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You Get to Have Your Own Genius Hour (A Video for Students)

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The two hemispheres of the brain collaborate to increase focus.

Students become excited, engaged, and attentive (even those who you would not normally expect to!)

Referential connections between the visual and linguistic centers for processing information in the brain lead to more input being converted to long-term memory. Retention is increased.

Students interact with visual triggers that boost their memory for the lesson material.

Students are proud of their creative work on their page and suddenly begin pulling out their notes sheets consistently to review, show them off, and reference them as a study guide.

Added bonuses include relaxation, coordination, and a boost in problem solving skills.
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The two hemispheres of the brain collaborate to increase focus. Students become excited, engaged, and attentive (even those who you would not normally expect to!) Referential connections between the visual and linguistic centers for processing information in the brain lead to more input being converted to long-term memory. Retention is increased.

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Creative Thinking in Math Class | Samuel Grayson | TEDxUTD

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Listening to Themselves: Podcasting Takes Lessons Beyond the Classroom

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Student-produced podcasts bolster knowledge and communication skills.

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Why Podcasting Belongs in the ELA Classroom

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Why Podcasting Belongs in the ELA Classroom

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Listening and creating podcasts in the classroom lead to critical reading and writing growth, and both deserve a place in your ELA classroom.
When it comes to creating podcasts in the classroom, I can see where you're skeptical.

1. What the heck *is* a podcast even, and

2. How the heck am I supposed to align these with my ELA standards?!

In other words, how can audio consumption + production genuinely lead to critical reading-even writing- growth?

Good thing you showed up today because this post has some A's for your sweet Q's.

Having your students listen to podcasts has its benefits. But it's pretty magical, actually, just how much of the writing process, in particular, is tucked neatly inside the creation of a single podcast episode: from brainstorming to field research, crafting catchy intros, organizing ideas, and more.

SO...

...let's talk podcasts!

Do you listen to them yourself?

According to Jay Baer's '13 Critical Podcast Stats of 2018,' you ~just might~ because apparently more Americans know what a podcast is than who the Vice President is... yowza.

Even still, I have a hunch that, more than likely, you do NOT listen to podcasts.

Yo, I'm not judging you! Take a look at the numbers with me:

In 2018, just over half the U.S. population alone had ever even *heard* of podcasts. Less than half had ever actually *listened* to a podcast episode (and even less who were tuning in regularly!).
*Pauses. Crunches thoughtfully on numbers. Digests.*
But here's the cool part: those numbers are *swiftly* on the rise.

It's one year later, and just over half the population is actively subscribing to the podcast scene.

In fact, according to an article in the , podcast listenership is expected to jump from 287 million listeners in 2016 to 1.85 Billion in 2023!

There might be less than a million podcast channels right now (compared to the 500 million blogs available online today), but that number is expected to GROW...

If you like my blog, you're going to love my podcast.
Gettin' schooled on-on-the-go, who knew?! COMING SOON!

Just as blogging has grown + flourished over time, audio and video are the next in line, so it's a great time to be introducing our students to these mediums!
21st-century learning strategies have never been more important. If you're looking for more digital ELA lessons to spice up your digital classroom, check out this post!

Well-noted authorities in the communications industry-like NPR, for instance-use podcasting as a staple for content sharing, so the chances of students needing some kind of production prowess in this regard shouldn't escape us.

Not to mention, this medium is naturally growing in popularity among their age bracket!

'Well-noted authorities in the communications industry use podcasting as a staple for content-sharing, so the chances of students needing some kind of production prowess in this regard shouldn't escape us.' -Jill Pavich, CCO, edPioneer

But let me back-it-on-up for a minute...
What IS a podcast?
In brief, a podcast is an audio-only recording you can download and listen to in your home, in your car, or otherwise on the go.

A modern radio, more or less, where the 'channels' are the shows you subscribe to.

Added perk? You get to listen to the episodes whenever it's convenient for you (so it's got that on-demand, Netflix-y vibe that we love, #bingeworthy).

I remember shying away from Podcasts for-EVER. I'd look at the purple app-which was complimentarily added to my phone when I bought it-and just *refuse* to click it.

I told myself it was because it didn't have anything to offer me. (I had NPR already, after all)! But truth be truth, I was actually afraid to click into the app because I probably wouldn't know what the heck to even do once I got in there!

Eventually, I wisened up, and now... I'm obsessed!

So, assuming you DO decide to trust the digital universe and cross over to the podcasting side, let's talk about the overarching benefit of

having your students listen to podcasts, but also

having themproduce them!

PODCAST CONSUMPTION

So what's all the hype about? Why are podcasts are so popular?

Five-paragraph-essay-style, I've got three reasons.

Apart from it being absolutely FREE to access, listening to podcasts ...
1 | allows us to be in two places at once.
It might be scientifically proven that you can't listen to one thing while reading something else at the same time, but you *can* certainly listen to podcasts while doing a variety of tasks such as driving your car, cleaning your house, doing your laundry, or-my personal favorite-while you squeeze in a workout!

In other words, podcast-listeners have the stealth of Hermione Granger with her Time Turner in the Prisoner of Azkaban. This 'two places at once' consumptional magic spans beyond even that of video and print books.

It's especially cool for busy teachers because we can familiarize ourselves with the tool (and learn from it!) while doing other things.

But it can be super useful for busy high school students just as well. For instance, instead of printing out a ridiculous amount of articles on a potential research topic, they can do their reconnaissance on-the-go.
2 | encourages critical consumption.
Letting students pick and choose what they listen to isn't merely consumption of information, it's critical consumption. #CrucialDifference!

Kind of like sifting through book titles in a library and reading the first chapter before deciding if it's right for "you".

Letting our students pick a podcast to listen to grants them freedom to choose. Meanwhile, serious skill-work is in action-students have to weigh their selections wisely, which requires analysis and evaluation.

Now, admittedly, with the pressures of curriculum maps + anchor texts (i.e. curriculums that're planned-slash-canned to speak to standardized assessment demands), we don't always give our students voice + choice in what they read or write about.

So why not use the podcasting experience to fill that void?!

You can easily use podcasts in (or out of) the classroom to work on speaking and listening skills.

(Based on the numbers mentioned earlier, by the way, it's an information source our students will actually use in the years to come. But I digress...)

Last, but 'cliche-to-say' not least, podcast consumption...
3 | challenges us to improve literacy skills.
Tons of classrooms are getting hip to the podcast Serial, an investigative journalism series packed with intriguing stories which peer into the human character when it comes to justice, murder, and truth.

In a recent interview I did with Samantha Krzyzanowski, an ELA teacher at the Country Day School in Costa Rica who is currently pioneering podcasts in her classroom, she shares how she's using this show in particular to scaffold research + writing skills and to model student podcast creation for her learners.

Like Serial, tons of podcasts take this 'story-style format', which is why it's double-plus- great for the ELA teacher since it aligns so well with literature standards.

Solid point raised in an article on Medium:

'Humans think in stories...our brains gravitate towards narrative [because they play a major role in] shaping our understanding...podcasts offer a special ability to share incredible stories.'

The author points out that when we hear stories, it releases a chemical in the brain called oxytocin, the 'cuddle hormone' responsible for social bonding. This therefore helps us feel empathy toward others.

(And who doesn't need a dose of that, right?!)

Bottom line: we can use this medium to scaffolding critical reading skills, because while a single podcast episode or series might be presented via auditory, it has the same elements we encourage students to analyze when reading standard text!

So in addition to our traditional methods for exposing students to stories and literature, we now have a fresh approach worth exploring.

CREATING PODCASTS IN THE CLASSROOM

Remember how I said the world of podcasting has the potential to shape writing skills as well? This is where the unique benefits of letting students produce their own podcasts comes in.

I've got 5 benefits to share, which appear here countdown-style, in reverse order of awesomeness:
5| Since the creator must rely on audio only, students have to think creatively about communicating ideas.
Since they literally cannot 'show' the audience what they mean, students have to be able to think on a different, creative wavelength.

While creating a podcast in the classroom, creation naturally guides students in precision and word choice because they have to paint pictures with words while also keeping ideas focused and organized.

Plus, they have to think creatively about who they're communicating to and how best to reach that listener with their message.

Looking for more ways to get students to think creatively about communicating their ideas? Check out the Social Classroom Calendar!
4 | Podcasts offer our students an authentic audience to create for.
When creating something like a podcast in the classroom, students are no longer rushing to hand in their work and move on with it.

Instead, they let themselves get lost in the process because someone other than the teacher is actually going to hear it. They quickly realize that there needs to be an actual purpose behind their work beyond getting the grade or because the teacher 'said so'.

Unbelievable insights on this point in particular, during my interview with Ms. K.:

[INTERVIEW] edPioneer CCO interviews high school ELA teacher, Samantha Krzyzanowski, about leading student-produced podcasting projects in the ELA classroom.

Get the full Interview Excerpt by clicking HERE! 3 | It sharpens their ability to articulate ideas, which demonstrates deep understanding.
Truth be told, we know *nothing* until we can articulate it ourselves. The best way to show mastery is to teach it yourself.

This is where podcasts play an important role. If students can get on the microphone and have a conversation in which they can stand confidently behind their message and for their ideas, it's certainly evidence of learning.

For those students who struggle with writing, speaking ideas into the mic first might feel more natural and less intimidating, so this medium can provide a gateway for budding writers.

Meanwhile, talking through ideas in 'real-time' can be a challenge for students, too! Rather than drafting points little by little on the page, recording a podcast episode requires deep thought but quick response as words are strung together and presented.

Sounds like both a challenge and a win for multiple intelligences!
2 | Podcast creation demands a sense of honesty and authenticity from the producer/host.
Today, fake news is everywhere. You can find it on blogs, in social media, and in video. But it's a lot harder to put out false content when you're a podcast host.

As Shiva Bhaskar points out, podcasts become a trustworthy place to turn to for information because the audience has gotten to know the host-his or her communication style, perspective, and message-over time, which then affords listeners the ability to rule in or rule out the person behind the mic.

The host's reputation and show rankings are on the line for this reason, so there's a big 'something' at stake. It becomes crucial that they offer quality information.

Likewise, the success of our students' work depends on how credibly they appear to their audience and how well they can build that trust. Students learn quickly that this can only be done by composing the best work possible for their listeners.

During my interview with Ms. K., she talked about her students' realizations in this regard:

"They realized: ' I want to make sure that when I share this out...that it's worth something. [That] people will trust it and trust me as the creator.' They saw how important it was to be a trustworthy speaker and writer."

In short, creating podcasts in the classroom teaches our students about integrity, bias, and quality work.

Get the full Interview Excerpt by clicking HERE!

And finally, can I get a beat drop for my *favorite* reason why students should be creating podcasts in your classroom?!
(wait for it...) 1 | It helps our students develop their identity alongside their writing.
First and foremost, I'm going to recommend that when creating podcasts in your classroom, your students must podcast about the things that matter to them because that helps them ponder their interests, talents, and values as human beings. My digital course, Make Writing Real, covers student podcast creation and focuses intensely on that notion.

But there's more to it, yet.

Lots of traditional writers are asked to write content first, then polish it by adding in 'voice'.
Quite opposite, being a podcast creator requires our writers to find their unique voice and style first.
As they formulate their show concept + frame-out episode ideas, they have to think about who they are and what they stand for. And they have to think about how they need to 'show up' in order to reach the audience they seek.

"It is literally neurobiologically impossible to think deeply about things that [we] don't care about." -Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California

Eventually, as our learners become more confident in who they are behind the mic, they naturally begin to create stronger content. And before long, that voice + confidence finds its way right onto the page.

To wrap it all up...

According to neuroscientist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, "it is literally neurobiologically impossible to think deeply about things that [we] don't care about."

Creating podcasts in the classroom is an excellent way to teach students the foundations of writing (through speaking and scripting!). It helps them tap into those things they do care about, while simultaneously developing critical and creative thinking skills.

(Again, something this world could totally use a dose of, right?)

Best of luck launching student-produced podcasting projects in your classroom, and if you do go for it, you've *got* to share your good times with this funky bunch of trailblazers here at edPioneer!
Got a rad, little lesson plan with a trailblazin' twist that you'd love to share? Email me at hi@edpioneer.com and tell me all about it for a chance to be featured on the edPioneer blog!
Post your comments below, and let's celebrate your classroom wins!

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Creating Podcasts in the Classroom: 8 reasons podcasts deserve a place in your ELA class (and in your life!) - edPioneer

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Listening and creating podcasts in the classroom lead to critical reading and writing growth, and both deserve a place in your ELA classroom. When it comes to creating podcasts in the classroom, I can see where you're skeptical. What the heck *is* a podcast even, and How the heck am I supposed to align these with my ELA standards?!

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How to use Soundtrap to Produce Podcasts

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How to use Soundtrap to Produce Podcasts

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Shortly after deciding to start my own podcast, it seemed like a logical next step to try it out with my students. Although I've experimented with a variety of other ways of having students create digital material, I never really felt confident introducing audio recording and music making, and wasn't sure how it could fit. Now that I've started, I've quickly realized why using an audio creation platform like Soundtrap to podcast with students should be an essential addition to any classroom. Here's why:

1. The Speaking and Listening Standards:

We know we're supposed to teach kids how to speak and listen, and we know from Jeff Zwiers that academic conversations are a fundamental part of developing strong critical thinking skills. Still, it's challenging to develop meaningful, engaging activities that encourage students to speak and listen to each other. Student podcasting doesn't replace structured group or partner discussions, but it's a highly useful platform for actively teaching and practicing the speaking and listening standards.

2. Amplify Student Voices:

One of the most challenging aspects of trying to promote listening and speaking skills amongst students is the fact that not all students share the same level of comfort speaking in front of the whole class or in groups. Podcasting allows all students the opportunity to share their thoughts, insights, and knowledge and gives everyone in class the opportunity to speak and be heard.

3. Engagement:

Once teachers learn how to audio record with students, it becomes another trick up a teacher's sleeve to engage students and to capture their interest.

4. Community Building:

Podcasting is unique in that it encourages long-form audio recording that is then shared and listened to by others. Podcasting gives students the opportunity to tell their stories, and to discuss topics and issues that are important to them. Hearing each other helps students understand each other.

5. Expose Students to New Forms of Digital Creation:

Using Soundtrap to create a student podcast introduces students to software that could help them discover interests and/or talents in media production, journalism, broadcasting, etc.

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How to Start a Student Podcast with Soundtrap | The New EdTech Classroom

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Shortly after deciding to start my own podcast, it seemed like a logical next step to try it out with my students. Although I've experimented with a variety of other ways of having students create digital material, I never really felt confident introducing audio recording and music making, and wasn't sure how it could fit.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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In freshman biology, lab work and design thinking come together through maker education.

Discussions of maker education often dazzle with stories of fanciful robots, exotic materials, and whimsical ideas for cross-disciplinary projects. These impressive examples showcase the amazing things creative people can do, but when I wanted to build making into my freshman biology course, I felt stymied. When I reframed making as integral rather than optional, I found a way to let students create.

Rewriting What's Already in Your Course

The first major step was not finding a place to add a making opportunity to my curriculum-there was no room for "extra" in my calendar, and I bet there isn't in yours either. Instead, I looked for places where the class material was related to things students could create in the classroom.

I chose water contamination because the topic wrapped up several major biogeochemical standards for my course: matter cycling, human impacts in ecosystems, and organismal interactions.

I've discussed research showing that giving students the freedom to explore a full, rich example yields better sense-making for students than many isolated pieces of work created by an instructor, and I scheduled about two weeks for my students to be making. We had a few class activities about natural water cycling, and then students had a couple days to build a small version of the same natural cycling systems. Next we took a couple days to examine the ways in which humans add nitrogen to the environment, and then students returned to their projects to see how their addition of human-processed soil added nitrogen to their systems. They then spent a few days building new prototypes of their systems, and then we moved back to another class discussion.

Switching back and forth kept students' interest in the project high, provided time for brainstorming and independent work, and let me make connections to our other class activities while the content was fresh because of their making efforts.

Providing Options, Feedback, and Space

My final worry was about how I could direct the students. If I just said "go" without any guidance, the students would all cluster around the simplest and most obvious materials, so I chose a more opportunistic approach and gave them just a little bit of guidance.

I projected a live stream of the makerspace onto my whiteboard when we started. Now all students in the room could see what was happening in the makerspace moment to moment.

When the project started, I gave a quick tour of the makerspace and pointed out the major areas in which they could work: "Here's some wood and plastic, there's some hand tools, the 3D printer is over here, and some power tools we can use if you ask."

I then let them decide for themselves how to proceed. The start of that first workday was... awkward. But it didn't stay that way.

A few students wanted to 3D-print something. I shouted out that we were training on how to prep a 3D model, and a handful of other students wanted to join, so we all got a quick starter training on how to find something to print. Most kids ignored us-and that was fine. Later some other students wanted to use the 3D printer, but now I could direct them to the earlier students who were trained on the tool.

This happened in other areas as well. Some students started working with the wood. When their peers saw them on the screen digging around in the woodpile, a few more decided to go check it out with them.

These choices were evaluated on the best day of the project. During prototype testing, right in the middle of the project, students got real, usable feedback on their designs: We poured some contaminated water through their systems and used a nitrate sensor to measure the water contamination. I calibrated and ran the sensor, and it gave them an honest evaluation of their progress.

I was amazed when a design I didn't like was among the most effective, and I was heartbroken when one group's creative design actually made the water worse-a great learning moment as they worked out how they had gone wrong.

In every case, the sensor hadn't even left the test water before the students were comparing results and trying to figure out why each design had performed the way it had. Their discussions were exactly what the NGSS expects of Kansas students. Each group then had the opportunity to continue working on their projects, confident that their choices mattered.

Never forget that the tools and materials in a makerspace are means to an end: students exploring their own creativity. Providing more tools gives the students options, but no single tool is more important than the students' ownership over their ideas and processes. What matters is that they have room to tinker, to fail (and recover), to innovate, and to surprise.

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In freshman biology, lab work and design thinking come together through maker education. Discussions of maker education often dazzle with stories of fanciful robots, exotic materials, and whimsical ideas for cross-disciplinary projects. These impressive examples showcase the amazing things creative people can do, but when I wanted to build making into my freshman biology course, I felt stymied.

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By Amy Cowen on November 4, 2022 4:00 PM
Inspire students of all ages to enjoy STEM when you let them loose in a creative makerspace! These hands-on engineering activities use simple materials and encourage students to brainstorm, problem solve, and innovate.
Enabling Exploration

Community makerspaces are collaborative spaces where people of all ages can get hands-on with science and engineering. With an array of materials available, a visit to a local makerspace is an invitation to play with science and engineering and really see how things work.

You may have a makerspace in your school or at the library, or maybe you have an area of your classroom dedicated to maker activities students can explore or certain days of the week on which you turn the room into a makerspace. With a few materials and a surface to work on, garage or basement spaces can easily be recast as home makerspaces, too!

You don't have to have expensive materials to start up your own makerspace. With an assortment of craft supplies, electronics parts, and recycled materials, you can set up a makerspace full of inspiring STEM that kids can explore. Figuring out what will work with the materials available is part of the challenge and part of the fun!

Bookmark or pin these projects to add to your makerspace!

Update! This post has been updated for 2022!

Free Projects and Activities for Your Makerspace

Try one of these STEM projects for creative hands-on science and engineering with a DIY "maker" flair:

1. Make Cardboard Automata: Plan and build an automaton from cardboard and craft materials.

2. Build a Wind-Powered Car: Add a sail to a DIY toy car and experiment to see how changes to the sail make a difference in the car's stability and speed.

3. Build a Differential from K'Nex®: Use the K'Nex® toy building system to build a model differential.

4. Build A Wall Marble Run: Use cardboard tubes and other simple materials to build a wall marble run.

5. Make an Awesome Paper Lantern: Design and make a paper lantern that holds a battery-operated tealight candle or uses a night light circuit.

6. Flippy, the Dancing Robot: Build a simple dancing robot and use the engineering design process to improve it.

7. Build a Paper Roller Coaster: Build a paper roller coaster and try to add a loop.

8. 3D Print with Sand: No 3D Printer Required!: Use sand and glue to simulate one type of 3D printing.

9. DIY Mini Propeller Car: Make a small toy car with a simple circuit and a propeller.

10. Build a Robot Hand: Use craft materials to design and build a robotic hand.

11. Build a Mini Trebuchet: Use craft sticks, rubber bands, and other craft materials to make and explore the physics behind a miniature trebuchet.

12. DIY Light Up Unicorn Headband: Make a unicorn horn headband with a paper circuit that lights an LED at the tip.

13. Build a Rubber Band-Powered Car: Build a car with an axle made from straws and rubber bands that store potential energy when wound.

14. Build a Popsicle Stick Catapult: Make a small catapult from craft sticks and rubber bands.

15. Duplicate Your Drawings with a Machine: Make and experiment with a pantograph, a device that can be used to make a larger or smaller copy of a drawing.

16. Make a Paper Circuit: Learn how to make simple circuits from paper, copper tape (or aluminum foil), and a battery. (See Paper Circuits Science Projects for additional ways to explore.)

17. Make a Cotton Ball Launcher: Use a recycled cardboard tube to make a launcher that can launch lightweight materials.

18. The Impossible Arrow Illusion: 3D print and explore the "impossible arrow" illusion - the arrow's reflection in a mirror always points the other way!

19. Make Your Own Harmonica!: Explore how a harmonica creates sound waves by making a small one from wooden sticks, rubber bands, and a straw.

20. DIY Mini Drone: Make a basic mini drone. (Add additional parts to explore a series of questions related to drone flight.)

21. Build a Balloon Car: Use a balloon to power a homemade toy car.

22. Study Kinetic Energy with a Rube Goldberg Machine: Use assorted materials to create a set of chain reactions in a machine designed to perform a simple task.

23. Build a Cardboard Scissor Lift: Use craft materials to make a scissor lift and explore simple machines.

24. Junkbots: Robots from Recycled Materials: Design and build simple robots made from recycled and craft materials.

25. Build a Paper Speaker: Make a working speaker from paper and neodymium magnets.

26. Make a Night-Light: Build a working night-light with an intermediate circuit project and design the custom housing, too!

Makerspace Learning in Action

The following STEM videos demonstrate some of the highlighted activities:

Ready for More Makerspace Ideas?

See 16 Next-Level Makerspace STEM Projects for projects and activities to help scale your makerspace for students ready for additional challenge.

You Might Also Enjoy These Related Posts:

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26 Projects to Jump-start Your Makerspace | Science Buddies Blog

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26 engaging hands-on STEM activities that use recylced and craft materials for a home, library, or classroom makerspace

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An Overlooked Aspect of Creativity | edCircuit

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Problem-solving students moved quickly to sketching with a more conventional arrangement, while problem-finding students spent considerably longer examining, exploring and rearranging their objects.

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Teachers Who Promote Creativity See Educational Results

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Teachers who foster creativity, especially those who leverage technology, are more likely to view their students as capable, engaged learners.