If at first you don't succeed...

I did it! I got my podcast on iTunes. It only took me 3 hours, but I did it! If you want to, click the subscribe button to your right.

Follow-Up From Last Post

I was able to get the podcast I linked to the last post (from the direct link to my mp3 through web hosting site archive.org) on Google Reader. I was unable, however, to get the podcast through iTunes, which is what I really wanted to do. Oh well. It's 12:36am. I've got a 25-35 page paper due on Monday and I have only written 16. I'm going to bed.

Before I forget, here's my assignment #10 assignment.

1. I have used technology to learn more about my content by accessing e-books, using online foreign language dictionaries, accessing a myriad of primary sources through the Harold B. Lee Library's Government Documents subject guide, etc.

2. I have used Google Docs to collaborate with my classmates. That was how my HIST 477 group did our entire model unit project.

3. I will use technology to showcase primary documents (film footage, audio clips from speeches, digitized memos and such).

4. I learned that technology is upgrading daily; you turn around and there is something new and cool that can make life easier and better. At the same time, if you let it, that same technology can complicate your life when it doesn't work because you are doing something slightly wrong and you stay up for hours trying to figure it out when you should be in bed sleeping.

5. I will use Google Reader as a personal learning network.

Podcasting...didn't work.

Part 1 – Identify an Instructional Challenge

Instructional challenge – creating a personalized and orderly learning environment.

Dr. Howard Gardner is famous for theory of multiple intelligences, arguing that humans learn in multiple ways:

1) Linguistically, 2) Logically-Mathematically, 3) Spatially, 4) Bodily-Kinesthetically, 5) Musically, 6) Interpersonally, 7) Intrapersonally, and 8) Naturally (through nature) – see http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.php for more information.

Far too often, teachers only present material in a way that appeals to students' linguistic and logical-mathematic intelligences. The problem is that some students' other intelligences are more prominent, and it is therefore easier to learn in ways that match those other intelligences (see http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp also for information about VARK learning styles, which operate on virtually the same principles). As I have taken education classes, I have had a chance to take part in lessons that focus on different intelligences and learning styles and have become a believer that teaching in a non-traditional is important to reach those students who might not learn best through lecture alone.

Part 2 – Technology Solution
For this reason, I have decided to investigate podcasting. Podcasts are audio or video files that I can create and that students can download at their leisure. With podcasting, I have the freedom to include many of the technologies and resources we have learned about in this class and present them in ways that appeal to my diverse learners. Podcasting is also helpful to all students because it puts the teacher one on one with them, and gives them a means whereby they can review materials if they didn't quite grasp it to begin with. Podcasting also helps students who might have missed a class session, as I could post the material on my website.
To learn how to podcast, I accessed http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com. Here is a picture of me visiting the website and learning how to podcast:

Next, I recorded my podcast using Audacity:

I exported my Audacity project as an mp3 file using the LAME for Audacity encoder:

I edited the ID3 tags:

Here is my mp3 file on an online storage website called box.net:

Finally, here I am creating my first podcast on my blog:

Part 3 - Reflection

For some reason, I could not get the mp3 file to play. My suspicion is that I never could get a direct link to the mp3 file (it costs money on box.net to get a direct link). I did, however, try archive.org and ourmedia.org, but neither came through for me. Hold on a second, I just thought of something. I am going to try it. Keep your fingers crossed!

First Podcast

Hey, I'm podcasting!

Good Map of NATO and Warsaw Pact Divisions

Project #3

I was doing some searching on instructional challenges in today's secondary classroom and came across these common ones:

(1) creating a personalized and orderly learning environment, (2) assisting students who enter high school with poor academic skills, (3) improving instructional content and practice, (4) preparing students for the world beyond high school, and (5) stimulating change in overstressed high schools.

I have decided to address the first challenge--creating a personalized and orderly learning environment. I think that one way to address this is through podcasting.

Because I have a lot of other things to do right now, I will work on this project by myself. I won't be focusing on the IIC competition for now, but might when I wrap the semester up. That's about all I've got for now.

Keeping Students Safe

I think that the most important thing that I can do to help my students stay safe on the internet is monitor what they are doing. My mom did that as a librarian when I was in high school. She used a program that linked her computer to all others in the library and could "silently" observe what students were doing, or even take control of the computer if necessary.

I would also say that establishing clear guidelines is essential. If your students know what is and isn't appropriate, as well as the consequences involved in overstepping boundaries, they'll be less likely to get into trouble on-line.

Russian Video

This is my video.

Video Chat

I just experienced Google's video chat for the first time. It was pretty easy. Once I had downloaded the software, all I did was ask my old friend Mitch to chat and the next thing I knew, we were looking at each other for the first time in months. The quality was great, Mitch could hear me just fine. I could see myself using this a Russian classroom. I would have my students chat with some of my friends from Ukraine and Russia.

Lesson #6 - Ripping a DVD/Downloading a YouTube Video

I downloaded the YouTube video Numa Numa. It is a video that I thought was hilarious in high school of a fat kid singing and dancing to an upbeat foreign song. Here's the link.

Downloading it was easy with the help of the Mozilla Firefox 1-Click YouTube Downloader add-on.

I have learned that I can legally rip DVDs for educational purposes, and that once I have that DVD ripped, I can keep a copy of it for myself and am not violating any copyright laws.

Copyright

In class today I really enjoyed learning about Creative Commons--"a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright (quoted from their website, see http://creativecommons.org/about/). I have always thought that if I were a musician or some other type of artist I would not want to keep those who enjoyed my works from sharing/downloading my material. I think it is cool to know that I could still have my material licensed to me thanks to Creative Commons, but that it could be a lot more accessible to the public.

Video Idea

I'm going to make a video that serves as an example of an assignment I would have my Russian students do. The idea is that I would arrange for them to have video pals--students in Russian speaking countries who agree to send video messages back and forth to my students. The first assignment (this video) would be a basic introduction. My students would:

1) Introduce themselves - tell who they are, where they are from, and what they like to do.

2) They would provide a picture of themselves and their family, telling who each person in the picture is and indicate their relationship to the student. This would all be done in a voice over of the picture.

3) The students would include a 10 - 20 second clip from their favorite song, giving the name of the song and the artist.

4) Finally, the students would ask their video pal one question.

Website

One of the assignments for this class is to create a website. I used Google Sites. Here is a link. Check it out!

My Personal Learning Network (PLN)

For those of you unfamiliar with what a PLN is, Wikipedia provides a good explanation of it. The way that I have decided to establish a personal learning network is by searching out educational blogs and websites and subscribing to them using Google Reader. I am a big Google fan--it's just so easy to use--and since I already use things like Gmail and Google Docs regularly, adding Google Reader to my repertoire of tools simply seemed logical. I also try to add links to useful blogs on my blog so that others can access my network.

I looked up other avenues for establishing PLNs like Delicious, but did not really want to sign up for yet another internet service. Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Playlist, Pandora, and other sites are enough for me.

95 Theses Rap

I took a history of the Reformation class this past Spring and my teacher showed us this video. I thought it was incredibly creative. At the same time I took a class all about assessment in the classroom. We talked particularly about authentic assessment and when we did, I thought of this video. I think that this would be a really fun assignment, and would show you, the teacher, that your students really got the material you covered. The guys who made this video were college students at Yale I believe. They used to have a website on which they discussed what was factual and what was not--most of the lyrics are factual--but I couldn't find it when I went to post this. Anyway, I think that something like this would be a really good project for students to tackle, even if it was just writing a rap or song or something.

History Teaching Video

I thought that this was a really funny video about teaching history. Besides the snakes!

There's A LOT of Stuff Out There!!!

My technology teacher sent me on a hunt to find websites/blogs/RSS feeds that I think I could use as I teach. I simply typed in "Russian blogs" and "history blogs" and found a bunch of great stuff.

One of the websites that I think will be good to look at is the White House website. It has information about what the current presidential administration is up to.

Another history related site is USHistoryBlog.com. Like the title indicates, it contains a ton of information about U.S. history.

While I was checking out that last blog, I found US History Teachers Blog. Probably one of the cooler websites I have found. This blog is designed to show history teachers some of the resources out there on the Internet that are available to them.

Finally, I found Russian Word of the Day, which basically teaches a little Russian mini-lesson every day. I am really excited about this one, as I myself will be able to learn from it.

Education Websites

Here are some really cool websites that have a number of ideas on how to enhance your teaching/parenting/role-modeling.

Check them out!

Teachersfirst.com - A website for teachers "designed to save teachers time by delivering just what they need in a practical, user-friendly, and ad-free format."

KidsSource Online - A website made by parents to share "[their] values and goals in raising, educating, and providing for our children."

Listen to Carbon Leaf

You are now listening to Carbon Leaf. Carbon Leaf is my favorite band. My wife introduced me to them. Check out the playlist to the right.

First Post

Here is a little about me. My name is Wesley Grant Stoddard. My parents were mean and decided to call me by my middle name, Grant, making applying for jobs, filling out medical forms, and even taking classes difficult because nobody gets my name right. I am a student at Brigham Young University. I am majoring in history teaching, and minoring in Russian teaching and TESOL K-12 (TESOL is an acronym for Teaching English to Students of Other Languages and is sometimes interchanged with ESL or TELL). I am married and have a son, who is 15 months old. We are a happy little family trying to survive while I finish up school.

I think that blogging could be an extremely useful tool in the classroom. There are a number of websites that I would love to share with my students but probably won't have time to in class. A few examples are Learn Out Loud (this is a link to their "Free Stuff" page) and RusUSA.com. The former is a website that offers free audio clips of famous speeches from history, and the second is a page linking the viewer to a number of Russian radio stations. I think that they are worth checking out. Let me know what you think.