Podcasts

I've been a fan of podcasts since I began commuting a long distance two and a half years ago. I download a lot of books read on podcasts. It's so helpful because books on CD are incredibly expensive and free book podcasts are plentiful on iTunes. Although sometimes I do sacrifice the quality for the quantity. There is definitely a wide array of readers out there. I've had to delete many podcasts because I can't stand to listen to some of the readers' voices. Since I am not an auditory listener myself, I need to listen to someone with some expression in his or her voice.

I read Seabiscuit with some of my ninth grade classes. Often this book is a hit or miss with students. They don't always relate to the horse racing. I think podcasting would work well with this unit. The radio was such a big part of Seabiscuit's success in the 1930s and 1940s. His races were broadcast all over the nation and his popularity sky-rocketed because of it. I don't think students quite grasp how popular Seabiscuit was at the time. It's hard for them to believe that he drew bigger crowds than the Super Bowl does today. Anyway, I think if students created their own "radio" shows to mirror the popularity of radio in the 1930s-1940s, it may increase their engagement with Seabiscuit. I'm not sure the type of format I would have them use. I could go a couple different ways with it, I suppose. I could have them emulate radio shows that were popular in the 1930s or have them create their own shows that would be popular today and have them incorporate Seabiscuit in them somehow.

I do really like the idea of writing and editing that goes along with creating a podcast. I think this is a great way for students to reflect on their writing and how it actually sounds when it's read aloud. Also, I think emphasizing editing with the podcast scripts is very important. I find that students often don't like to edit their writing but since these scripts will be broadcast, this might encourage students to be a bit more polished with their writing.

Digital Writing Teaching Ideas and My Final Project

There are many ways I would use digital technology in my classroom. Taking this class has really helped me see all the different technology options that are out there. Unfortunately I feel like the technology at my school is severely lacking. (I suppose I should probably start writing those grants...).

So at the moment with the current technology I have available at my school, there are a couple options as to how I can use digital writing in my classroom. I like the idea of individual blogs for each student. Instead of reflecting in daily journals as I have my students do now, I would have them reflect online. I like this idea because students can read their peers' work. But then again I'm not really sure if they would read their peers' work unless it was assigned.

I also like the idea of having a class wiki, or a wiki relating to a novel we're reading. I like the idea of collaboration. I think for my final project I will probably do a wiki for a novel. I'm leaning towards doing one for Lord of the Flies. I usually have students journal as one of the characters, but instead I may have them write wiki pages in groups as the characters. It would great to have them create vlogs as the characters as well. With the current technology at my school I don't think this is an option but maybe in the future.

I like the idea of place-based writing as well. Red Wing is an interesting town rich in history and although I'm not a history teacher, I think it would be interesting for students to gather photos of their town, stories, history, etc. and post it on a wiki. This may work well in American Literature and we could tie it in with authors who have lived or visited Red Wing, like Thoreau for example.

Vegetarian in a Box

Here is my box logic on vegetarianism.

Fun with Flickr

Abbey Road

I'm finding Flickr to be very addicting. As I've been working with it the last couple days, I've been searching through hundreds of photos. Today alone I spent almost two hours (I am ashamed to admit) looking at photos from various places like London, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Hastings (where I grew up), Red Wing (where I teach), and other places I've traveled.

I finally chose London for my slideshow. I studied abroad in London during college and have been back twice since then. All of these photos were taken by my sister, my friends or myself. Although there are lovely pictures of London that I found on Flickr I decided to use photos that I have taken. I am by no means a photographer, but these photos bring back specific memories. I must admit, some of these photos are incredibly cliched, most being common attractions in London. Flickr is nice for organizing my photos together, something I can't seem to do myself.

Flickr would be helpful for creative writing. I could give students a slideshow and make up a story. Also, while studying the setting of a work of literature, it would be helpful to create a slideshow of the setting of the story. Students could use photos to create imagery or poetic writing as well.

Final Project Wiki

Here is my Final Project Wiki.

There are a number of ways that I could use wikis in my classroom. When I envision using wikis in the classroom I lean more towards reading literature and responding in wiki form than actually setting up a wiki for the sole purpose of writing.

I would like to use wikis for literature circles with my ninth graders. This would work well because students can record and respond and there can be a written record of their discussions and thoughts.

Also, while reading any novel, small group wikis would be beneficial to increase students' comprehension. Students naturally like to talk about the books anyway so to have them do it in a productive, technological manner would be beneficial.

As we've discussed in class, the collaboration aspect of working with wikis is constructive because students can corroborate their own ideas or opinions based on others' ideas. Collaboration is an increasingly important skill which students need to develop.

As a teacher it would be helpful to monitor students' activity on the wikis. Also, I often have a difficult time giving students feedback in a timely manner on essays. With wikis I feel as though I can evaluate students' writing and the revision process can be much more immediate as well.

Some challenges that may occur for students in collaborative writing seem to be the same challenges that students face whenever group work is assigned. Some students ultimately do more work than other students. Students may rewrite portions of the wiki which someone does not want rewritten.

Digital Note-taking

Using Inspiration would be very beneficial for students when looking at a novel. It would be helpful to analyze characters using mapping, or analyze themes from novels. Inspiration is also helpful with the outline format. Using the outline format would be beneficial for students when generating ideas for essay topics and organizing essays.

For my own use I find Google Notebook very handy. I have been using it a lot for school work and just general notes on websites. I think this could be helpful for students as well while researching on the internet.

Barn Bluff

Awwww, my lovely teaching town.

Testing out the Flickr.