Yasmine Fleming
06/12/2012
Dr. Thomas
Podcast Script
Thank you for joining Podcast in my Class, which is already in session.
Although my scholarly journey to becoming an educator has in essence just begun, I have identified three main reasons to use podcasts in my middle school math classroom. Please be mindful, while I will speak with a middle school math focus, these three reasons apply to all ages and content areas.
The first reason I will include podcast in my class is to create engaging lessons for my students. According to Mark Prensky (2001), today’s students are “digital natives” meaning they are “native speakers of the digital language of computer, video games and the internet”. In an effort to teach my students what they need to know, I have to make sure it is also something that they want to know; in other words, it has to peak their interests and engage them in the learning process. Podcasts can act as another teaching tool that is different from traditional lectures, worksheets and homework. According to an article written in Scholastic Administrator in 2011, 94% of students say they use technology to work on class assignments at home. It seems that this is what the business world would call, “low hanging fruit”, which means it is an easy area capitalize on. Our students are already using technology on their class work at home so why wouldn’t I seize the opportunity to reach my students outside the four walls of the school via podcasts (Putnam & Kingsley, 2009)?
Which brings me to my second reason for using podcasts in my class, differentiation. For example, students who may be hearing impaired can have a more defined hearing experience by listening through headphones or at home where there are less distractions and they can also listen as often or as many times as they need. By using podcasts as another teaching tool, it also provides students the opportunity to learn the mandatory curriculum in different ways, review a lesson post-class or to stay current on lessons if they are absent, and to participate in peer-teaching. Recording a podcast on a regular basis can prove to be a lot of work for a teacher but this is the perfect opportunity to assign some responsibility in your class by asking or appointing your students as recorders. The last 5 minutes of my class, while the majority are cleaning up and preparing to transition, will be dedicated for a student to record a podcast of the day’s lesson using a condensed script written by myself. This lesson recap will be 5 minutes or less, so as to not lose my audience, which could be my students, their parents or their tutors. The use of podcast in this manner would also address ISTE NETS-T Standard 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, as well as, Kentucky Teacher Standard 6.2: Uses available technology to implement instruction that facilitates student learning. Both are directly aligned and highlight TPACK and the need for the teacher to incorporate technology, pedagogy, and content in an engaging, creative and collaborative manner.
The new term “flipped classroom” is the third reason for using podcasts in my class. One aspect of the flipped classroom refers to a non-traditional method in which the teacher serves as a guide to the lesson while the students facilitate their own learning. Not only will podcasts allow the students to recap the day’s lesson for their peers, as previously discussed, but they can also serve as a means for communicating, collaborating and assessing their knowledge. In a prior WebQuest lesson I designed, one of the deliverables asks each student to create a Fotobabble, which is similar to recording a podcast and attaching it to a picture. The Fotobabble would require my students to verbally explain their newly learned knowledge. Using a podcast to assess a student’s math knowledge is priceless because math is a discipline that often requires explanation and proof. As a math student, I used to struggle with explaining my work and proving my answers, until I began tutoring in high school. I noticed that when I had to “teach” or explain to someone else, I had a better understanding of the math concepts myself. Assessing student knowledge via a podcast addresses Kentucky Teacher Standard 6.4 by having the student communicate their learning using technology.
In conclusion, podcasts in my class will probably be placed into one of three categories, engaging my students, providing differentiation and challenging my students to facilitate their own learning experiences. Each of these allow both my students and myself to use podcasts regularly for varying reasons and content.
While on this journey towards becoming a middle school math teacher I constantly hear the theme that our students should be working harder than us and although I usually disagree with this thought, podcasts are the exception. Contrary to popular belief, like most teachers, I don’t like to hear myself speak so if I can elicit the aid of my students in this area, more often than not, that will definitely be the case.
Thank you for tuning in to this edition of Podcast in my Class. For more information, please visit, mymatjourney.wikispaces.com.