Blog Post # 4

I decided to start off my readings with the "Eagles' Nest Radio & Class Blog" because it was stated that these were exceptionally done by 3rd graders. We have already been given guidelines to follow when writing our own blogs that youngsters also use so it seemed appropriate. When I was listening to these podcast's that these kids did I thought about my elementary school days. These kids have such an advantage compared to my education. We read out loud paragraph by paragraph taking turns when learning about a certain unit and it was extremely boring. The benefits from podcast's that teachers have today is they are able to get the students involved in activities other than just taking turns reading from a book. They can be creative and express what they learned in a fun way. The way this class got to learn about the Romans was a lot more interesting then when I learned about them. The background music that each kid had when presenting their segment caught your attention as you transition to the next child's topic. I also realized that not only can this be shared with kids in the class but also with kids anywhere in the world via the internet. It's very exciting to see this being practiced and how useful it is. I wonder what else will follow this teaching technique.

The second recommended piece of information in my preparation for making a podcast was "The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom" by Joe Dale. As most of the readings or videos that we watch, facts and statistics were provided for us to put things in perspective and to help support the point they are trying to make. The facts are always interesting, for instance I did not realize that I was a "millenial". The most interesting positive about podcast's was the advantage they have for students that can't make it to class due to sickness. The young girl Emily in the video could not make it to class for a test review due to illness, but thanks to her teachers podcast she was able to stay up to date and the rest of the class did not have to be exposed to the illness that Emily had. This is great because this can reduce the amount absences in school due to sickness. Granted kids will always miss class, but the spread of illness in the classroom that would affect other kids can be controlled.

 My third selection of the choices provided for us was " Judy Scharf Podcast Collection". I chose this because I figured I could use all the suggestions I could get seeing as how I have never actually made my own podcast yet. The You Tube video "How To Create Your Own Podcast" was eye opening and I will be using this as a reference when I finally make my own podcast. Judy provided an abundance of information from topics to project formats for when we have our own students. I didn't know that podcast's could be as time consuming as they are. I wonder if Dr. Strange followed tip number six from Judy's list for us? The best aspect of podcast's being used in the classroom is that they are a inexpensive way to educate others. I love that because school budgets are very limited and when we are given a tool that we can be effective with that doesn't take away from projects that we actually need funding we will have it available.