Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts

Today for my weekly drive home, once again I listened to the ipod. When I first got in the car, I put on the ear buds, fired up my ipod to my “1daysdriveplaylist” and then became a wee bit (almost) profane when I realized I did not synch up my new list! No matter b/c the Sean Hannity radio show was recapping the Myrtle Beach Republican Presidential Debate from Thursday (a local event that TOTALLY snarled traffic around town), and so I listened to him as he did a lot of candidate bashing! Note if you haven’t seen the sand castle debate pictures, click here. That was the biggest traffic nightmare of them all!
When I finally lost the radio show, I carefully navigated the steering wheel of my car and the navigational wheel of my ipod, deciding I’d just listen from the podcasts, ABC order, whatever was new.

So today I listened to a short book podcast by New Zealand’s Allanah K’s year 4 students in their podcast Appleby Airwaves. She has a great resource to help understand how her kids are able to do this.

The next podcast alphabetically available was Bob Sprankle’s Bit by Bit. But JOY-JOY-JOY it was one I had pulled into my “1daysdrive” playlist that I forgot to synch. It was the last of the sessions he attended and podcast from the Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference 2007. The featured speaker was Dr. Tim Tyson, and his topic was “The Blogging School.” I enjoyed this one, especially since my principal has just gotten the blogging bug, and wants help beginning hers. YEP. I plan to share this one with her too.

Visit the podcast here:

Bit By Bit Podcast: January 10, 2008
Show 61

So in any event, what is on my ipod in straight ABC order is great stuff too–of course it is, I handpicked the podcasts I subscribe too. So anyway, I’ve got two more drivers to add to my driving list: Bob Sprankle and Tim Tyson…“Baby You Can Drive My Car!”

I promised back in October when I won that EdTechPosse Mug listening to the EdTechPosse Podcast that would post a picture. It’s not my best side, but its long overdue. So Dean , here is the long asked for photo–of course its late and close to bedtime, and I’m still suffering from some kind of allergic reaction. But, oh well. Share with your group since i do not know who else does that podcast (though I wish i did.) Read about my win here.

Since I am reflecting on podcasting, I thought I would share some of my favorite podcasts that I subscribe too. Some people ask when do you have time for all this stuff? That’s just part of the huge misconception of blogging and podcasting. Those not in the know think I spend 24/7 thinking about or doing the blogging and podcasting, and have no time or life. How untrue! Because I have discovered and use rss readers (Bloglines) and podcatchers (iTunes), I get to choose when and where I want to bother with them! No I do not do it everyday. Not enough time. Never do I spend the school day doing it. I only occasionally pop into Twitter during the school day, usually during my lunch break. I pretty much take a complete break from my RSS reader and iTunes Friday, most of Saturday, and some of Sunday. It is the precious time spent with family, especially now that we are living roughly 170 miles apart (for those who don’t know, I am a weekend wife and Mom!)

Most of primetime TV does not interest me either. So I fill my free time away from work doing assorted things, and some of it is reading blogs and listening to podcasts. I will share some of my favorite podcasts with my network today. I you read this and know of a podcast you think I would like, PLEASE send it my way. I catch up most of my podcast listening during that 3 hour drive home on the weekends, and I’m always looking for fresh voices and ideas to challenge my thinking. Going to be way behind this weekend b/c they came to spend it with me instead. (NOTE: I choose to go to them on the weekends b/c we are all heavily connected at church there.)

This will be a somewhat annotated list:

EdTech Talk – Women of Web 2.0 – by Cheryl Oakes, Jennifer Wagner, Sharon Peters, & Vicki Davis, four gals from around North America (US & Canada) invite popular guests that model authentic use of web 2.0 tools get together almost every Tuesday night to gab. They interact with the chatroom too, and I generally try to be there live in the chat. It’s quite addictive, and I have known there to be over 60 visitors in the live chat. Sometimes I listen live AND listen to the podcast later b/c so much can be going on the backchannel chat that I miss part of what’s actually happening with the guest. It’s approximately one hour, and probably my favorite educational one. I used to watch House on TV during this show, but no more-and my family is stunned. WOW2 gets higher billing for me than a popular TV show. Bonus–it is NOT just for women. There are regulars who are men that tune in too! EdTech Talk also has other shows I listen to via podcast mostly, like It’s Elementary, EdTech Talk, Teachers Teaching Teachers, EdTech Brainstorm, and more. I highly recommend all of them.

Tech Tip Chicks – Anna and Helen are two Texas teachers who get together and vocally reflect on education in general, and give frequent reviews of web applications, software, hardware, what’s new, and what’s popular. Their byline reads “Tips and tricks for gadgets and software for your digital life given by two Texas chicks obsessed with anything digital.” The podcast is geared specifically to educators interested in integrating technology into their curriculum. They are fun and I really enjoy listening to them.

Bit by Bit with Bob Sprankle, Alice Barr, and Cheryl Oakes – The show shares thoughts, opinions, tips and more about technology in education. Bob Sprankle captured several of the BLC Conference as well as other conference sessions (with permission of course) and later released them as podcasts. How else would I ever get to hear Will Richardson speak outside of NECC?

Connect Learning w/ David Warlick – Rarely does David Warlick podcast his own sessions at the many conferences he presents at, but he does podcast something interesting. Generally he will ask anyone interested to stay and in a round table format, ask thought provoking questions and allow the group to respond. It’s very informal but interesting none the less. Sometimes he gets one guest if they have really intrigued him, and lets the show revolve around an interview with the person. His podcasts are short, generally fifteen minutes or less, and do not have a regular interval. Sort of like when the mood strikes him I guess.

Driving Questions w/ Kevin Honeycutt – Here is how he describes it: “As I drive all over the place working with educators, I have questions. I listen to audio books from great educational thinkers to pass the time and I think…a lot. I talk to my laptop, my co-pilot, but I’m always looking for new thinkers who want to carpool!” Wow I find that I feel the same. I love that Kevin does not use special equipment, but rather his laptop in the seat beside him. When he is charged or pumped about a workshop or session, he shares through his podcast on the way home, so you get it FRESH and raw straight from his churning mind as he drives to and from work. Great idea Kevin. My favorite episode had Kevin brainstorming the truck that died on him as he was traveling/podcasting, and his audience got to really see his reflective practice as he tried to figure out how to get it fixed and get home. Most of the time thought it’s teaching and technology.

Geek!Ed! is a frequently-weekly netcast produced by five geeks (and occassional guests) from Pinckney Community Schools, MI. Chris and Diane are technology teachers (they have art degrees), Ted is the resident uber-geek and network Guru (he’s the guy who keeps the whole network operating and secure), Michael does staff development in technology (he has a theatre degree) and Tom is the District Technology Coordinator (he can use UNIX commands). We’re geeks in education who are geeked about the impact of technology on education.

Ideas and Thoughts from an EdTech – Dean Shareski – Dean has an occasional podcast that is an extension of his blog that goes by the same name. Recently i won an EdTech Posse Mug from him JUST b/c I listened to the most recent post and commented on his blog with the winning word!! He and his EdTech Posse discuss education, and the last podcast focused on who the agents of change are in education. He referenced media specialists as one! WOOT!

Leo LaPorte – The Tech Guy – Okay often Leo talks over my head. But this is radio show that is podcast. He takes calls and answer questions. Sometimes I have no idea what they are talking about, but other times I can’t believe someone asked some questions that (egads) even a teacher knows. It introduces me to knew things too.

Wes Fryer’s Moving at the Speed of Creativity – Well I cannot even begin to describe what all I get from this podcast. I find that I am checking Wes’s material all the time to come back and reread when I can truly process all that he shares. Wes freely provides me with opportunities to listen in on his professional development offerings at conferences, as well as other speakers and their content. I NEVER miss his podcasts. He posts fairly frequently, and its always worth the time spent listening. He has covered everything from using VoiceThreads and digital storytelling to cyberbullying. Great speaker and great content.

The Tech Teachers – Ray and Hollye are two teachers who like to get together and talk technology in the classroom. They have a lot of fun, these two. They are from Kansas City, MO, and part of what makes me like the duo is how they compare the Mac to the PC, especially in terms of web 2.0, educational technology, authentic integration, and the introductions of cool gadgets or websites to use.

TedTalks (video podcast) This show is targeted to business folks I suppose–I don’t really know. It came highly recommended from my network, and I really kind of like it. It’s only wants fifteen minutes of my time, and its byline goes something like this:  “Inspired talks be the world’s greatest thinkers and doers.” I listen on my iPod but it is a video. Sometimes it’s so good I MUST go back and watch. Just watch the one with Lessig about creativity. You’ll be hooked too.

I also listen to a favorite soap (Guiding Light) and several from NPR. I also listen to my sister’s church in Charleston (Seacoast West Ashley.) There are many others, but they don’t update regular enough or frequently enough to share.
This is why I had to have a new iPod when I sank mine back in late September. Now that you know my favorites. Please share yours!

Attribution:

Image: ‘Gadgets.‘
www.flickr.com/photos/59089413@N00/861135709

In recent years (if I must pinpoint a date it would be the summer of 2005) I became aware of the growing trends of podcasts in education. I explored podcast creation briefly, even making a couple of podcasts for my former school, using kids for all the talking, to post episodes that could be subscribed to through iTunes. I was a pod-fader however, because after making a couple of episodes, I lost interest. I cannot even find them on the Internet site I hosted them on, Podomatic. Honestly though, they were not riveting enough to refer back to. (Sue Waters told me recently that Podomatic suffered a glitch some time back, and lost all of her hosted episodes, so maybe that is why I can’t find the ones I had made previously.) But admittedly I am a pod-fader.

I remember being inundated with ideas for podcasts and video projects–never thinking to combine my two interests into a video-podcast. At NECC 2005 I went to every session that would cover podcasting or video editing. Back at school, after successfully recording and uploading the few podcasts I had students create, I let my interest sway, and began focusing more on video editing. I had some good success–I even went out and bought a firewire card for my computer so I could drop raw video from cameras into my computer for editing, and (shock and horror) opened up my computer and installed it myself. (I never asked my IT for help b/c I was so afraid they would say no. I just did it. I’m such a rebel.) Needless to say once I had mastered dropping video I began exploring video editing, and the rest is history. I mastered the freebie Windows Movie Maker, and progressed to Pinnacle (though I’m no expert at it) and even decided to move over to a MAC for better editing possibilities, and have dabbled with the industry standard program, Final Cut Pro.

Recently I was asked to give a podcasting workshop, so I needed to refresh my memory on it. Of course, now having a mac, I found the process simpler and cleaner in Garageband. But my workshop attendees as well as the teachers at my school were all using pcs, so I needed to brush up on my podcasting pc skills. I inquired around to find out who was the nearest district expert in podcasting, and made an appointment to meet with him. I just needed to clear up my fuzzy memory about all the steps to making a podcast. I found that the “expert” knew no more than me, and wound up picking my brain more than I picked his. I will even go so far as saying his podcasts are not podcasts, but rather audio files hosted on a static website. OMG! The part I was fuzzy on was getting them so that they have a feed and could be subscribed to through iTunes! He did not have a clue. Back to the drawing board. (NOTE: It was not a total loss, as I was introduced to a program he uses called Acid Music that really brings out the creative juices if they are there. Also, in his defense as well as many others, many educators feel it’s okay to call an audiofile hosted on a static website a podcast. It’s just me and my own personal refusal to believe an audio file is a podcast if doesn’t have a feed. So I will not slight him or any other educator who does this. I even take back my initial impression that his podcast program is a “poser,” a “wannabe.” It’s more than I had at the time.

I knew that a podcast simply needed an rss feed. So I do began scouring my networks for tips, tricks, ideas, and more to clear up what I fuzzily remembered from before. Thanks to MANY, but mostly John Woodring of Bluffton School District, who literally over the phone walked me through the step that allowed me to give my podcast a feed.

My friend Mr. Granito from school also created his first, and really all I can say that I did was encourage him. He is using feedburner for his feed, while I am using my edublogs site. I did have to delve into the forums to get an extension for my rss address, which translates to adding to the end of the blog’s url “/wp-rss2.php” so that iTunes could pick it up. Speaking of iTunes, John pointed out to me that all I needed to do was go to the iTunes store, point to podcasts, then scroll to the bottom to the section “Learn More” and use the information there. I used the “Submit a podcast” link there, and the rest is history. So I am now once again a podcaster. Will I be a pod-fader again? Only time will tell. I’ve added a podcast feature to the “@ the CMS Library” blog and to a new blog for school called “CMS Tiger Talk.” All are recorded by me, but hopefully I’ll be able to get others on board to help or better, create their own.

I must thank Mr. G for motivating me–his excitement is infectious. I also can thank Dean Shareski who shared the iTunes image and showed me where he hosts his podcast. Now the natural step is to progress to a video podcast. I have the podcast skills and I have the video skills, so now I just need to figure out how to make a video-podcast, right? Let’s just hope the next best thing doesn’t make me lose interest or I will once again be a podfader. I think I will ask for a digital recorder for Christmas. Anyone have recommendations?

Thursday, November 8th, Dean Shareski and friends published a podcast where they interviewed Bud Hunt (AKA Bud the Teacher.) If you don’t listen to this podcast you should.  They truly rocked my world Thursday as they turned from topic to topic. My favorite part of the conversation was how the teacher librarian is in a position to be a change agent in a school.  Oh wow do I ever know that? Anyway, they have this mug with the logo EdTech Posse, and were promoting it if someone would just post to the shownotes or blog the term they discussed with Bud, which was “Venn Diagram.”  I am amazed that I was the first. Since I didn’t catch the other members’ names interviewing Bud, I posted it on Dean’s and the podcast show notes–I won!! WOOT. I guess that makes me a virtual honorary member of the EdTech Posse!

Here’s a pix of the mug and the notification. See? I knew reading all them blogs and listening to those podcasts would pay off. Actuallly they have in many ways, more than I can even begin to describe.  DOUBLE WOOT!

I have been preaching a little about how wonderful podcasts and blogging tools really engage students and increase learning. One of my social studies teachers has decided to create a class blog, and another one has confessed today that he is totally addicted to podcasts. I love the title of his blog, aptly named “The Kneighborhood of Knowledge.” How clever is that?? His blog also has a page called podcasts, which tells me he is interested in exploring the concept of podcasting for his class! WOOT! Before today, I had only managed to convince library colleagues (from various other schools) to jump in, but I can now say I have fellow teaching colleagues joining me in the web 2.0 ocean. Please encourage them by visiting the one blog (I predict the other will be blogging before long) and leaving him a nice compliment or message of encouragement. Both are EXCELLENT teachers who have the greatest of potential. All of the sudden all the kids think these two already cool teachers are even more cool!!

P.S. (I haven’t done that since middle school myself!) Both of these teachers have been listening to and viewing K12Online Conference material.  Since this is about my school, I will call this an SYP!

It’s been struggling lately. It’s a couple of years old.  I can’t say what generation it is, but it would hold 60 gb.  Not a video ipod either, but one I had become VERY attached to.  It had music, audiobooks, pictures, podcasts, and more on it.  I will miss driving to and from work listening to the podcasts, and for the next few days or so burning a cd of my material, since I truly have begun to DETEST general radio, am or fm.  It’s been having trouble synching up to iTunes–but after most of the time 2 tries, it would synch.  But yesterday morning, as I stood at the sink, I dropped it–into the tiolet. Splash. I heard it hit the water, but did not register what had happened immediately. I turned from the mirror and nearly fainted.  BUMMER.

I turned off the power and tried to shake out water. I put it in a place to dry. (This happened to my son’s cell phone, and once it dried, it worked.)  This evening, about 36 hours later, I tried to turn it on. Nothing. I plugged it in to charge, and I could read very lightly–low battery.  Then that went away, and now there is nothing.  I think its history.  This stinks.

Oh well, maybe I’ll be shopping sooner than I thought for a new iPod.

I haven’t written much about podcasts before and really only have limited experience in making them. I hope to change that this school year.  There will be many changes coming, as I am changing schools this year, and that change is going to take me three hours from home and family.  (I almost feel like a college student going away, though I’m much to old for that!)  When I took this job, the thinking family-wise was that we would all go. But the jobs available to my husband were not equal or better than the one he is currently in, and we have one son still in high school who was very reluctant to move just before his junior year, so we made the decision to relocate just me.  I’ll be a weekend wife and mom for a while.  It may be temporary (one school year) or it may be long term. Who knows? Maybe in two years when son #2 graduates from high school, we can be a whole family unit again. But for now, beginning next week–August 6th, we will be a weekend kind of family.  Yes, it’s scary, and there have been many prayers about this, but we believe the Lord answers prayers and things happen for a reason. So we are truly playing it by ear right now.  I’m excited about my new job, and I believe our family will be a stronger unit in the long run.

Which leads me to the purpose of this post–professional development from podcasts.  Podcasting was all the rage at the Philadephia NECC back in 2005.  It was still raging at San Diego’s NECC 2006.  I don’t recall a big rage about it this year (Atlanta NECC 2007), but it hasn’t changed my following of some of the podcasts I’ve learned about in the last three years.  I can say that listening to the podcasts has helped me grow significantly in my pofessional life, and I have some  personal podcast subscriptions too. Here is a screenshot from my iTunes of the podcasts that I subscribe to.

When do I have time to listen to them? I wish I could say it is a regular thing, but it isn’t, especially in the summer.  But once school resumes, I’ll listen each day in the car (driving back and forth to work.)  I’ll also listen in the evenings–especially since the vast majority of what is on tv is not interesting.  Some of these I catch live from the web, and only need to listen to them if I miss the live cast (Women of Web 2.0, EdTech Talks shows.) Some are just for my own personal enjoyment (like Guiding Light, a CBS soap, and What Not to Wear, a show about clothing and style–which is a video podcast.) I also subscribe to a sermon series from Seacoast Church, where my sister attends church.  I try to tune into that, especially if I can’t go to my own church, or really need some spiritual replenishing.   But I can say without a doubt these have helped me grow unbelievably!

No, you don’t have to have an iPod to subscribe and listen–I believe any mp3 player that can be  synched up to iTunes  will do.  But don’t forget, listening straight from your computer is okay too. How many of you multitask?  Just add podcasts to your list of things you do simultaneously.

If you listen to different podcasts, share some of yours with me.  I’m always fine-tuning my subscriptions.  And always looking for ways to stay on top of what’s going on, especially in the field of education.

I’ve seen this posted in several blogs I subscribe to today and in several list serves that I am a member of.  When I first saw it, I read it but didn’t really process it.  Then when I saw it in several different locations, I began to pay attention.  Considering my posting to support Global Lib 2.0 this week, here is an awesome opportunity to invite the teachers at my school to jump in the water.  I’m copying and pasting, though I cannot take credit for it. The first place I recall seeing it was on the Teacher Librarian Ning, posted by Karen Kliegman of Albertson, New York.  But what an awesome way to seriously think of ways to implement 2.0 tools?

MidLink Magazine Call for Participation!

You are cordially invited to explore the July-December issue of MidLink Magazine http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink the award-winning magazine for students ages 8 – 18. If you’re looking for ideas for your upcoming year, you’ve come to the right place! Please email the teacher/editors of the projects below you would like to participate in with your students! You and your students are sure to get inspired by the projects created by MidLink Magazine’s teacher-editors:

1. Periodic Table of Podcasts: Have your students add their own scientific podcast to the growing body of information found in this exciting project!

2. Find a Story… Map a Story… Tell a Story: Use emerging digital mapping tools to explore the connection between story, place and community.

3. Science Through the Camera Lens: Study the science found in pictures and then create a multimedia project

4. Tell Me a Story: Learn how to encourage children to accept and celebrate their differences, using digital storytelling

See detailed descriptions below or visit MidLink Magazine at: http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/

1. Periodic Table of Podcasts

We invite students from any school to participate in the development of the “Periodic Table of Podcasts”. To participate, instructions are provided within this website. There are very easy ways to create audio files in the classroom even if you have only a few computers by using Internet resources such as Podomatic or Odeo. Audio files could be hosted on your school’s server, various Internet resources, or other means. Don’t let the technology get in the way- for help and advise contact the webmaster of this site. All we need is the URL (link) to your students’ audio files, and we can add them to the Periodic Table of Podcasts! If you wish to collaborate regarding your podcast project, e-mail Joselyn Todd, Ph. D.

Project URL: http://tinyurl.com/2ornnn

Contact Teacher Editor, Dr. Joselyn J. Todd, Cary Academy, Cary, NC

2. Find a Story… Map a Story… Tell a Story

This Place-based Stortelling Project invites students to choose a story that matters to them and using an online mapping tool like Community Walk, Wayfaring or Google Maps, create a StoryMap that will place their stories within a geographical context. Using one of these digital mapping tools, students will locate a geographical map from their story location, and add images, audio and text memories to the place markers found on the mapping tool. This project will help students recover lost stories and save and share them so other can enjoy and learn from them. You are invited to browse through the project resources and projects example on this web site and plan to have your classroom participate:

Project URL: http://www.rebooting.ca/place/

Project Coordinator: Brenda Dyck, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Red Deer College (Middle Years’ Program), Red Deer, Alberta

3. Science Through the Camera Lens

Have you ever seen a view of nature or engineering and wondered about the “awesomeness” of it? Did you take a picture of it so you could capture it forever? Florida State University School Science students did just that. They took pictures with a digital camera or a camera phone. Students delivered them to their science teacher via email or on a flash drive. Students studied the science in the pictures then created their multimedia project. Here are their stories…..

Project URL: http://www.fsus.fsu.edu/mcquone/scicam/scicam.html

Teacher Editor, Cathy McQuone, Earth/Space Science Instructor, Florida State University Schools, Tallahassee, Florida

4. Tell Me a Story

Tell Me a Story is a project in which students were asked to contemplate the following essential questions:

How does culture shape the way we see ourselves, others, and the world? How does my culture shape me? Why is it important to understand culture? The purpose of this project is to encourage children to accept and celebrate their differences. We want to help all children develop a positive self-concept and feel proud of whom they are. If this positive sense of self and others is allowed to flourish, today’s children will become adults who accept and affirm differences, identify unfair situations, and strive to eliminate racism of any sort.

Grade levels: K-8

Project URL: http://tinyurl.com/2qnzgr

Teacher Editor: Karen Kliegman, Library Media/Educational Technology Specialist, Searingtown School, Albertson, Adjunct Professor, Long Island University, New York kkliegman@herricks.org

Brenda Dyck, BEd, MET

Senior Editor: MidLink Magazine: http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/

Sessional Instructor, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Red Deer College MiddleYears’ Program, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

E-mail: dyckba@shaw.ca

If so, let me join your club.  But I read about LoudBlog on another blog I follow and they swear by its simpleness! Four clicks away to posting a podcast! Thanks Wes Fryer for a great post to this.  I can’t wait to try it out. I’ll have to return here to let you know.