Podcasts are so easy, even First Graders can do 'em.

I listened to the Willowdale Elementary First Grade All About Ants podcast this morning, and was both inspired(!) and intimidated. The ease with which kids were able to link their learning to educational technology resources made me feel very antiquated  (pun intended) and a little under prepared to use EdTech to its full potential in my own classroom. Having read the mission statement for the school, which is founded on the principles of excellence in technology utilization as it pertains to education, I'm intrigued by the school itself, and the ways in which it has linked its students to the internet in interactive, fun, and PURPOSEFUL ways that enhance their core curriculum. It certainly leaves something to be desired in the majority of classrooms I've seen, where computers occupy a dusty desk near the back of the room and serve as glorified type writers. 

 The podcast itself was illuminating, and told me a lot about the capabilities and the extent to which students, when supported by teaching staff, are able to see themselves as both writers, creators, and "actors" in a multimedia presentation. I fully support making written assignments, and all output assignments "publishable." As a student, I remember feeling frustrated by the fact that our assignments never went anywhere: they were written in a vacuum for the sole audience of a red-pen wielding teacher. Just the idea of publishing to the web, whose reach far exceeds the classroom, should inspire many students to "up their game" and go beyond what they would typically produce for a classroom-only project.

The first grade students in the podcast, particularly Sarah, the host, were lively, well rehearsed, and seemed genuinely involved in the quality and content of their podcast. Even those students who had difficulty reading with fluency were very engaging, and I liked the conversational aspects of the podcast, which kept the tone from sliding into a simple reporting of facts. There was a clear purpose to the podcast: students were sharing facts, jokes, and interesting news about Ants to an audience in the form of a talkshow/radio broadcast. I wonder what preparation was required for students to understand the intent of the podcast, whether or not they listened to similar radio broadcasts from the past, or whether they chose the format of the podcast themselves.

I would love to say that I will be able to utilize technology in the same way in my own classroom next year, but I'm going to be honest and say that, amidst my "First Year Jitters" and ... the stress of drawing up an entirely new curriculum, I think I'm going to feel overwhelmed. This isn't to say that I think logistically it won't be possible for me to bring in more technology than I've done in the past, I'm simply not ready to commit to doing (amazing) podcasts like the one I heard!

The second podcast was from the OUR CITY PODCAST website, which was decidedly different than the Willowdale podcast. I chose the fifth grade podcast from Tinley Park Elementary in Tinley Park, IL, because it's very close to where I grew up (only a few miles from my high school), and I have many friends who grew up there. 

 Listening to the podcast, I was struck by how much more fluently the fifth graders read, and the degree to which they incorporated other media (sound clips, sound effects, music) in their podcast. I would like to know how they did this, because I assume it wasn't a matter of playing the sounds in the background over a Mic so much as having them as files and embedding them in the podcast file? (Terry, if you have any information on this, can you give me the scoop?) I liked that the students in the Willowdale podcast introduced themselves, even on a first name basis, so that I could identify with the speakers. The Tinley Park report was more generic in that all of the students (I assume) had an opportunity to speak (unlike the Willowdale cast), but it sounded like they were reading from scripts about the history and cultural significance of their town. I didn't "see" very much of their personalities, and I didn't sense that they had a distinct tone outside of reporting information. While their audience and intent were clear (the podcast sounded like a tourism pitch), I just didn't connect with the soul of the students in the same way as I had with the Willowdale Ant podcast.  Nonetheless, having fifth graders come together in a cohesive way to present information over the internet is impressive, and I'm excited to listen to more of the OUR CITY podcasts from around the country. Who knows? Maybe a Second Grade classroom will pop up in West Los Angeles next year, and you'll know who that is, right?