Resistance is Ignorance

Somehow I mixed up readings and ended up switching this week's and last week's readings. So here's to learning about podcasts. It is extremely frustrating to continually discover that I am ten steps behind the curve, and that literacies, such as podcasts, can benefit both teacher and student in the classroom. Podcasts were myth of radio stations until this week. I knew that most DJ's keep podcasts of their respective shows on the station's website, but I had never looked into what a podcast is or what it can be. After reading "The Book Report, Version 2.0: Podcasting on Young Adult Novels," my job may have taken a turn for best. As an educator, I embrace opportunities to bring my students love for non-print media into the classroom, and by assigning a podcast book report I can kill two birds with stone. The biggest upside to the podcast book report as described by Robert Rozema is making the students write a script. Now students are being forced to develop comprehension of content twice. Reinforcement then becomes natural, and the whole time the students can enjoy being able to use their precious technology. Rozema also brings up another most excellent point, that due to the podcast's compactness a close-reading of the text becomes a necessity. Students must choose the most important excerpts depicting characterization, tone, voice, theme, syntax, plot, and setting. Then, to put the cherry on top, Rozema indicates that creating a podcast is the perfect tool to practice writing to an audience. All-in-all, I'm a believer. My resistance to change to a tech-savy classroom has only been hurting me, and I will continue to combat my ignorance in an attempt to benefit myself and my students. Comments, criticisms, concerns, and questions are always welcome.