Blog Post #5

Let me begin my saying, before this Blog, I was not 100% sure what a podcast was. I had no idea how to begin making a podcast, or how it would be useful.

I begin this assignment my reading Landwitches blog about first grades creating their own read-along book. What a great way to get the students involved. Not only are the students having fun, but they are also practicing their reading skills in the process. In her blog, she informs us how she made the podcast. I like the fact that she made a booklet to go along with the podcast for the children to read along with. Also, this is a great way for parents to listen to their children whenever they want to. It allows parents to see how far their students have progressed with their reading skills. A great idea would be to let the children do a book at the beginning of the school year and to do a second reading of the same book at the end of the year. What a great keepsake this would be for parents. Also, the children could hear how much they progressed throughout the year and it would boost their confidence level. She also posts in her blog that she converts the read-along book into an .epub file and is able to upload it to her itunes. I know this will probably be hard to do, but wouldn't it be great to start in kindergarten and let the children begin their own virtual library. Something that they will continue to add to throughout their progression in school. I would love to go back and look at all the books I read in school. Langwitches also goes on in her blog to mention her thoughts on this project, her next steps she will take with the project, and her reflection on the project.

I also listened to Harry Dell's youtube video on The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom. He is a social studies teacher who uses podcasting to make the lives of his students a little easier. When his children are sick and they have an important test coming up, they are able to access his podcast and get the study guide podcast from the comfort of their own home. He wanted the children to read a book. He started off by thinking he would read the book to them. Later, he decided he would record a podcast of him reading the book. Dell then decided to hand pick other teachers in the school to help him record the book for podcasting. The teachers were in character as they read the books to make it more interesting for the students. He then lets the students reflect a little about the enjoyment of podcasts. At the end, he recorded some of his students making a podcast.

I also visited Jody Scharf's Podcast Collection. In her blog she explains what a podcast is. I have to be honest, it never crossed my mined that podcast was a cross between broadcast and ipod. Also, by her stating, "podcast is a "radio-style" talk show", she really explained to me what you can actually do with a podacst. That sentence was amazingly helpful because she made me realize that it is not just a recording for books or lessons. Earlier in this assignment, I thought podcasts were a great idea, but I thought they were only for recording lessons and books. I now realize that podcasts can be used for anything. You can use a podcast for an idea or anything that you want the world to hear. Scharf also gives a few tips to succeed with podcasting in classrooms. She also gives the time schedule to create a podcast and suggests some podcasts topics for assignments. She gives suggestions on how to research topics and then gives step by step instructions on how to create a podcast. She concludes with the rubric for podcasts and some examples of great podcasts.