Thing 17: Podcasting

I enjoyed listening to several podcasts from Radio WillowWeb. I also listened to some selections from Our City Podcast. These podcasts gave me some great ideas for how to further develop podcasting in the classroom. My students listened to several of these podcasts as well. They were impressed with having several “reporters” within one podcast, as well as the use of music within the podcasts. This is something they are very interested in exploring before the end of the school year.

After listening to quite a few podcasts, I was really struck by the variety of podcasts available. I think that I will continue to explore what is out there, so I can find some more favorites.

The word “podcast” is greeted with cheers in my classroom. I started experimenting with podcasts a few months ago. Starting in January, we have a star student each week. As part of the star student’s duties, he/she must create a podcast to tell about what we are learning and share exciting details about our week. I use a podcast template that my students helped me to create. Each student fills in the template to create a news report. In addition, my students have posted podcasts of their class council speeches. After electing our class council, the officers met to discuss some of their ideas. Before meeting, they insisted that there should be a podcast of the meeting to give the class (and parents) a glimpse into their discussion. I was so proud of their desire to use a podcast as a forum for sharing their ideas.

Podcasting has created some unique opportunities for my students. They are very aware of the fact that they are writing for a large audience, and they put forth their best efforts when thinking about what to include in their star student podcasts. Because they read the scripts they have written aloud, they have taken care in editing their work for clarity. There have been many occasions when our star student will say, “I can’t read this word that I wrote here. I must have spelled it wrong.” My students have really gained insight into writing as a form of communication, rather than just as an assignment. They also rehearse reading their scripts, and gain valuable reading fluency practice. By podcasting class council meetings, it is obvious that our students are remarkable communicators and leaders. I was impressed by their thinking and their ability to see value in each child’s ideas.

Podcasting has given my class a sense of accomplishment and a desire to share more of our classroom with the world. They are already discussing new ideas. They want to “spice up” our weekly podcasts with music. They also want our future star students to give the podcasts a “news report” feel to them. The end of the year is fast approaching, but you would never know that from listening to their excitement about podcasting book clubs, class meetings, and poetry readings. Their enthusiasm is boundless!