Childress Chatter

Podcasts are a great tool for teaching and learning.  I like to download podcasts to my IPod and listen when I walk or am in the car. It is like being able to dial up the exact thing you want to hear discussed on the radio when you want to hear it.  However, you can start and stop, rewind and fast forward to suit your learning and listening style. 

I have seen a lot of enthusiasm for podcasting with students in our district.  We have heard some great book reports, field trip notes, and performances by our students.  Administrators and teachers have used podcasts to convey information, announcements and celebrate successes with their parents, faculty and student body.  One teacher, merry Willis,  has posted vodcasts on Itunes of students teaching students to work fifth grade math problems.  The students and parents have reported using these examples when doing homework and studying for tests.  The class heard from one parent who was home schooling her child overseas.  She was grateful the students had provided this learning tool for he child.  You should visit The Wacky, Wonderful World of Math.  It is exactly the type of Learning 2.0 project Alan November described that should be taking place in our classrooms.