Podcasting

Podcasts are audio recording that are published to the web for others to listen and enjoy.  Anyone can create a podcast if you have a few simple materials.  All you need is digital audio recorder that can create a MP3 file, server space, and something to talk about.  When you listen to a podcast it's all about the sound and feel (music for the intro and outro and the structure of the information).  Some podcasts are interviews, conversations between people and others have interactions with listeners.  Everyday people are producing podcasts about topics that interest them.  An easy place to begin to look for podcasts is in itunes.  There are hundreds of podcasts in many different categories and some of the educational podcast are very interesting.  A few that I have subscribed to on itunes are The Teacher Castpodcast and The Amazing Teacher Podcast.    

Podcasts can be used in the classroom as a way to grab students attention at the beginning of a lesson in the same way a photo or short video clip would be used.  Students could also make their own podcast to elevate their oral and written communication skills.  My school is having a Black History celebration this Friday and the fourth grade students are all researching a famous African American.  The students are going to dress up like the person and participate in a living wax museum activity.  I made the suggestion that inside of the students just reading their facts as people walk up to them that they record them and create podcasts so that when other students walk up to the "statue" they would simply press a button and listen to the facts just like in a real museum.  Later the recordings could be posted on the school's website to highlight part of the celebration and for other students to listen to that weren't able to visit the living museum.  

Wiki Wiki

I've never thought that wikis were a reliable resource since anyone could go on them and change the content.  Since reading Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts; its become clear that wikis are much more powerful than I ever knew.  Just like the saying "two heads are better than one" wikis put that into action.  When everyone contributes to the knowledge that is collected through a wiki the learning becomes greater than if just one person created it.

Using wikis in the classroom is a great way to have students solve authentic problems.  As teachers we want to mirror the real word for our students and allowing them to collaborate and demonstrate their new knowledge using wiki is the perfect tool for that learning objective.

Students could conduct a research project and create a wiki around their new knowledge.  It would be interesting for students to see how others react to their information on their research topic.  It would be a great way for students to have an authentic audience.  I would explain to learners that others people will come to read, learn and even edit the content of their wikis.  I was also think about teachers with younger students and maybe having a class wiki about a topic the class is interested in would be the way to go.

Blogging?

Blogging is something I never thought about doing or had much interest at all.  I've read a few educational blogs and since I love baking I've also ran across a few of those as well.  But I've been a person to "follow" someone and check up on them to see what's new in a person's blog.  For the most part I've kind of just stumbled across these blogs.  Some of them have been interesting and others not so much.  One common aspect I've found is that the baking blogs I enjoying reading are the ones that have great pictures that help to tell a story like my baking addition.  

Peachy Blueberry Pound Cake

I've never been the best writer and whenever I write some it takes a while for me to be satisfied with my work because I am constantly going back to reword sentences and look for synonyms for over used words.  So this whole notion of writing for the world to read or not read is slightly unnerving.  What if no one cares about my reflections and thoughts about my lessons and professional life?  I guess such is life everyone won't like or even appreciate everything, but that doesn't mean you have to stop writing.  I feel as though if I keep this blog professional then that will set me up for success when or if I decide to create another blog.  

Since I no longer have a classroom of my own I was thinking about writing a blog for my colleagues.  I push into six different classrooms a week between third and fourth grades.  I believe it would be interesting to reflect on the lessons that I co-teach with those teachers.  I'm sure serious academic conversations would come up among the grade levels.  

Having my students blog is still some what of challenge I feel.  As of yesterday I still have students that lock themselves out of the computers because they haven't mastered typing in their username and passwords.  So, right not I feel as though having them blog wouldn't be beneficial.  On the other hand I have confidence in
 them because I know that they can handle the thinking skills it takes to blog.  The students that I would with on a daily basis would be able to reflect on explain their thinking to others.  Maybe a class blog might work for them.  I have a sense that it may be something to keep thinking about.       

Who am I?

Hey Everyone!

My name is Michele and I've been teaching for seven years for Fairfax County at Mount Vernon Woods.  I used to teach fourth and third grade but now I'm an English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher.  I am a product of Fairfax County Public Schools and graduated from Mount Vernon HS.  I left the area and attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, FL where I received a degree in Elementary Education.  While I was in college I played the clarinet in my college's marching band; The Marching 100.  After graduation I returned to the area and started my teaching career.  I am now pursing a Master's degree at George Mason University (GMU) in technology and its been a great experience.

I've never been interested in blogging and never really understood why someone would want to share so many personal thoughts with complete strangers.  I realize now that it's more than just writing and sharing thoughts with others.  It's about reflecting on a topic that's interesting to you.  I like the fact that blogging is more about bringing people together to have a discussion as apposed to just a single person writing about their day.  The owner of the blog creates links that connects their blog to other places on the web.  Then viewers or other bloggers leave comments and engage in the conversation and spark new and interesting ideas.

Being a part of the ITS program at GMU has caused me to become an even more reflective person, student, and educator.  My hope is that I'll be able to take important lessons learned from my experiences and apply them in my daily teachings.  There is never enough time in the day to do everything I want but I'm hoping to change that mindset and find some small amount of time to reflect on my teaching and keeping a blog about lessons learned from each day at work is a great start.