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This school year I added Bob the Puppet to our morning news show. At first I didn’t really think that fourth or fifth grade students would be capable of operating a puppet — boy was I surprised. The student I have this quarter is fantastic at it and has raised the bar for the students that will be the puppeteer in the upcoming quarters.
Here’s the problem. Bob is such a celebrity in our school that students line up outside the our podcasting studio just to get a glimpse of Bob. Here are some photos of Bob and the rest of our podcasting crew.
The producer and sound tech.
Host with Bob the Puppet
Co-Host
- Brad Flickinger, Tech Teacher, Bethke Elmentary
Behind the Scenes Video so you can see Bob and the podcasting crew in action.
#edtech #edchat #elemchat
I just uploaded a new episode of Elementary Tech Teacher’s Journal.
Episode Number 43 for the week of September 26, 2011
Allowing Students to Play Computer Games
Show Notes
To me, allowing students to play computer games is a necessary evil. It can be a great motivator.
http://www.bradflickinger.com/Brad_Flickinger/Podcast/Podcast.html
This week’s episode is sponsored by Atomic Learning.
#edtech #edchat #elemchat
A big thing happened last week in my elementary school with regards to podcasting. You see, last week we published our 308th episode of our student-made news show, which makes our elementary school the one with the most published podcasts on iTunes. We also have over 4,300 subscribers which makes us also the most listened to elementary school podcast. This is all great and I am really proud of my students for this, but beyond the numbers something amazing is happening in our podcasting studio.
Years ago when I first got the idea to do podcasting with elementary-aged students (grades 3-5), I imagined a funny and informative show, that was done in a professional yet relaxed manner. But that was not what I got when I started. I had robotic readers that couldn’t really tell a joke on air, let alone, read announcements properly. But then in my second quarter I got a one student who changed everything — and this gave me hope of what could be made with this young of students.
From then on, with each new quarter of students coming in, I began to tweak the show. Here a little, there a little, and the students started to build upon what they had seen their classmates do. The show was getting better!
Every summer I would listen to past episodes trying to figure out what was not quite right. And at the beginning of every school year I would change how the shows were made, which brings me to the current year. I have finally decided on a crew of five. Two hosts, a puppet, a sound tech and a producer. This seems to be the perfect size to get a good show. One host, the producer and the puppeteer do every show for a quarter, which gives me good consistency. The second host and the sound tech are different for each day. For example, one student is always the Wednesday sound tech, etc.
Bob the Puppet
So yesterday I brought a Flip video camera into the studio just to get a video of what they do because we only record the audio for our podcast, many of our fans wanted some behind the scenes footage of our crew in action. What I recorded in nothing short of amazing. You will see that my students follow an outline for the show: announcements, weather, lunch, etc. But then you will see them ad-lib so much more. They are relaxed, confident and know how to make a great show.
What you won’t see, or hear, is me giving them direction. This is 100% student-made, they have a student producer who keeps the show together and they do it all. Students can do amazing things with technology — they want to be creators of digital content, so with a little time and effort unbelievable things are possible.
If you want to check it out for yourself, here are some links:
Bethke Elementary iTunes Channel
Behind the Scenes Video of yesterday’s show (you won’t hear the sound effects because those are recorded directly to the computer, listen to the iTunes podcast to HEAR the show how it is recorded)
#edtech #edchat
I don’t think I am living under a tech-rock but it seems that if I miss a week of logging onto my Atomic Learning account I miss a lot. Today I logged in to discover a new section called Spotlights. I pull the menu down to see the following Spotlights:
- Collaborating with a Global Community
- Creating Engaging Presentations
- Effective Online Teaching and Learning
- Evaluating Web Resources
- Video Storytelling in the Classroom
Crud, too many great topics that I could use in my classroom today — so I picked the first one to see what it is all about.
Collaborating with a Global Community
#edtech #edchat #elemchat
Last week we posted the 308th podcast from my students to iTunes, which I am proud to say makes Bethke Elementary School the most published elementary podcast show on the planet. We have over 4300 subscribers which also makes us the most subscribed elementary podcast too.
All this got me thinking…
So I did a search for podcasting software because I think it is time that we leave Audacity for something a little more, because my students want more from their podcasting software. That was when I came across this company Tool Factory.
They have an application called Tool Factory Podcasting that looks really promising. It has built-in scripting which is one of the things that I have been looking for, plus is just looks so much more user friendly (especially for elementary kids) than does stale ol’ Audacity.
Here is a screenshot I got from the website and I think you will agree:
Just look how much better that is than Audacity.
I have just downloaded the free trial and I’ll keep you posted on how well it works with my kids. I hope to have a few podcasts made with it by the end of the week for all of you to listen to.
- Brad Flickinger, Tech Teacher, Bethke Elementary School
#edtech #edchat #elemchat
I just uploaded a new episode of Elementary Tech Teacher’s Journal.
Episode Number 42 for the week of September 19, 2011
The Changing World of Elementary Tech
Show Notes
In this week’s show I discuss the changes that are happening to my elementary school over the next few years with regards to technology. Basically, my job is about to go through a big change.
http://www.bradflickinger.com/Brad_Flickinger/Podcast/Podcast.html
This week’s episode is sponsored by Atomic Learning.
#edtech #edchat #elemchat
I just uploaded a new episode of Elementary Tech Teacher’s Journal.
Episode Number 41 for the week of September 12, 2011
The World of Guided Discovery
Show Notes
In this week’s show I talk about my frustrations with child so-called creativity and the need for guided discovery.
http://www.bradflickinger.com/Brad_Flickinger/Podcast/Podcast.html
This week’s episode is sponsored by Atomic Learning.
#edtech #edchat
Due to the incredible fiscal work of my principal, we now have about $20,000 to spend on tech this year for my elementary school. She asked me to prepare a list of ideas on how this money could be spent so that she could take it to the tech committee for review.
So I began by taking out a blank sheet of paper and I started to right down all the ways we could spend this money. Netbooks, iPads, Smartboards, Cameras, etc. the list went on and on and when I was done the rough total was $110,000. Ooops!
So I crumpled up that paper and started a new one. At the top I wrote, “What will our school look like in 3 years?”
Now I started to write down ideas like BYOD (students bringing their own devices like iPads and Netbooks). I wrote down Kindles for books and other ideas like it. A portable video conferencing cart (Skype) so that it could be taken from classroom to classroom. I also wrote down a few tech subscriptions (like Atomic Learning) to help get us the training the teachers will need. After a few minutes I had a list of concepts and ideas and not products.
The next thing I did was to start a list of things we might need to allow for these ideas to happen. Let’s take the idea of BYOD. Some of the things I wrote down were wireless infrastructure (I put a check mark next to this one because we now have it throughout our building), charging stations in classrooms, different furniture for our media center, training for teachers, etc.
I started to feel better about how we were going to spend this money. Rather than having the “tail wag the dog” with tech telling us what we should buy. I turned it around and starting to think what does my school need from tech.
Do we really need to buy each of our students a netbook, if they already have one at home? And that goes the same for most tech devices.
Purchasing tech for your school shouldn’t center on keeping up with the other schools in your district, rather it should focus on where you want your school to go technologically and then putting the right equipment and training in place to get there.
- Brad Flickinger, Tech Teacher, Bethke Elementary
#edtech #edchat
The other day I was talking to a colleague about a new course I was working on for Atomic Learning as part of their Blended Professional Development series, when he stopped me and asked, “What the heck is Blended Professional Development?” Often times in education we teachers have a language of our own, so I backed up a bit and started from the beginning.
This is where the blended part comes to the rescue…
Atomic Learning has put together a list of the latest and greatest courses that schools are begging to learn more about, and has tied those courses to masterful instructors who know how to get the job done. Yes, I am one of those instructors! ((shameless bragging))
So with these courses, teachers do some preliminary studies with the online component of the course (this is the new flipped classroom idea that everyone is talking about) which the instructor moderates from afar. A date is set and the instructor then comes to the teachers and they get together to do things face to face.
Atomic Learning has found a way to insure great content and great instructors so that teachers get the PD they deserve.
It is truly the best of both worlds and it makes for great professional development (finally!!!) which is why I jumped at the idea when Atomic Learning told me about it. Full list of Blended PD Courses
Gotta go, I have to finish a video for back to school night tonight.
- Brad Flickinger, Tech Teacher, Bethke Elementary School
