageband.

Reactions/Comments/Thoughts

There is no doubt that podcasting is a very useful educational tool. Given that English is my subject of choice, podcasting will be a fun tool to get my future students interested in the literature we learn about. I definitely plan to incorporate podcasting into my classrooms due to its effectiveness and simplicity. Podcasting will give students a genuine sense of pride and accomplishment in their work. What I find most interesting about the use of podcasting, is that the students do not even realize that they are learning much more than just the story. I think, from the view of a first or second grade student, that this would be an incredibly fun project that would mask the “dreaded” learning behind it. Also, while it promotes proficiency with many types of technology, it also teaches very basic skills such as reading, writing, speaking, and listening. With the basics covered already, it even goes a step further to add comprehension and collaboration skills. These resources will definitely be helpful when it comes time to work on my podcast assignment. The main things I learned was that I needed to be sure to speak clearly and plan what I want to say in advance. I tend to be much more comfortable writing rather than speaking. Focusing on what I want to say and how to say it beforehand will help me to be more comfortable.