Unit 5 Reflection Blog - Blogging and Podcasting

What do blogging and podcasting add to a classroom?

Personally, i think a lot! 

This blog will be a little different, because i want to talk about assignments and things you can do to engage with students when it comes to podcasting and blogging, because i actually really really love these two tools in the classroom, and believe they can be highly useful in how we teach literature today! 

For context, i have never blogged before this class, but i have listened and engaged in podcasts for a longer part of my life, and i greatly enjoy them! However, i've never used either of these tools in the classroom before, and i truly believe that my teachers had wasted potential in using these mediums to teach and engage with their students. And I'm going to share why i feel that way with you all! 

Podcasting and Blogging are for everyone! 

Lets start with blogs, shall we? 

Blogging is very easy to do, and all you need is some form of technology to do it, which makes blogging very accessible, since most students have some form of technology either supplied to them, or available at home. For students who want to share there thoughts in a more closed and private environment, blogging will be a breeze for them! People who don't like to talk in front of the class can still engage through text and writing, which is also some peoples strong suit. 

Blogging is also less formal, allowing students personalities and true feelings to shine through their writing, and the students can actually focus on what they're saying and not just if they're formatting the paper properly. It allows creativity in the writing, and gives students a chance to be truly themselves, while still learning in their own unique way. 

I would love to use blogs for when students are assigned in class and out of class readings, and instead of filling out a worksheet on the chapters to prove they read it, they give their thought's on what they've read and share how it made them feel, if they like how its written, and if they're excited to read more or if they straight up hate it. This allows active feedback on how the students are feeling, so that if something isn't clicking i can step in and help them along the way to figure out where i may be losing my students, or if there's a pattern in what students are confused about. 

This allows the class to be fixed and changed in short amounts of time, and not waiting till the end of a semester to see what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. It also allows students to engage with each other in a way that's behind a screen, allowing nervousness and shyness to dissipate and for communication to flourish. Blogging is easy, and fun, and i would love to include this in my classroom! 

Personally myself, i love writing these blogs because writing is way easier for me than using spoken words. I find writing behind a screen comfortable, and i like being able to write in my own tone of voice and now have to worry about grammar, or mla, and all of that stuff, its really nice! I really wish more of my classes used blogs, because i find them very fun! 

Now, for podcasting, i think it would be fun to have an assignment where every week or two weeks students create a 5-10 minute podcast about a book they're reading for the semester. They pick a book they're interested in to read in their personal time, and create a podcast sharing their thoughts about it! These can be scripted, freeform, or a mix of both, but either way podcasting is great for everyone! For people who like to write, they can write a script and read it! 

For people who like to talk, they can just ramble for 10 minutes, and for people who like organization but aren't afraid to go on tangents, they can do that too! This way students can share there thoughts on books they read in their life outside of school, and they can share that with their classmates in a fun way without having to present to a class. 

Personally, I love podcasts, and i listen to a lot of scary ones, and i adore them! I think they're fun and engaging just through the power of words, and they're ice to put on and listen to in the background of work. It also allows peoples personalities to be shared with the world in an engaging way, and i adore that! 

My Personal Favorite Podcasts!

Unsolved Murders : True Crime Stories on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Mk7Wk6cmrgXWnitO3NdYe?si=191c100bea3b43bf

Revolutions on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/05lvdf9T77KE6y4gyMGEsD?si=574ceac3ca9d4776

Lets talk about myths, Baby! : Greek and Roman Mythology Retold - https://open.spotify.com/show/6S9jAhlyZtr5dj2tqYXeJ6?si=7b1cfd4b8ba84a49

My own research! 

At the currant moment I'm working on finding blogs i like and engaging with them. I don't know any at the moment, but would like to find and know some more about blogs and read some of them! So if any of you have blogs you like, let me know!