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19th Podcast

Posted on by Aaron

Click to play or download.19th podcast – one more and it’ll no longer be a teenager.

Show Notes:Congratulations to Steve Dembo of teach42.com fame, he recently got hired as a kindergarten teacher for a charter school. Steve, does that mean you’ll change your podcast description to “musings of a kindergarten teacher?”

iKnowThat.com – I’ve only just barely scratched the surface of this site, and I already like it. They have plenty of “games,” but they all have an educational nature too them. Registration is free and VERY fast, activities are organized by subject, and a “Teacher Guide” is included to let you know the grade appropriate objectives for each activity.

Art Club – We’ve hit some snags, but we’re working on it.

18th Podcast: Making Stuff and Strange Angels

Posted on by Aaron

Click to play or download.18th podcast … does that mean it can vote? … most likely not.

Show Notes:School ends on Friday! So, how many educators will continue to blog/podcast over the summer?

Making Stuff – A great blog that documents one woman making all kinds of cool crafts. Reading her stuff really inspires me.

Artboy – This site has all kinds of content, but I mention it because of it’s podcast: Strange Angels. Think of it as the internet version of NPR’s Art & Culture segments.

Education Podcast Network – Another wonderful education resource by David Warlick. This site organizes educational podcasts by category.

Ender’s Game and Education

Posted on by Aaron

I recently revisited Ender’s Game, a very decent sci-fi story, if somewhat unbelievable when it comes to child psychology.

I’d already read the book once, but that was back before I was a teacher. Back then, it just struck me as an enthralling story with plenty of plot twists. (I was once told that the art of writing a good story involves creating a character you like and then visiting hardships upon that character. Ender’s Game does just that.)

But now I’ve been teaching for a few years and I have a lot more tech experience under my belt. When I went back to read the story one of the first things that struck me was that everyone had a computer.

Everyone.

Sure, the students called them “desks,” but really they were tricked out wireless laptops. Even before Ender left Earth to learn in the high tech battle school it was obvious that the 1:1 student to computer ratio wasn’t just present, it was expected. There were no books, save for the electronic files the students could access. The internet was still in it’s infancy when the book was written, but Orson Scott Card had gotten a fleeting taste of it and imagined a world where students could find ways to communicate with the world over the ‘nets. The “anonymity” of the internet was present as well, and in fact played a key role in the story along with self-paced life long learning.

So why am I talking with this? No reason, I suppose. I just thought it was cool that even in 1977 (the book’s earliest copyright date) there were pioneers who were thinking about what computers could do for education.

14th Podcast: Risks and Email

Posted on by Aaron

Click to play or download.It’s the 14th! Valentine’s day!

… no, wait, it’s the 14th podcast. Sorry about that.


Take a survey, win a pro account for Flickr.

Show Notes:

A Basement of Broken Dreams – An album by John Holowach, hosted on archive.org. I used his song called My Piano Sings (Part 3).

If you don’t push the students you’ll always have good results, but if you push the students then they will LEARN.

When sending email about the art schedule, some messages aren’t finding their way to my gmail account. Chalk it up to computer glitch or user error, but art sign-ups were up 100 percent so I still think my system works.

Podcast Alley: Education Podcasts – Lots of good podcasts here, many of them much better than my own. I recommend casting your vote for Connect Learning (ranked 13th place), or the one for which I cast my vote: Teach42 (ranked 4th place). Either of these is worth a spot at number 1.

13th Podcast: Ratings and Performance

Posted on by Aaron

Click to play or download.Lucky 13!


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Show Notes:

A Basement of Broken Dreams – An album by John Holowach, hosted on archive.org. I used his song called My Piano Sings (Part 3).

Egad! How the heck did I make 10th place in Podcast Alley’s education section? I mean, I appreciate it and all, but how did that happen? To those of you who are listening / reading this, some comments on why you keep coming back would be greatly appreciated.

I think the biggest hurdle we must overcome if we want teachers to catch on to podcasts is the fact that it’s still a little too technical. If we try to throw everything we know at someone all at once they won’t get any of it. People digest things better with small bites.

Teachers need to stop lecturing and start performing. Walk around the classroom, tell jokes, make silly voices, and so on. It may sound goofy, but if get your students’ attention then they’re more likely to learn.

T-shirts, etc. (UPDATE)

Posted on by Aaron

brushes iconI’m thinking of opening I’ve opened up a CafePress account and started putting some Blog / Podcast / Geek / Teacher / Artist / etc. designs up there. Everything’s being sold “at cost,” so CafePress makes a profit but I don’t. Why? because I’m not that interested in making money here. I just want to get these designs out.

In any case, I’m trying to think of some good slogans. So far, I have:

  1. Blogs in Education: Share the Kool-Aid.
  2. Podcasts in Education: Share the Kool-Aid.
  3. Ask me about my podcast.
  4. I podcast, therefore I am.
  5. Art Class: It’s not just a 2nd recess anymore.
  6. Have you blogged today?
  7. Have you read a blog today?
  8. My MP3s are legal.
  9. Have you told a teacher about podcasting today?
  10. Have you told a teacher about blogging today?

I’ll be posting pictures to Flickr as well. If anyone wants to make their own shirt with my design or wants me to design something with a slogan of their own invention, let me know.

Anyone else have some good ideas?

12th Podcast: Blog Safety and T-Shirts

Posted on by Aaron

Click to play or download.12th podcast, now there’s one for every month! (But if you only listen to one podcast a month you’re not truly taking full advantage of the media, are you?)


Take a survey, win a pro account for Flickr.

Show Notes:

A Basement of Broken Dreams – An album by John Holowach, hosted on archive.org. I used his song called My Piano Sings (Part 3).

BlogMeister – a blogging engine for teachers and students created by David Warlick. I highly recommend that you also check out his other sites, including his blog and his podcasts.

CafePress.com – they make stuff with your designs. You can use it just for fun, or perhaps for a fundraiser. I already have two three designs up, if you care to look at them:Podcasts in Education: Share the Kool-Aid, Ask me about my podcast, and My mp3s are legal.

Podcast Alley: Education Podcasts – C’mon, you know you want to vote for me … right?

10th Podcast: Spam and Kool-Aid

Posted on by Aaron

Click to play or download.Top ten! (If you only count my podcasts…)

Show Notes:

A Basement of Broken Dreams – An album by John Holowach, hosted on archive.org. I used his song called My Piano Sings (Part 3).

Using email to achieve a paperless system only works if your emails aren’t blocked by another teacher’s spam filter.

When podvangelizing, it’s best to break it down and keep it simple. (Does that mean you share Kool-Aid that’s been watered down?) Also, you can leave printouts from various podvangelizing websites in strategic locations (like the teacher’s lounge).

On a spur of the moment I decided to make some podvangelism banners. Feel free to move these to your own server and use them.koolaid01

-=-=-=-=-

koolaid02

David Warlick – This wonder of the educational corner of the internet has many pages, including his blog and his podcasts.

Teach42.com: The web site of Steve Dembo – the man, the myth, and my inspiration for podcasting.

Podcast Alley: Education Podcasts – C’mon, you know you want to vote for me … right?

9th Podcast: Paperless, RAM, and a Printmaker

Posted on by Aaron

Click to play or download.Here we are on cloud nine, even if it does get a little staticy at the end.

Shownote Links:

A Basement of Broken Dreams – An album by John Holowach, hosted on archive.org. I used his song called My Piano Sings (Part 3).

Having teachers email me their paperwork works nicer than having them hand me paper, and I get the same participation rate.

When installing RAM, make sure you do it right the first time. Also, when you don’t have a deadline and a project begins to annoy you, just walk away for a while.

Intaglio and Mezzotint Etchings – The website of a Resident Printmaker and instructor at the Montpelier Cultural Arts Center in Laurel, Maryland.

Podcast Alley: Education Podcasts – C’mon, you know you want to vote for me … right?

8th Podcast: Student Work and Do It First

Posted on by Aaron

Click to play or download.Eight is great!

This episode, expect to hear me talking about teachers helping students with their artwork and my “Do it first, then learn about it” philosophy that I sometimes use.

Shownote Links:

Silly Grin – A song by Kelley Vice, hosted on archive.org

Creative Commons – Share your stuff while still reserving some of your rights. (You pick which ones.)

Podcast Alley: Education Podcasts – C’mon, you know you want to vote for me … right?