Thing 5

Thing 5: Audio Tools

The first thing that I thought of when reading the NY Times article on student podcasts was how much I use the podcast “This I Believe” once heard on NPR. Teaching high school seniors presents some unique opportunities for student writers; as part of English IV they are required to write a personal statement for the Common Application. After the usual initial resistance, the students dive into the assignment. However, this doesn’t happen until they have heard some actual personal statements from “This I Believe” read by the actual student writers. These recordings always have a huge impact upon the students as they listen to a black teen recount that being just himself isn’t always acceptable to some of his fellow students and even some teachers. This year the personal statements were so powerful that we spent a class period reading them outloud. There was laughing, tears and spontaneous applause. I thought to myself, “I wish I had recorded this.” The idea of a podcast of student personal statements would be, I think, a great motivator. This is an idea that holds great promise for the future.

Wow, I just finished practicing with Google’s voice typing app and I am impressed and excited! This is a powerful tool that makes up for the inexcusable fact that many of my students were never taught how to type. Preparing seniors for college and careers is the backbone of my English IV classes and this feature will really speed things up for many students. I believe ENL students can also benefit from this tool in many ways, one of which is practicing English; if they seen a “redline” word after speaking into the document they can try to correct it themselves or simply click on the word to find the correct spelling- fantastic!