| Orson Welles, Associated Press via LA Times |
I love
listening to the radio. I start every day with Morning Edition or Car Talk on the
weekends, and listen to the BBC World Service as I go to sleep. I think I could
listen to Ira Glass narrate the grass growing. When we were kids, my brother
would record episodes of Whose Line is it
Anyway? to listen to on long car trips and my mother has the old radio show
The Shadow on CD. The only reason I’m
not listening to NPR as I write this is that there’s a really cool show on PBS
about Orson Wells’ War of the Worlds
radio play.
Of course, I
had a good time listening to my classmate’s presentation about using podcasts
in the classroom. I hate to admit they were good, but they were good. Listening
to what they had come up with and recorded was pretty impressive—I would very
much like to make my own golden record now, thanks.
So many
ideas were swimming in my brain at the end of the evening and I have not really
stopped thinking about it. I would love to have my students produce their own
news stories about a current political or economic event, or something
happening in their own community. They could interview other students around
the school about their opinions during campaign season or our next debt deal
debate.
I think it
could also be a helpful learning tool. After generating class definitions for
key concepts, we could record them and keep an audio encyclopedia from which
the kids could study. I think some may also benefit from using audio recordings
of some tougher readings to go along with the text.
This doesn't really relate to anything, but I like listening to him.
I loved their presentation, too! I left the class with my brain buzzing as well. One idea I left with was getting fellow English teachers together to record our own audio books. Maybe just short stories but, perhaps, novels as well? I like the idea of getting to tap into my creative side but I would be concerned about the amount of time it would take. If my school has the technology, it could be really cool to have the students create news stories about events that are happening in the lit they are reading - perhaps to tie it into a lesson about mood or theme. Anyway, like you I left that class thinking about all of the possibilities of audio recording in the classroom. Now I'm leaving your post feeling sentimental about Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers... :)
ReplyDeleteShannon, I think Glass's "lesson" definitely does relate to what you were saying - it's all about, which you already know, engaging the audience which is what you hope to do with your students through the use of this audio tool. It was awesome listening to him - funny and smart, and teaching us something useful: anecdote, bate, the shape of the story, and then reflection, why is are you listening to this anyway? I found it to be a pretty powerful five minutes and twenty-four seconds. The bane of his existence - never getting to the why - might be even more irritating than the bane of my existence - this electrical outlet that keeps shorting out my lamp as I try to work. But back to the point, podcasting as an effective teaching tool - I think it works, assuming that all of the students and the teacher have access.
ReplyDeleteUm, you need to see this gif of Ira: http://imgur.com/HDygOkq
ReplyDeleteShannon I also love listening to the radio this past Saturday I found my self laughing out loud to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. I grew up listening to books on tape and I still do whenever I drive more than an hour. Listening to the pod casting groups presentations I was amazed and impressed that they produced such great clips and examples for class! I love your ideas for using pod casting in your classroom! I think it would a good way to make a math classroom more exciting but I am not sure if I could use it to actually further learning in my class.
ReplyDeleteI have a great respect for people who are comfortable reading out loud or speaking so eloquently to a large audience and I think that is why I like listening to the radio and books on tape. I wonder if our students have that same respect or interest in storytelling? How would that effect using pod casts in the classroom?
Almost everything in this post - awesome, though I feel it is important to point out that if any of my students produced a podcast resembling Car Talk, I would immediately fail them. They would not be able to make up the assignment, nor would they credit for anything else they do in class in the future or have already completed.
ReplyDeleteThe podcasts are pretty fun, and I agree, the presentations were quite cool. I love the idea of students being reporters. Along with helping them learn how to record data for the future, you can also highlight the importance of responsible reporting. If you can manage to teach your students to become responsible consumers of these media, you have done the world a great favor. If we can all notice what "news" is complete bunk, we'd be in a much better place.
Also, Ira Glass is awesome.
Thanks David, I got a chance to listen to the Diane Rehm Show on NPR for the first time in ages this morning and her second guest was author Jill Lepore who wrote a book called "Book Of Ages: The Life And Opinions Of Jane Franklin." It tells the story of one of Benjamin Franklin's sisters with whom he was close and it was outstanding and tells a part of history that is terribly and offensively ignored. I, of course, have another book I won't get a chance to read on my Christmas list now.
DeleteAnyway, I think engaging with media more in the classroom and becoming critical consumers of news would be a great goal for students and very relevant to their lives. It could really open doors to deeper understanding of current events in ways a lot of people struggle with. Thanks!