October 20, 2005 by jmmblake.

One of projects I have been enjoying this school year has been the creation of podcasts in my classroom. Think of a podcast as a radio show. Each show consists of a series of individual episodes that you can listen to how you want — on your PC, using your MP3 player, or with just a web browser.

If you’ve never listened to podcasts, you’re in for a treat. Sports, comedy, movies, food, politics, music, books, speeches, walking tours, whatever — you name the topic and you’ll find podcasts about it. Not only do you have incredible choice, you can listen whenever and wherever you want.

You can listen to these episodes one at a time (say using your web browser) or you can ’subscribe’ to the entire podcast series using software on your PC. When you subscribe to a podcast, all new shows will be automatically downloaded to your computer as they are published. And if you have an MP3 player, the next time you sync your device, your podcasts will b downloaded for listening on the go.
View the list of 8 episodes on Podcast.Yahoo.com and click on the listen button to hear our podcasts without any special software.

Ok, why is a science teacher interested in using podcasting in a science classroom. This requires us to reveiw how knowledge & understanding is impacted by classroom instruction. Podcasting allows students time to explore areas of curiosity. If a question arises during the brainstorming and writing of podcast scripts, we discuss those ideas and redirect the discussion back to our current topic. This process of pre-writing provides lessons that are intellectually challenging. If the student has a question, the teacher does not just give the answer. The teacher answers the question with a question. Planning lessons for students to podcast can help students connect areas of learning and have students compare and contrast to search for relationships. During the brainstorming, the teacher asks students to use mind mapping tools to graphically organize the concepts in the lesson. Students are able to record their observations and data as they use a discovery approach to learning whenever possible.
Approaching topics of learning from various angles motivate students. Students need the variety of instructional strategies to stimulate their minds. A textbook and worksheets bore our digital native students to tears. When the teacher posts the podcasts on the Web and provides the students with the url so they can share what they are learning in class with family memeber, podcasting provides opportunities for philosophical thought and discussion.

The purpose of a podcast is not to teach them to use the technology or impress the principal. Podcasting is how digital native students think. They mix and match everything– why should we think they would not be motivated by podcasting? IMHO, it is sneak learning, and we have to do whatever it takes to help them learn.

Posted in Podcast, Ed Tech | Print | No Comments »

October 19, 2005 by jmmblake.

Our NWA students proposed the creation of a newsletter for our students. We captured their request and posted it as a podcast. If you have iTunes, click on this link to subscribe. I do not have .mp3 files available at the present. Subscribe to Mr. Blake’s Classroom Podcast

Posted in Podcast, Ed Tech | Print | No Comments »

October 16, 2005 by jmmblake.

EarthSLOT is a collection of 3D GIS and terrain visualization applications designed to allow scientists, resource managers, educators, and the public better understand our planet and the earth science that goes on here.

To begin exploring the Earth immediately, click here. The links at left will lead you to a wide variety of other options for viewing the Earth and data related to it.

Click here to see the new Blue Marble Next Generation datasets, a series of 12 monthly cloud-free mosaics of the planet.

Use of EarthSLOT is FREE and easy, with support for Windows and limited support for Macintosh/Unix platforms. We host or link to applications created using Skyline Software, Google Earth, NASA’s WorldWind and any other freely-available 3D engine, and are committed to open-source sharing of applications and ideas related to Earth science, logistics, outreach and education. Visit our Forum to learn more.

EarthSLOT is not an end-goal, but a tool that you can use to facilite your research or education goals. To learn how you can add data to the system or integrate the EarthSLOT tools into your own projects, follow the “Get Involved ” link here or at left.

Posted in Earth Science | Print | No Comments »

October 15, 2005 by jmmblake.

Each month, our school awards two students with our student of the month recognition. Students created the criteria for selection of the student of the month so they understand what it takes to earn the honor.
I would apprecitate comments on how I might improve this poster.

Posted in Ed Tech | Print | No Comments »

October 10, 2005 by jmmblake.

My Earth Science Class Fall 05,
originally uploaded by The Blake Slate.

This week, these students will be mastering concepts related to rocks. As part of their grade they are required to create a weekly podcast as a reflection on their learning. Today, they studied the rock cycle.

Posted in Ed Tech | Print | 1 Comment »

October 7, 2005 by jmmblake.

After my students got on the bus this afternoon, I started thinking about the weekend.
However, this idea came to me while reading the recent article in Edutopia:
Synching Up With iKids, Oct. issue of Edutopia Josh McHugh read a post by one of my students on our old TikiWiki webpage last spring. He called me and asked if it was written by my student and if he could quote us in an upcoming article he was writing. I told Josh that my student had asked why I was so against video games. My student had heard about how some students actually learned more from playing video games than the did in school. Well, I challenged this student to research the idea that are really learning to think and manage complex situations and bennefit from gaming. I told her about a book that David Warlick had emailed me about by Steven Johnson She read several article that she ‘Googled’ and created her own post. My principal asked me if she really wrote it or did she have some help. That was the funny part. Yes, it is amazing that students really can read and analyze what they read from digital materials and form an opinion on issues that seem advanced. Her post is a great example of digital literacy.

My students are synching up…they are the real iKids.

Posted in Podcast, Moodle, Ed Tech | Print | No Comments »

October 7, 2005 by jmmblake.

I have a question- how can I use podcasts to help my students improve their test scores? I read this article:
“At any point in the instructional cycle, teachers can gather valuable evidence of student learning through formal and informal observations, one-on-one interviews, and class discussions. These observations and conversations are most often used to “take a pulse” of student progress and to inform instructional decisions at the beginning of or in the middle of a unit.

In the middle grades, hands-on investigations are frequently ripe opportunities for teacher observations. These observations can range in structure, from informal note-taking to formalized checklists that identify specific performance features. Though structure varies, teacher observations are usually planned and deliberate, and are linked to specific learning outcomes.

Post-unit performances, such as presentations or simulations, are also prime opportunities for teacher observations (e.g., the glue factory example described above). As a performance proceeds, teachers can use rating rubrics/scales to observe and score students on presentation skills and group interaction, for example. In these situations, observations are used to assess achievement (not simply to “take a pulse”), and thus they tend to be quite structured.” Source: http://cse.edc.org/products/assessment/middleschool/observations.asp

This week, I tried to use a podcast as a post-unit teacher observation. I need to work on that rubric of podcasts. However, I have changed the focus of each podcast. For example, in our first podcast, the student basically read the chapter into the podcast. I realized that this was not working and was nothing more than asking the to read-aloud. before the podcast, we brain-stormed about what they had learned this past week in their hands-on mineral labs.

Lesson learned– students like to podcast, but they love to let their peers hear what they created. So, during lunch on Mondays, we turn up the volume on a set of speakers and use the digital projector to present their podcasts. We will use a rubric to have their peers evaluate their learning.
My Odeo Channel

Posted in Podcast, Ed Tech, Middle School Science | Print | No Comments »

October 2, 2005 by jmmblake.

As a podcast listener, wilcohol.com thinks that,

1. one should avoid pronouncing ;ermmm; or urrr; as much as possible. I believe that this is the most popular tip of them all. A lot of people knew this, but just can’t seem to avoid it. It’s just irritating especially when I listen to it closely on an earphone.

2. when it comes to more than one person doing the podcast, take turns to speak. Don’t have two person trying to speak at the same time. This causes a tremendous stress and headache on the listeners, plus we don’t get what they’re trying to say.

3. if another person is on the line using Skype, please make sure that the sound quality of the caller is clear. Some of the podcasts that I listen to has a broken and unclear voice of the caller, and again, it makes the whole podcasting experience very frustrating.

4. quoting a person’s line can be very helpful. If trying to report using another person’s line, please by all means use the phrase; “quote and when finished say “close quote”. It helps the listeners understand better of what the host is trying to say.

5. imitating to be someone he or she isn’t, is just plain unprofessional. There is this podcast that I listened to, and the listeners were told that there’s going to be a special guest calling in. When the guest speaks, we could just tell that it wasn’t the real guest. That was stupid, and totally turned me off!

6. the sound quality of the podcast determines if there are going to be many listeners. For example, do not speak too loud or too high into the microphone which causes the sound to crack. None of the podcasts that I’ve listened to so far has this problem. There’s a feature called normalize; in most audio editor which is very helpful for this.

7. an enthusiastic voice helps to get the listeners excited, especially during the introduction. I think this is important because listening to podcast can almost resemble as to reading an essay. If you don’t get a good introduction, you probably want to switch to other podcasts. Same story goes with the closing to give the listeners a good impression.

8. it’s okay to make jokes. Just don’t over-do it by adding some sound or music trying to imitate the impression of someone you’re making fun of, or laughed on the show for one minute. Of course, one has to decide between the good and bad jokes.

9. Using obscenity just ticks me off. The whole point of doing a podcast is to provide information to listeners and let them know your thoughts. (I edited this part)

10. podcast should keep the length to less than one hour, unless it is such an interesting podcast that involves 5 or more people on the show. Having 2 persons doing a podcast for one hour can get really boring, and it gives me the temptation to switch to different podcast after about thirty minutes.

Posted in Podcast, Ed Tech | Print | No Comments »

October 2, 2005 by jmmblake.

Minerals podcast for this week is online. Check out the the new episode. I have included a direct link for those of you not subscribed to our weekly classroom podcast over at the iTunes Podcast directory or not using a podcast client yet. My middle schoolers did not produce a podcast last week. We plan to allow more time the coming week to work on their podcast.

Posted in Podcast | Print | No Comments »