Podcasting in the Classroom

Using Podcasts In Your Lessons

As an adult ESL teacher I find it very beneficial to use authentic materials in the classroom. Using NPR podcasts is a great way of introducing new, relevant vocabulary as well as allowing students to listen to a native speaker of English. I also like to use podcasts to practice notetaking skills and them hold a discussion about what was learned afterwords. NPR podcasts are clear audios but usually fast paced, therefore during a lesson comprehension and pre-listening questions are essential to make sure the students understand. A great podcast for all ages is You Bug Me. Now Science Explains Why. It's a very interesting podcast discussing pet peeves and the science behind them. 

Here are some sample pre-listening questions for the lesson:

What is NPR? What type of listening is it?

What type of note taking would you like to practice when listening to this NPR?

What Types of things annoy you?

Do the same things annoy everyone?

Why do you think certain things annoy certain people?

How do you deal with things that annoy you?

Here are some sample comprehension questions:

·         What sound is universally annoying?  Why?

·         What is a halfalogue? Why do people find it annoying?

·         Why do people feel “forced” to listen to the thing they are annoyed by?

·         What are our brains always predicting?

·         What is it hard to distinguish annoyances from?

How can we alleviate this sense of annoyance?

It's also important to discuss new vocabulary to help aid understanding. I put the vocabulary on quizlet so students may study them later on. 
Vocabulary: http://quizlet.com/57855100/you-bug-me-listening-vocabulary-flash-cards/

Some standards that can be covered with this lesson are Standard- ESL1 and 5.

Digital Stories

 One way to achieve the flipped classroom is to make a video using a photo story tool such as Stupeflix. This tool is extremely easy to use! One simply chooses a catch song, uploads photos, and then they can place text on each photo. Then if you want you can upload the video to Youtube so it's easily accessible and students can make comments on it if needed, as well as search it and watch it when ever they want.

IDIOMS

I decided to us the Stupeflix to introduce Idioms to students. I picked photos that I thought represented the idiom and then placed the text of the idiom on each slide.

The performance indicator being covered is Standard ESL2- Language for Literary Response and Expression. Students learning English as a second language will use English for self-expression... and participation in popular culture. This standard can be achieved by learning idioms and how to use them in everyday language as well as understanding them when native speakers are talking.

I would test this by talking about the idioms in small groups about the idioms and making definitions of what they think the idioms mean. I will then take a look and clarify if needed. Then I will have the students make a dialogue in class and perform the dialogue in class in front of their classmates who will interpret the use of the idioms and if they were used properly or not.  

Planting the Seed of Knowledge

A student is like a plant. 

As teachers we plant seeds of knowledge; these are our mini lessons or lectures. We then give them the resources they need sunlight, fertilizer (materials), (guidance), water (technology), and CO2 (discussion). Then we wait for them to grow, and that is all we can do. We cannot force them to grow, but we can help them as much as we can by providing all of the above resources as much as we can and in as many different ways we can. Once we have done all that is in our power to do we sit and wait for them to grow. 

According to Siemens' video "The Changing Nature of Knowledge" we are relying more and more on network model learning. the network becomes the learning, the network the learners create... learning isn't limited to an individual's mind anymore. Students are using each other and technology more and more as a resource. Students need these resources. Education and how we attain and retain knowledge is very different now. Cooperative activities are also being encouraged more because talking over the information helps students internalize it and be able to recall or reuse the information in a different way later on.
Also learning and knowledge is no longer based on what a single person can regurgitate. Now we can use the endless bank of knowledge of the internet to access any information at any time! This is highlighted in Siemens' article "Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age"  The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital.This is because there is so much information out there for students to sift through we must teach them the skills of how to tell the difference between important and unimportant information quickly and efficiently.