Mission Complete!

We Did It!!!!

Our podcast of The Tell Tale Heart went extremely well! Each group member did a fabulous job recording her section and questions. Our podcasting experience went smoothly and wonderfully. We decided to podcast questions after each section so that our students would be able to pause and listen to the questions instead of simply reading them. For our lesson we plan to frighten our students (but excite them as well) with Edgar Allan Poe. The questions we asked were:

1. What is the setting and atmosphere of the story?

2. What is your first impression of the main character?

3. What is your prediction about what is going to happen throughout the story?

4. What evidence suggests the narrator is a mad man?

5. Describe the grotesque gothic elements during this section.

6. How does the man describe how he will dismember the body?

7. Where did the ringing come from?

These questions will enable our students to understand what is going on in the story while reading along. After the story we will start a group project titled, "Frightfest"...which you can imagine what kind of creativity will occur. We are excited to continue to work with this gothic short story to conquer our classroom and make reading Poe exciting, frightening, and faboulous!!! Til next time...We'll be watching you AH HAHAHA!

Here We Go...Again

So today we are going to attempt to complete our podcast of The Tell Tale Heart. Let's pray that no technological speed bumps come in our way. It's a rainy day (perfect for a scary story) and we are ready to rock and roll with Edgar Allan Poe (that was an attempt to rhyme). Marisa, Meredith, and I are thinking of podcasting two questions after each of our sections to incorportate comprehension during the reading. We were thinking of listening to the podcast and answering the corresponding questions during our lesson and then bringing The Tell Tale Heart to life by assigning a project that will enable our students to be creative in a design of character, plot, theme, and conflict. To be continued...

End of Day 2 Podcasting

Okay so my enthusiasm and optimism took a wrong turn during class. Marisa did a beautiful job reading Part 1 of The Tell Tale Heart. However, when we went to save and continue her podcast disappeared! Of course technology problems occurred (I might have jinxed it). Well, this just means we are extra prepared for Tuesday! Each of us has our assigned parts to read of the story and we are prepared to come in on Tuesday and conquer these computers! Even though today might not have been the most productive day in the computer lab, I have a good feeling that we got our technology problems out of the way and will be able to finish our story on Tuesday. Have a great weekend!

TGIF!

Thank God it's Friday! Tuesday's class was cancelled so today we begin podcasting again. Marisa and I have a new partner, Meredith, and we are excited to have her join us. This week has been pretty intense with lesson plans due and extra homework, so I am relieved to be in the computer lab working with my group and having some fun outside the realm of lectures. Maybe if things go as well as they did last week, our group will be able to post our entire story (though if I say that the computer might crash or something might go wrong). I read our story this morning before class and it is a pretty intense scary story. Plus, by adding scary noises and voices, this story will come to life. Bringing our story to life is just the thing we need in order to spice up the typical English class. By podcasting different types of stories, plays, poems, etc., we will be able to engage our students and take over the world. Let us see what today brings.

Podcasting...Day 1 Completed!

http://marisaferris.podomatic.com/entry/2010-02-12T07_20_20-08_00

Would you look at that! This is our first podcast ever (and we got it on our first try)!! The site was very user friendly and it was a lot of fun. Dr. Luongo showed us each step, which made it easier (especially for me), and Marisa was great to work with. We wrote out a script before we recorded so that we did not mess up and knew exactly what we were going to say. I am very proud of Marisa and I for accomplishing our goal! It may not seem like a huge success, but to students who have not been exposed to technology to this great of an extent it is awesome. Podcasting is my new best friend and I am excited to create podcasts for my classroom. This experience boosted my self esteem as well because I was nervous about whether or not I would be able to do a podcast. Because Dr. Luongo explained every step and made sure that we all were working at the same pace, everyone was able to create a great podcast and have a lot of fun. This method of teaching will enable my students to want to learn more about technology. It will also enable my students to have fun in the classroom and interact with eachother and with technology. Podcasting will give me the opportunity to conquer classroom boredom and the world! Mission Accomplishd (for now)!

Podcasting...And So it Begins

Today we begin podcasting. For those who are not technologically savvy (me) class today will not be the easiest (and I will most likely become frustrated). Marisa and I are going to succeed in recording Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell Tale Heart, but it is going to take patience and practice. To succeed in anything takes patience and practice, and learning how to podcast is going to open so many doors for my classroom. I have never podcasted anything before, but I have listened to a podcast in Chemistry class back in high school. However, I did encounter technology problems while trying to listen to the podcast. The computer did not load fast and I was so close to giving up. No matter where I go, technology failure follows me. BUT today's experience will empower me and I will overcome my technology paralysis. Today will begin my journey to podcasting and becoming a better computer savvy teacher for my future students. Bring it on!

Podcast Project

In class on Tuesday Marissa and I decided to work together on the podcasting project. We are (hopefully) going to read aloud Edgar Allen Poe's A Tell Tale Heart and create a spooky setting by using sound effects. I am excited to start working on the project and learning how to create a podcast because this tool would be great to use in my classroom. It is an innovative way to catch students' attention and to have some fun as well. Students who are absent could also make up work easier if stories and homework schedules are posted on a podcast. A Tell Tale Heart will be a great story to use to get our feet wet in podcasting. It is a scary story that will be even more exciting when heard than if simply read. This could even turn into a project for my future class. Podcasting here I come!