Cope's Take on Podcasting

Podcasting is a love/loathe proposition. Although I hadn't taken the podcasting class in my Teach21 training in Cherokee, I thought it was a natural fit for my 8th grade language arts curriculum. My kids thought so, too. I am a fan of "The Real", that is, bringing the real world into my classroom, and the students loved the idea that anyone in the world could listen to what they had to say. They weren't gifted kids or even advanced; I had on-level and team-taught students with very little confidence in their writing.

We decided on addressing teen issues that they felt they could give some help with, and students selected their own groups. They researched, and then wrote their scripts, which had to have at least three segments or components: researched facts, a skit, and tips to handle the problems. Any other elements they could add. The podcast, however, had to be less than 3 minutes long. I created my own podcast and gave minilessons on how to use Audacity, a free shareware program to create mp3 recordings. I showed them how they could "mess up" and still not waste the good work they had already done.

They dove in and created funny, inspiring scripts that demonstrated their connection to their topics and their desire to help others. I was so proud of the research that they did and the intensity with which they approached the project.

Then came the recording stage. I had set aside an entire week for the students to record their podcast and had arranged for some quiet sections of the media center and other classrooms to allow kids to focus on the task at hand. Since I was confident in my teaching of Audacity, I was shocked when the kids came back and said that they still weren't done; they needed more time. I got a little frustrated, thinking that they were just goofing off, but then I started to watch the groups a little more closely.

They would record, listen, then scribble on their scripts, discussing changes to be made. This was even four days into the project! I took a deep breath--they were REVISING! The one skill I had never been able to get my students to master (or even undertake, in some form)was taking place in a very authentic manner--and wasn't that the whole purpose? "The Real"? On looking at the other groups' scripts, I noticed the same thing: revision. I quickly celebrated "the ugliest script" and extended the deadline somewhat.

After they edited and added royalty-free music and sound effects from Soundzabound and Incompetech music (with credits at the end of each podcast, I was ready to get these podcasts up and on iTunes.

Ha.

The worst obstacle: THE FEED. The most important element of the podcast. I followed the great directions that the tech gurus of Teach21 had posted on the blog, but something blocked it from working. And blocked it. And blocked it. Frustrated, I finally pleaded for a "house call". The tech specialist was relieved to know that we had already done all the MP3s (she was afraid I was starting from scratch), and tried to edit what I had already done. And still it didn't work.

Epic FAIL.

Finally, we started again from scratch. Feed For All is finicky. The naming of the podcast, the naming of the files, the naming of EVERYTHING must be precisely the way the program wants it, or else, no podcast. We scrapped the thing perhaps a half a dozen times (changing the podcast name each time, argh).

Then one day, it worked. I got the email from iTunes saying we were up. After an entire week of putting the feed together, it was up.

Showing the kids that they were on iTunes was perhaps the best day of my life. They all brought their iPods to school (admin was okay with it for ONE day only) and uploaded their podcasts to listen and to share with their friends. When do kids ever share their writing with their friends? Almost never.

At the end of the year when I asked them what they liked best, they mentioned this project and the one that followed, a digital storytelling research project. The work is so worth it. So, so worth it.

Please check out our WMS Howler podcast on iTunes. 36 episodes, from cutting to getting ready for high school.

Pieces of technology for podcasting:
1. Audacity
2. LAME for turning Audacity files into MP3 files.
2. Feed for All or some other RSS feed.
3. Laptops with built in mics. T21 gave us these fancy schmancy podcast mics that we never used. We also never used the headset mics, because the recordings were just plain better with the laptop mic. Ironic, right?
4. A new piece of shareware that I wish I had known about was The Levelator, which takes a recording and evens out the levels, so that different voices have the same volume.

What I learned from this collaboration:
1. Media specialists can be coaches and can also help by providing space and feedback for student group work. They can also be the shoulder to cry on and the compassionate ear when things get rough.
2. Tech specialists can prevent you from going over the deep end.
3. Kids will go the extra mile when they have some stake in a project.

Other applications:
1. For April's Poetry Month, our media specialist had a contest for writing original poetry, both from faculty as well as students. Winners got great prizes, but also got to create their own podcasts linked to the media center page.
2. Podcasting is a great way to promote new books with booktalks.
3. Media centers can also promote the media center this way. One of the high schools in Cobb County does a "Real Men of Genius"-type salute to kids who frequent the media center. Apparently, the kids love it. I plan to steal this. Immediately.
4. Celebrating student work.
5. Recommending existing podcasts as another means of literacy. My favorites are "This American Life" and "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me".

Challenges:
1. What if the podcast doesn't take off? The chapter in Courtney mentions "podfading", or allowing the podcast to drop out after awhile. This is true of my WMS Howler podcast. It was only meant to be a project-long podcast, not a continuing one. Perhaps creating a podcast with a finite lifespan can work for the media specialist.