Podcasts for the Classroom

        Earlier today I listened to the Ant podcast created by the first grade class at Willowdale Elementary.  I was very impressed with their podcast, possibly because I had never heard one before!  I am currently in a first grade classroom, so while I was listening I was comparing the children’s performances to how I imagine some children in my class would do.  I was thinking things like, “Jack has much better expression than that boy” or, “Wow that girl is a great reader!  She would be at the top of my class.”.  Basically just seeing how my kids would measure up.  I decided that I think they would do as good of a job as Willowdale, if not better!  However, I did think the Willowdale kids did a great job.  I really liked how the music signaled transitions between topics and I enjoyed seeing a list explaining who would be saying each topic.  I even learned something new about ants, haha. 

          I think these children were probably very motivated to create this podcast.  It sounded like their class has been learning about ants for quite a while and their podcast is a culmination and presentation of their hardwork.  The leader, Sarah, had great energy.  Some of the other students were not quite on par with Sarah, but it’s important to remember that these kids are first graders and are still working on their reading, fluency, and expression skills.  The language and words used also sounded (to me) as if they were created by the kids themselves.  I love this element of their podcast, as it makes it a more genuine learning experience, and this element probably also helps the kids to feel invested in the project and thus more motivated to do well. 

          I also listened to an Our City Podcast from Oahu.  Having grown up on Maui, I was very excited to find a Hawaii podcast!  This was a 3rd grade class and they sounded like absolute professionals!  Their podcasts also had very specifically themed music and sound effects.  However, it seemed as if the children were more interested in creating a finished product that sounded great than they were in the learning involved behind the podcast.  Some of the expressions and language in this podcast seemed insincere and sometimes very complex for a third grader to say and understand.  The kids were using words like, “mausoleum, economic impact” and so on.  In other words, these kids probably didn’t even know what they were saying!  But they did sound fantastic, so props to them.  These kids had great energy, but I think they were less motivated by their learning and more by their desire to be actors. 

          I would like to try podcasts in my classroom, but I would want there to be a specific purpose for the podcast.  For example, the class I’m in right now is getting ready for Open House.  They have created a powerpoint presentation with narration to show their families during Open House what they have been working on.  I think it would have been wonderful if the students could have created a podcast to narrate their learning instead.  I’m sure their parents would think that it sounded great and that would be an innovative way for students to display their learning.   And of course, it would be a great opportunity for students to practice learning and creating new technology.  I think the only thing that would really hold me back from doing a podcast in a classroom would be time.  It’s hard to fit anything into the jam packed day.  I guess I’ll just have to be creative and try to fit it in somewhere.