This week I have subscribed to quite a few podcasts. Some were not useful or updated at all and others had so much information I wish I had enough hours in the day to listen to them. The one I chose to follow and hopefully utilize in my classroom as part of my personal professional development is on using the smart board in your classroom. The URL is http://smartboard.libsyn.com/rss. This podcast has two teachers, Scott Miller and Dave Sladkey, using the Smart Board and providing all kinds of free templates and resources for this technology. They are a little quirky but once you get past the intro on each episode it is chock full of fabulous resources that can be adapted to any grade level. I have an interwrite mobi in my class and I am hoping I can use some of their templates to enhance my lessons in all areas. I have not used this technology very much and by subscribing to this podcast I hope it is the spark I need to utilize it more often on a daily basis.
Podcasting is excellent for professional development if teachers are willing to take their own time to sit and listen and then practice what is presented. As stated in our text "RSS for Educators", "teachers contribute to a group or community blog that supports the publication of podcasts." (p. 66) The teachers to collaborate and discuss best practices in their school for whatever topic they choose to focus on in the podcast. With budget cuts across the board this is one cheap way to gather teachers to listen and view the podcast and then collaborate to see how to utilize the lessons learned. All you would need and our school already has in every room is a projector and a computer.
For this particular podcast it would be wonderful to learn how to use these resources and then write a grant or ask for funding for a Smart Board and be able to put together a proposal package to show how I would use this technology in my classroom. A Smart Board would cost about $4500.00 so that is quite a bit of money to ask for but if you could present all the lessons you would use to enhance your teaching it is worth the time and effort. 
Jane what a wonderful resource to share! I love, love, love, love, love my SmartBoard. I don't know how I ever taught without it! (Ok So I've only student taught without one and the days of teacher finger are over!! (ink on the thumb!)) I'm always looking for new information on SmartBoards. This would be great to download and listen to on the way to work each morning! Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to see what all it offers!
ReplyDeleteJane,
ReplyDeleteI was so eager to listen to their podcast and hear what they had to offer but I couldn't get your link to work, it just took me to a page of code. I did go to iTunes and I think this is a link to the same podcast. http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/teaching-with-smartboard/id272381274 After listening to several of their podcasts, they do seem to offer a lot of information on a technology I would love to have. In the hopes I will have a SMARTboard in the future I enjoy learning about all the things they can do. It's great to listen to teachers who actually utilize this technology. Thanks for sharing this information!
Great resource Jane! Before I settled on my podcast I listened to part of a podcast with these two gentlemen without getting to far into it. I received my SMART board last year and I use it all the time. There is so many things the SMART board has to offer and it is kind of overwhelming but, in a good way! I have subscribed to this RSS feed to get updates on any new ideas and so I can go back and listen earlier podcasts too. I never received any training with my SMART board but, this podcast and the others they have posted will help give me some much needed support! Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteJane,
ReplyDeleteYou were right on when you said that some weren't updated and others had a ton of stuff. What I found hard about searching for podcast was whether or not something was actually legit. There seems to be such an influx of information because of the ease to produce a podcast. I am glad you found one that was helpful to you and you will be able to implement it in your classroom.
Thanks for the post.