Podcasts in the Classroom: Food for Thought

If you’re an auditory learner, you may agree with me when I say that podcasts are the best thing since sliced bread. Bread, particularly the kind that your grandmother kneaded and rolled out by hand, is an appropriate image for the podcast on food traditions that I have selected for use in my ESL classroom. As part of a thematic unit on food, I decided that a podcast could be an effective way for students to practice listening skills. Through NPR’s podcast directory, I was able to locate this podcast by food commentator Bonny Wolf. The three-minute podcast, which shares personal accounts of how food traditions connect people over generations, provides authentic listening material for students to practice their listening skills in meaningful contexts.

The content of the food commentary podcast may be a “stretch” for many intermediate level language learners. Therefore, I designed my lesson with the simple objective of listening for the “gist” or main idea of the commentary. Students are instructed to listen to the podcast and think of a title that best describes the content. I include several measures to scaffold students in their listening. Prior to playing the podcast I ask students to share holiday food traditions to activate their prior knowledge. Next, I define vocabulary that I identify as most likely to cause problems for learners. After these pre-listening activities, I give students the opportunity to listen to the podcast more than one time, with pauses for discussion where necessary. Finally, I give small groups of students the opportunity to work together to decide on a title for the podcast. In their discussions, students are encouraged to identify examples that support their choice of title.

Through lively discussion and teacher guidance it is hoped that students will arrive at a main idea similar to that reflected in the actual podcast title, Food Traditions the Thread that Links Generations. More importantly, dialogue about this well-crafted commentary is likely to motivate adult learners who are hungry for meaningful ways to engage with the English language.

Blastoff into the Twitterverse!

Although not as catchy, a better title for this post might be “Preparing for Liftoff.” My first experience with Twitter has basically put me onto the launch pad. I don’t think liftoff into the twitterverse will actually occur until I begin teaching my own classes and microblogging with educators on a regular basis. After all, situated learning, one of Twitter’s greatest benefits, really depends on established social interaction between the twitterer and the twitterverse. Nevertheless, ideas from educators who are currently using microblogs in their teaching have stimulated my thinking about how I might use Twitter in my future ESL classroom. Here are a few thoughts sparked by those soaring through their self-created twitterverses.

A simple activity shared in Twenty-Nine Interesting Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom is word play. I could twitter my students in English and ask them to send synonyms for specific vocabulary used in my tweet. Taking that idea further, students could consult with their Twitter networks to get more examples of proper vocabulary use.

Another great idea shared in Back to School: Ideas for Twitter in the Foreign Language Classroom is to use Twitter for formative assessment purposes. If I ask my students to post daily tweets in English about a specific topic or to poll other twitterers about a controversial issue, I would have a record of dated posts that I could use to assess an individual’s progress over time. The accumulation of quick writing samples would also allow me to identify shared writing and language problems, and to adjust my teaching accordingly. I could also ask students to tweet me with their feedback on activities.

Other benefits of using Twitter in language education include expanding language learners' communication with native speakers and increasing students' interest in the target language culture. As a homework assignment, I could challenge my students to use Twitter to identify five recommended cultural activities in a U.S. city. In their research students would likely encounter tweets that scaffold their language learning and enhance their interest in local and U.S. culture.

At the end of the day, it’s fairly easy to be convinced of the advantages (for both teachers and students) of having visible, documented, situated learning at your fingertips. For me, the challenge of Twitter lies in making micro-blogging a regular and ordinary part of my life. The next obvious step is to start sending tweets and get comfortable with Twitter etiquette. As a professional it’s important to remember that having a willingness to share experiences and discoveries is what makes collective knowledge possible. Over time meaningful connections with edutwitterers will develop, but first there must be a commitment to launch into the twitterverse.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…

Developing Confidence through Writing

Writing teachers in various educational settings can appreciate the simple and self-affirming writing activity suggested in the blog post, Useful Writing Exercise for Helping Students Develop Self-Esteem. The post, located in Larry Ferlazzo’s highly-rated educational blog, Larry Ferlazzo’s Website of the Day, describes a 15-minute writing activity in which students focus on their strengths with regard to self-identified personal values. The activity recognizes that sources of pride and confidence are rooted in different values for different people. For many of us, reflecting on our values and how we live up to them is a very affirming process. The study results support this notion, and give writing teachers a concrete confidence-building activity to try in their classrooms.

As is typical of Larry Ferlazzo’s blog for ELL, ESL and EFL teachers, this post offers more than a practical teaching idea. It provides a summary of research to support the practice, and links readers to another post in the Education Policy Blog, which encourages educators to resist mounting pressure to eschew esteem-building practices (which, at the present time, tend to be negatively associated with empty praise and excessive self-esteem). The post’s links to the sources of data and to the people who have been influential in Larry Ferlazzo’s thinking, permit readers to probe deeper into the topic and develop their own positions about self-esteem and learning. Here lies a real benefit of education blogs. Not only do teachers have access to practical activities, they have opportunities to assess whether activities are well supported and align with their teaching goals and teaching philosophy.

As an ESL teacher-in-training, I find the exercise and ideas generated by this blog to be particularly helpful for second language teaching. Language minority students face extraordinary challenges in maintaining a strong sense of self worth as they navigate an unfamiliar culture. Writing tasks that allow language learners to recontextualize their self-worth in terms other than tests results and grades are likely to result in more than modest improvements in performance, they are likely to improve the odds of long-term learning success in a new culture and language community.

Finding Support in a Social Network

Classroom 2.0 - "the social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and Social Media in education" - could be a very useful resource for me as I begin teaching adults in an ESL classroom. The site's Discussion Forum facilitates teacher learning through dialogue with teachers who are knowledgeable about Web 2.0 and those building their knowledge. I especially like that participants share examples of good blogs, podcasts, etc., which serve as models for others trying to start up similar projects. The sharing of knowledge and resources makes the Forum like an ongoing "peer help" discussion board with the world of teachers! Down the road, I can see myself using the Forum as much for collaborative purposes as for informative purposes. For example, the Forum could be a resource for finding a class that is interested in becoming a collaborative partner with my ESL class so that my students have new opportunities to practice speaking and writing skills through skype or blogs.

Another promising component of this social network is the Classroom 2.0 LIVE! Workshop series. I imagine that I may feel overwhelmed and too busy to set up a digital learning experience in my first year of teaching. The Classroom 2.0 LIVE Beginner Series looks especially encouraging as a refresher from this LAI 598 course on how e-learning projects can support students' learning. Some tools introduced in the workshops are described as resources to make your life easier...a good reminder for teachers hesitant to invest time in technology.

Furthermore, Classroom 2.0 has hundreds of groups to join. Once I venture beyond the Classroom 2.0 Beginners Group, I'm sure to find others that fit my interests and needs. Perhaps I will join or create a group specifically for ESL teachers who are interested in using technology in their classrooms. It's encouraging to know that there is a strong network of support and collaboration among teachers who see the potential for Web 2.0 in their curriculum.