Students in the Write

Tarrytown has been using a balanced literacy approach to teaching language arts for the last few years. In that time, several teachers have built a strong culture of writing and pod casting has become a powerful component of this culture. We have witnessed several positive byproducts from this addition to the traditional Writer’s Workshop model. Writing motivation has increased as students prepare writings for an authentic audience: the World Wide Web. Students reflect on their storytelling technique and improve their fluency and speaking skills with each new recording. This initiative has encouraged a culture of writing; it promotes a positive academic self-concept, while reinforcing speaking skills and reading fluency.

The program also introduces new tools that will become significant in the digital future. As technology becomes smaller and computing becomes more mobile, portable devices such as the iPod will become increasingly important. Recognizing this, we are preparing our students to be familiar with this development, placing our students ahead of the technological curve.

Pod Casting stems from the popularity of the MP3 player, particularly the Apple iPod (thus the name, Pod Casting.) The idea is simple: you can find Internet content that you want and have it “pushed” to your computer or MP3 player, like the iPod or iRiver. Many radio shows, such as NPR’s “All Thing Considered,” also feature a Pod Cast. If you miss a show of “All Things Considered” you can just visit NPR’s Podcasting site and download it. Then listen at your pleasure! True Pod Casting allows you to automatically receive programs that you want, because it is “pushed” to your computer or MP3 player. At the Morse Pod Casting Site, we are going to experiment with “pushing” content later. For now, we have created an Audio Blog (or Audio Web Log) that features the incredible writings of our students. Come and visit, listen to the wonderful stories, and download any that you would like to keep. There is also a response button; please let us know if you like our site! Our students would love to hear your feedback.