Favorite Podcasts

After looking at multiple teacher-based podcasts, I seem to have settled on my old standby—public radio. What can I say? They just do a better job on production and that's important to me. I can see myself using so many of their podcasts in my classroom (as well as out of my classroom if you consider my own education to be significantly important to my students' learning).

From the clever humor of "This American Life" to the current news trivia of "Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me," there are multiple podcasts on public radio that would be useful both inside and outside the classroom. One of the main differences I see with these podcasts versus educators' podcasts is the level of professionalism and creativity. If I can't make it through the podcast out of pure boredom, or simply an inability to stop cringing at the sound of the narrator's voice, I will not be able to get any more out of the podcast than my students will. Not only will a well-done podcast help me be more creative in my own classroom but, as with anything done well, I will get more out of it and will be able to share more of it with my students. Not to mention how much more my tech-savvy, short-attention span students will get out of it.

There is one particular podcast on public radio I can imagine using to a great extent in a literature classroom; this is "Midmorning" with Kerri Miller. I find Miller to be a simply amazing interviewer regardless of the subject. I think I, and my students, could learn many things from her: the importance of research; how to conduct an interview; how to make a dry topic more interesting; and the importance of making a subject personal. Additionally, Miller's "Talking Volumes" element of Midmorning, where she interviews a different contemporary author each month is a wonderful opportunity for students to hear an author speak in a very real, honest environment. For students, these podcasts can serves as extraordinary exposure to authors; even if they haven't read a particular book (since most of the author's on the show write adult books), students can learn a lot about writing and literature in this creative environment.