Making the Case For Audio

On the Road

This weekend I spent a lot of time on the road.  It was my wife's high school reunion in Dalton, Georgia, and so we packed up the family and headed down to Dalton.  It is about an 8 hour drive from St. Louis (sometimes longer with a 4-month-old in the car). 

Recently when I have made the trip, I have found some great ways to make the drive go by quickly.  I usually pick up a few books on tape, and I have my NPR app ready to go on the phone.  And so on the way down to Georgia my wife and I listened to Think Like a Freak by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, the third book in the popular Freakonomics series, (we listened to the first two books on previous trips).  Today when we drove back to St. Louis, it was all NPR.  The nifty app allowed us to listen to several episodes of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me", "Planet Money", and "The Ted Radio Hour."  Both drives went very quickly, and I often got very absorbed in what I was listening to.  I am always amazed at how consistently excellent and fascinating these NPR programs are.

Now, I must admit that I had not looked at this week's readings until today when I arrived back in St. Louis.  I was excited to see that much this week's readings discussed "audio experiences."  After spending 8 hours listening to NPR, I was suddenly reading about it as an educational tool.  The timing of this reading assignment could not have been more perfect for me.

As I started reading Hicks (2013), I was immediately pulled in when I read, "Regardless of your political stripe, NPR appeals to a variety of listeners and offers many great models for audio mentor texts" (p. 87).  These words resonated with me, and something suddenly clicked.  I had never thought of assigning an audio project, but why?  These stories that I had listened to all day were perfect mentor texts, and some were compact and simple enough that a student would not be daunted by the idea of creating one.  The technology required for such a story is nearly ubiquitous, and I believe that students would be excited to take on a different kind of challenge.

My excitement for this type of assignment continued to grow as I read Hicks, especially when he mentioned Kelly Gallagher's article-of-the-week assignment and how it could be incorporated into this type of assignment.  I consider myself a Gallagher-fan, and I actually chose his blog as a mentor text earlier in the semester.  When thinking about his article-of-the-week assignment, I agreed that NPR stories are great way to bring current events into the classroom in a dynamic way.

The final push I received came when Hicks mentioned "This I Believe" as a model for crafting audio texts.  I just spent last week reviewing "This I Believe", and I concur that it is a great resource for model or mentor texts.

What if it doesn't work?
My greatest fear is that these types of audio stories may fall flat in the classroom.  Yes, they are great in the car.  But there are limited options in the car, and the audience is fairly captive.  Would students sit and listen to a podcast or story and appreciate the digital writing craft?  It may seem a bit awkward.  Where does one look when listening to a story in the classroom?

The Game Plan
Right now I am doing a unit on Poetry with my sophomores.  We spend a lot of time reading, writing, and appreciating poetry.  At the end of the unit, they turn in a poetry portfolio.  This final portfolio hasn't ever quite felt like enough of a conclusion to the unit.  The students turn them in, and they don't really get to share their work with an audience beyond me.  This year, I think that I am going to have them record themselves reading their favorite poem from the portfolio, and then spend 1-2 minutes explaining the meaning of or inspiration for the poem.  Then I plan on putting all of the readings on a CD.  I think that project might be a meaningful way to close out the poetry unit. 


Another thought on audio
I also really enjoyed reading Gura's (2014) comments on audio feedback (p.194).  It reminded me of a course that I took with Jim Marshall in the summer of 2010.  It was an online course on Young Adolescent Literature.  Rather than give us written feedback, Jim would send an audio file of his reaction to our work.  I looked forward to receiving this feedback each week.  Hearing Jim's voice made the online class feel more personal, and his reactions seemed genuine.  Jim really mastered that type of feedback, and his students appreciated it. 

When I grade papers, it never feels like I can write enough on the paper in order to fully explain my reaction.  I usually end up having 1-on-1 conferences with students who need to revise their papers.  I think that audio feedback is a nice way to achieve the same connection that a 1-on-1 conference provides.  I'd be interested in trying it in my own classroom, although I don't know if I have the same skills as Jim.

Tool Review: This I Believe

Tool Review: This I Believe

Hyperlink: http://thisibelieve.org/

Description

From the website:

“This I Believe is an international organization engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. Over 125,000 of these essays, written by people from all walks of life, are archived here on our website, heard on public radio, chronicled through our books, and featured in weekly podcasts. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow.”

My description:

This I Believe is a webpage that hosts thousands of personal essays.   The authors of the essays vary in age, race, sex, and every other category.  The essays themselves have equal variation in their topics.  However, despite the variety of the authors and their works, they are united in their purpose.  These essays share the beliefs and values of their authors.  As a collection, they provide a special kind of truth.  This truth may not be universal or life changing, but it offers some clarification of life through the eyes of the authors.

Price/Availability

The website is free in a PBS/NPR kind of way.  There is no cost to use it, and there does not seem to be any limitation on the free content.  However, most pages within the site do have a “Make A Donation” advertisement, and if you explore the website for long enough a pop-up donation request will eventually prompt you to contribute.  However, if you can handle the guilt of not donating to PBS and NPR, then you probably won’t feel obligated to donate to this website. 

The website also offers instructional materials for teachers of all grade levels.  These materials are customized by state, but are only available for $19.95.

The site also has a store that sells books and CD’s, however there is no obligation to buy them.

Sample Featured Essay:

Essays that are “featured” on the website are accompanied by an audio file of the author reading his/her work: http://thisibelieve.org/essay/31232/

REVIEW

Rationale for Selecting This I Believe

As a writing teacher, I am always looking for examples of good writing for my students.  With my sophomore class, I do a unit on writing a short story.  When I was scouring the web for examples of good short fiction, I stumbled upon NPR’s three-minute fiction contest.  This website offered a cornucopia of short fiction that was well written.  Not only was it well written, but it also showed my students that non-professional writers can write great stories and be recognized!  The website is great for my classes because it provides great examples of writing and offers my students a chance at fame.  I have found a similar website for my 7^th graders and their poetry unit, but I have yet to find a great site for personal essay writing in my freshman class. 

My school is also really trying to improve the way that it helps seniors with their college essays, because our students have struggled greatly with personal writing.  They can write fiction and argumentative papers, but they get uncomfortable when it is time to get personal.  This I Believe seems to offer exactly what I need.  It is a website that provides a plenitude of personal essays, and it also provides a chance for students to be recognized!  Too often, the students feel like their only audience is the teacher.  These types of websites and contests provide a larger audience.

Tool Review Rubric

	Exceeds expectations	Meets expectations	Does not meet expectations
Credibility of website developers - Who funds website? - What is mission of website? - Is the content biased?	✔
Relevancy to context - Is the material on the website beneficial to my classroom? - Do the essays serve as mentor texts for my students?	✔
Appropriateness for target audience and level - Are the topics of the essays appropriate for a 9th grade classroom? - Are the essays challenging enough for 9th grade students?		✔
Website design and usability -Is the website easy to navigate? -Is the information organized in a logical way?	✔
Performance of website features - Do pages load quickly and easily? Do audio files load and play without delay	✔

Credibility

Credibility was an extremely important factor for me.  I teach my students to be critical of the information that they consume, and we are always on the lookout for bias.  I was very pleased with the credibility of this website.  It is an “established” brand and is funded by users who voluntarily contribute.  Dan Gediman, the executive producer of This I Believe says, “The goal is not to persuade Americans to agree on the same beliefs. Rather, the hope is to encourage people to begin the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from their own.”   I believe that the website lives by this idea.  The variety of opinions on the website ensure that the content does not have an agenda or bias.

Relevancy

I had a very specific reason for choosing This I Believe.  I wanted to bring it into my freshman classroom and use the essays as mentor texts for my students’ personal writing.  After poking around on the website for a few minutes, I immediately realized that I could find essays that were beneficial to my classroom.  There are essays on just about any topic that might come up in a Language Arts classroom, and they are organized in a user-friendly way (more on that later).

Appropriateness for Target Audience

Appropriateness is always a concern when bringing something new into the classroom.  You don’t want to expose your students to inappropriate material and you also don’t want to bring in material that is too challenging and might frustrate them easily.  You also don’t want to bring in material that is not challenging enough because it will bore them.  This website has every type of essay that you could hope for, although they are not organized by intended audience.  You can search for an essay based on the author’s age, but not on the age of the appropriate audience.  This complaint is a small one, but it might not be a great idea to turn younger students loose on the website.  There are essays that deal with addiction, morality, race, and other serious topics.

Website Design

If a website is frustrating or difficult to navigate, then it does not matter if it has great content.  I found the design of This I Believe to be very easy to navigate.  It has featured essays, but you can also browse by theme or search by topic, author, or even age of the author.  There is also an Educators tab that has easily accessible lesson plans and ideas for the classroom.

Performance

Performance goes hand in hand with design when it comes to evaluating a website.  If a website cannot perform quickly and effectively, then users will get frustrated and look for a better performing website.  The pages load quickly and easily.  The audio files that correspond to each featured essay load instantly, and the sound quality is professional.  Note: The website also is mobile and tablet friendly!

The Verdict

I think that This I Believe is a great tool for the classroom.  The sheer abundance of essays and topics makes it a wonderful resource, and I think that students would enjoy exploring the website and reading/listening to the essays.  A teacher might need to screen and select essays for younger students, but older students could navigate the website on their own.  The wealth of information on the website could not be easily replicated in the print world.  I don’t think that there are comparable resources out there that are as extensive and as well organized as This I Believe.

PUTTING IT IN THE CLASSROOM

English Language Arts Standards (CCGPS) that apply:

ELACC9-10RL2: Determine a theme or central idea of text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

ELACC9-10RL5: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise.

ELACC9-10RL6:

Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.

ELACC9-10RI10:

By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.  By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

ELACC9-10W3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

ELACC9-10W6:

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

How do I get started?

It’s easy!  Just go to http://thisibelieve.org/ and start exploring.  The toolbar at the top makes exploring easy:

If you want to brows the essays, just click on explore:

Some Ideas for Literacy Instruction:

·      A unit on personal narrative writing that uses the essays as mentor texts

·      Select a theme from a novel and explore related essays with that same theme in order to initiate conversation

·      Select an essay as a means to introducing a text.  For example: Use an essay on race to introduce a text like To Kill A Mockingbird

I hope this helps you teachers out there!  I highly recommend this site for the classroom!

Presentations, Filmmaking, and Writing

"Good presentations need not be limited to one speaker standing in front of an audience.  Digital writers can be much more creative than that." (Hicks 2013, p. 67)

I enjoyed reading Chapter 4 of Hicks.  This chapter pointed out many problems with presentations, and I realized that I had just been accepting these problems without really trying to address them.  Yes, I use PowerPoint Presentations in my classroom.  Yes, I use the standard themes and templates.  However, I always thought that my presentations were somehow different from the ones that I could not stand sitting through.  Surely my use of videos, pictures, and audio gave them enough variety that they really grabbed the attention of my students.  Given the limitations of PowerPoint, I felt like I was doing great work. 

However, if I am being really honest with myself . . .

Presentations can be so much more dynamic than what I have accepted as good work.  At some point PowerPoint was new and dynamic, and I can recall my early exposure to PowerPoint when I was an undergraduate.  It felt new and exciting, and my professors who made these presentations seemed to be more exciting and more fascinating than professors who were still doing the "old-fashioned" style of lecture.  However, those undergraduate days were 10 years ago, and the technology has become stale to a modern audience/student.

When I think about those days of PowerPoint being exciting and new, I realize something else about that experience.  It was the teacher who made the class exciting more than the presentations.  The teachers who were using PowerPoint 10 years ago were the ones who were willing to try something new in order to grab the attention and focus of the students.  Teachers like that, who are willing to take risks for the benefit of their students, will have their students' full attention regardless of the technology.  I am willing to bet that those same teachers have moved onto other ways to present information, because they have had to adapt to the needs of a new generation of students who are no longer impressed by a view basic slides and links.  I'd imagine those teachers are using more dynamic resources like Prezi.

Last year, a teacher at my school gave a presentation to the faculty.  The subject of the presentation was summer school.  It was mostly an informational presentation that was not necessarily filled with exciting news.  However, the presentation was different than others that I had experienced before.  He zoomed in and out of this concept map, and I found myself pulled into what he was presenting.  I now realize that he was using Prezi, and I am interested in exploring the possibilities that Prezi offers.

For my mentor text, I selected: The Ten Most Common Rookie Presentation Mistakes

I think that this presentation is excellent.The Home Image is the silhouette of a man giving a presentation, and then there are red "thought bubbles" around it.  As soon as I saw the first image of the presentation, I wanted to start clicking around and zooming immediately.  I felt like there was something there that needed to be explored.

Each thought bubble has a relatively small amount of information, but all the important thoughts are there.  Someone presenting with these slides accompanying them could easily supplement the slide with their own thoughts and elaborations.  The slides are also supplemented with videos, pictures, and fun bits of information.  The highest compliment that I can give this presentation is that it is fun to explore.  I wanted to see what happened next, and I feel like I also absorbed some great information.  I would love to create something that looked like this presentation.

Movie-Making in the English Classroom?

Gura (2014) also inspired me this week with his 20-Shot Short Story and Digital Move Projects.  As a film and media studies major in my undergraduate years, I spent many hours editing video and putting together projects.  However, as an English teacher, I have been hesitant to incorporate these types of projects in my classroom.  I have been afraid that the students will not have access to the technology or won't understand how to use it.  I also fear that they might not get much out of a movie-making assignment.  My greatest fear though is that I would have no idea how to grade such a project.

Gura does a good job of defending these types of movie projects.  He explains that a good film can demonstrate a thorough understanding of the text.  I was also reassured when I was reminded that cameras are fairly ubiquitous these days, and it probably would not be a problem for most students to get their hands on something that can record video.  I could probably take a class day to explain the basics of video editing and then let them explore the programs on their own.  Experimentation is how I learned after all.  Grading may be difficult at first, but I think that I will adapt and learn as I grade more of these types of projects.  Having students write about the film-making process can also assist in the evaluation of the final product.