Feeling satisfied

I had fun with my podcasts  yesterday.  I subjected my grade ones and twos to all seven podcasts!  I was surprised and pleased that they all did well.  Now that they know what to expect with the podcasts, I could challenge them a bit more.  I have three takeaways from podcasting for my students:

1. I drove my first group of students a bit crazy because all seven podcasts had the same introduction: "This is Mrs. Wilson from Mission Hill Elementary..."  I was trying to follow the podcast rubric created by Purcell (2011).   For a podcast to be exemplary, Purcell (2011) states, "Introduction/Purpose: Tells the audience: who is speaking, what to expect in the podcast, where the speakers are located in the world, when the podcast is taking place (the date), and why have (the purpose of) the podcast" (p. 1). In hindsight, I should have done that for the first podcast in the series, not for the whole series.
2. As I was creating these podcasts, I was wondering what the difference was between speaking in person and creating these podcasts.  But, one thing I've been noticing is that when I plug in any type of media, students are quieter.  It's good for the chatterboxes: they're not as chatty!  On the flip side, it's not as interactive.
3. The seven podcasts I created are definitely more suited to my grade one English language learners; however, I think they all enjoyed it.  It was different!  And, I feel empowered.

Reference

Purcell, M. (2011). Podcast rubric. Library Media Connection, 29(5), 1. Retrieved from http://www.librarymediaconnection.com/