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Podcasting


My first experience with podcasts and using them in the classroom was with Grammar Girl. She has some pretty hilarious podcasts and accompanying power point presentations that you can use when trying to spice up your sentence structure lessons. She is relatable and humorous and I promise you that even 8th graders will chuckle when she reads her example sentences! You can check out Grammar Girl podcasts here !

Other podcasts I have subscribed to in the past include the Reduced Shakespeare Company, but I don't really recommend them for middle school use. Some of their humor is a tad "mature" but I fun listen if you are a fan of the Bard!

So, I went hunting for some new podcasts this week in an effort to beef up my lessons and here is what I found!

CNN Student News: A video podcast with news for teens. I like that it is visual as I always feel like I need to compensate with pictures of something when my students listen to a podcast. Go figure, they lose interest when they are just sitting and listening! I'm planning on using this with my Article of the Week next year (thanks, Kelly Gallagher!)

The Public Speaker: Hosted by the same place as Grammar Girl, this podcast is great if you teach a communication class of any kind. It has great tips for public speaking, and is fabulous to use during a speech unit! I really like Ep. 085- What Do I Do With My Hands? and Eps. 123, 124, 125 on How to Connect With Your Audience. Definitely worth a listen!

TEDTalks Education: Awesome!! If you use TED in your classroom this is fantastic since you can download the talks you want to show and they will be saved to your computer! I have had the internet go out a few times when I'm supposed to show a video, and this will be a lifesaver! I did a writing unit and persuasive speech based on Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days right after winter break, and the kids LOVED it!

ISTE's Podcast: Since I couldn't attend the ISTE conference this year, I  checked this one out to try and get some tips! If you aren't a member of ISTE, I highly recommend looking into this organization, you get discounted rates on conferences!

Do you have any podcasts you would like to share? I'd love to add them to my list!




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Thanks for stopping by! JW

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