foreign Language podcast

foreign language.egg on Aviary.
A podcast has many hidden potentials in regards to educating our students.  It is definitely a lesson in patience and thinking as there are many different sites that are free and allow development of a cast.  Fore thought is required in the development of any cast as the student has to develop an idea and a script to follow.  Placement of the music and breaks in conversation are aspects that must be well developed also.  Creating a podcast is not as intuitive as many other technologies are.  There are a variety of possibilities in the type of technology and sites used.  Allowing the students to think about their projects and the sites they wish to use is a good way to help them develop patience.  However, in the development of patience comes frustration.  Too much frustration will cause the students to give up and decide they hate not just podcasts but technology as a whole.  I think a good way to mitigate this possibility is for the teacher to have a basic knowledge of at least one of the podcast types.  Aviary.com is a good way to go.  Most of the functions are self explanatory and easy to follow.  It also allows for individualization through the use of the students own ideas and creativity.

How do we end up changing nearly three hundred years worth of thinking? Many families have fallen back on an even older style of educating their children, homeschooling. In many cases, homeschooling is a miracle. The children are far ahead of their peers, thus proving the argument that is made in the video that each person learns in a different manner. In other cases, children are returned to public school so far behind their peers that they have to be placed in remedial classes to learn the basics. So, is there a way to educate children in a large, batch environment while acknowledging their individuality? Most families do not have the means or desire to homeschool, thus the children that learn very little in regards to others their age. How can we as teachers develop the individual thirst for more? We all know by now that the traditional model of education kills all desire for further knowledge in most children, even without the use of drugs. Perhaps the integration of whole body learning would allow for interest to remain in our children. This method incorporates movement into the learning process. Using art to teach mathematical concepts is far more interesting to many children than stark numbers that mean very little. We have focused for so long on following the steps that we have dumbed down our children. Very young children are capable of completing very complex mathematical equations, if given the proper tools and incentives. We must expect more and help our children gain it through innovative means. In other words, we need to think outside the box and if that is too difficult for us as adults, let's ask some kindergarten children.