This weekend I delved into the world of podcasting and I will admit it was challenging for me to sit and listen to them.  I am obviously a person who needs visuals because I found my eyeballs wandering around the room inadvertently causing my mind to follow suit.  However, I was able to rustle up some good shares for you and create a bit of magic myself.

Ever since I created and taught a unit on science in my pre-internship, I have fancied myself a scientist.  I have recently introduced experiments to the kids at work and they love it.  I think part of it is the natural inquiry process that occurs in scientific exploration.  So I was naturally curious when I found a podcast dedicated to simple science explanations because the one thing I struggled with was putting the scientific reasoning into kid friendly language.  While this podcast is too advanced for littles, it is easily understood by adults and could be translated for younger students.

Another podcast I liked was from TeacherCast.  The website hasn't been updated in a while so the particular episode I listened to about how to begin teaching with technology isn't up there but is available on iTunes.  One of the guests said something that really stuck with me because it reminded me almost exactly of something Dean said during one of our live sessions this week.  The gentleman stated that "we have to make sure we show our students we are not afraid to make mistakes" and Dean had said something similar when he was trying something out for us on the spot.  I appreciate when he does stuff like that because then he makes it safe for us to try new things and to take risks in a public space, like on our blogs.

A third podcast that caught my eye, I picked up off the favourites page on iTunes.  It is actually a series of video podcasts from Scam School.  The host is a little bit over the top for my liking, but he does teach you some neat tricks you can dazzle your friends with next time you're out and about.  Maybe you could become the next David Copperfield
Speaking of magic, I created a little of my own here in this little podcast. I much preferred this week's tech task of over the video blog we had to create a couple of weeks ago.  Mostly because I didn't have to get dressed.  The cat you see in the middle there, lounging on the stairs, is my girl Charlie Bear. She is also the one you can hear meowing in the background at about 3:04.  She's so needy
sometimes!  During my pod (is that short for podcast, or would you just say cast?) I mentioned a couple of articles: one on HubPages and the other on canada.com.  If you're pressed for time and can't listen to the whole thing, answer me this: What would you do if recess was eliminated in your school?  
5/28/2012 04:20:31 pm

I had no idea that this is becoming a trend! I totally agree with the point you raise that teachers/adults should not punish kids by taking their recess or outside time away because they need it to be able to focus. I always dread rainy or snowy days at the daycare I work at because the kids are almost uncontrollable when they can't go outside. On days like that, even if you have the most creative lesson planned it won't matter because the kids won't be engaged in it anyways because they're trying to find some way - any way - to release all of that energy that's been building up (i.e. by acting out.)

If, for some reason, recess gets omitted from the school that I work at (in the future), I would allocate time for my students to have free play and I would also incorporate movement into learning activities. In my ECE 325 class last semester, I did a group project on active and interactive math, where we demonstrated math lessons that use students as the props/manipulatives so that they can learn from their movement(s). I pasted some of our sample activities from that project into a google doc - here's the link to it:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pcCKJJactM1-P5dRGBqphlaclHV6xfBOUnky2J_PJcM/edit

Also, another really great idea is to create "trail" activities, where students have to survey and move through their everyday surroundings to find the answers to certain questions. A great site for math trail ideas is:

http://www.cmste.uregina.ca/MathTrails/PTMathTrails.html

P.S. Very creative blog/podcast title, Miss W.

P.P.S. Hi Charlie Bear!

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5/29/2012 04:40:24 am

Thanks so much for your comments Denine! And for sharing your resources. I also think it is worth noting that you were able to use Google Docs after our presentation from Michael Wacker. Such a valuable tool!

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5/29/2012 03:45:43 pm

I also found myself getting ansy and a touch bored while listening to the podcasts. So I decided I would take that oppourunity to multi-task, I listened to them in the car, at work and while I was looking at our classmates' blogs. I felt like I was getting so much done! (not sure if I actually was or I was pretending I was doing homework while listening to the podcasts)

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5/30/2012 05:04:49 pm

Multitasking is a great strategy, however I have a hard time doing two things that require processing at the same time like listening to something or someone and working on another thing like homework. I can't even listen to music while I study or do work becuase it is too distracting. It's one or the other for my brain!

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