You Can Say That Again . . .

Summer break!!!  Had to get that out of my system.  For those of you who are still wrapping up the year, you've got this!  As my principal likes to say, "tie a knot, and hold on." She's never really explained what she means, and uses it in a pretty wide variety of situations, but I like to think it's about perseverance.

I had so much fun playing with the audio tools in this week's sandbox.  My favorite was definitely Voki.  I spent way too much time messing with avatars and having them say weird things.  The one drawback with Voki is that in order to embed a code or publish directly to WordPress or Blogger, you need to pay for the service.  I think it would be really cool for students to use this tool as a way to answer questions that are posted in an online discussion platform.  I use Google Classroom, and could definitely use this as a fun way to encourage participation.  Here's the one I ended up with.  Can you guess what's on my mind now?

I also really enjoyed Blabberize.  I had a bit of trouble getting the mouth to work the way that I wanted it to, but it was fun to play with nonetheless.  I used Blabberize and an old picture of my dog to create the video below.

Classroom teachers could use this tool in an elementary setting by having students complete a research project on a specific animal and using the recording feature to share important information.  In a secondary classroom, students could use Blabberize for weekly vocabulary, or for creating a character profile during a novel study.

I also checked out AudioPal and SpeakPipe.  I could see myself using both of these tools to record lectures or class discussions.  If I was going over a Powerpoint in class, for example, I could record the lecture and upload both to Google Classroom for students to refer back to or for absent students to access.

After reading Why Listening to Podcasts Helps Kids Improve Reading Skills, I was interested to check out some of the recommended podcasts.  Although I love listening to books using Audible and frequently read aloud to my students, I've never considered listening to podcasts or using them in the classroom.

There were several podcasts that I found intriguing.  I was surprised to find that there were some podcasts that I was familiar with, like NPR's Fresh Air and This American Life.  Although I'm familiar with the "This I Believe" essays, I didn't realize that there are audio recordings!  I'll definitely be using the audio versions in my ninth grade classes next year.  I had never heard of The Moth, and think it would be interesting to have students participate in their High School StorySLAM - maybe in the library or as part of a club?  Some of the stories on The Moth would definitely resonate with students, while others are for a more mature audience.

My favorite podcast that I investigated was Grammar Girl.  Linking some of the podcasts to lessons from class could be a really effective way to reach students and strengthen skills and understanding.  I love that Mignon Fogarty addresses questions on Twitter, and think students would, too.  I found her lessons interesting and fun, and could definitely see how they could be linked to classroom content - or posted on a school library website under a FAQ section.

Although I tried embedding one of my Pandora stations, I couldn't figure it out.  I'm a Spotify user, and thought I'd give that a try instead.  I pay for premium, so I'm not sure if that impacts other people's ability to hear the song. Here's a song called House of Mercy by Sarah Jarosz that I heard on NPR the other day.  Hopefully the embed code works - let me know in the comments please!