Podcast #132 - The Student Zune Pilot Project at South Valley Jr. High

Hello. In today's podcast I'll be discussing an exciting new project that will take place in my classroom this semester - a student Zune pilot. Microsoft is providing each of my 25 students in my 3rd period 8th grade American History classroom a 4GB Zune to use during the spring semester. Microsoft donated these Zunes to my school district to test out this program. Our project will start on Tuesday with a parent / student meeting where the students will be given their Zunes.

I have been using different types of digital audio content in my classroom for several years. Three years ago I started to incorporate what I call "StudyCasts" - an audio review that I create and save as an MP3 file that is then posted on the Internet so that students can listen to the review in preparing for an upcoming unit test by listening at home on the Internet, downloading the file to their MP3 player or asking me to burn it to a CD for them. The introduction of the studycast has been successful but I cannot always insure that my students have 100% access to the content. In this Zune project I know that my students will not only have the MP3 device they will also leave my classroom with the content using the Zune social feature which allows me to "beam" content - in the form of audio or pictures - to their players before the leave for the day. The Zune will allow students to listen to content, view images and view video.

Listen to the podcast to learn more about how the pilot will opperate, how we will measure outcomes and how the Zune will be incorporated into the curriculum. I will also be keeping everyone updated on the progress of the Zune pilot throughout the pilot.

Please feel free to leave a comment on the blog post or e-mail directly at speakingofhistory@gmail.com I would be interested in your experiences with a Zune or if you have used the Zune in your classroom with students.

Direct link to Podcast #132 - The Student Zune Pilot at South Valley Jr. High - MP3 audio file - 9:24 minutes

Podcast #87 - American History Idol Project

Hello. Today I want to share one of the projects we did at the end of the school year. We were required to have our semester test finished a couple of days before the official last day of school so at South Valley Jr High we decided to have an "American History Idol" competition.

Erin Garvey, the other 8th grade American History teacher at SVJH, and I created a list of 160 famous Americans. We then printed them out on paper, cut them into strips and had our students pair up and draw a name. The students then had about an hour to research the individual they drew and create a poster that would be displayed in the commons. Students were instructed to vote for the person they felt had the greatest impact on American History in combination with the visual appeal of the poster and other factors (hey - American Idol isn't just about the quality of the singer or Melinda would have won this year!).

The first day students voted for three individuals and only 50 stayed. It was tough - Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson were sent home on the first day! After the second day of voting we cut it to 10 and then on the last day of school students were shown the results of the top 10 in a video that was shown as part of our student news broadcast. Want to find out who was in the Top 10 and who won - watch the video below (also available at Teacher Tube here)

Direct link to Podcast #87 - American History Idol Project - MP3 Format - 11:04 minutes

Subscribe directly to the Speaking of History podcast via i-Tunes here.

If you have any suggestions or comments about the Speaking of History podcast please leave a comment to this post or send an e-mail to speakingofhistory@gmail.com

Podcast #76 - Civil War Bullet Poem Student Project

Hello. During our study of the Civil War I have always found it helpful to bring items into the classroom that students can touch, feel and experience from that time period. A couple of years ago I purchased an authentic Civil War era bullet from an artifact collector. I think it cost me about $5. It has not been fired and was found in Missouri. There is something almost magical when you pass it around the room and the students hold it in their hand - an actual bullet that could have been carried in the pocket of a Civil War soldier in 1863.

This year I incorporated a writing assignment with the Civil War bullet. The class watched a five minute segment on the Battle of Shiloh from the Ken Burns PBS Civil War series. As the video segment played the bullet was passed around the room and once it was over each student was asked to write a poem from the perspective of that bullet. Where was it? Was it shot? Who held it - a young scared 15 year old or a confident older soldier? How could that bullet change the course of history?

Today's podcast includes a few of those poems from my 8th period class. I have also included a text version of one below:

Out of
the darkness of a soldier's pocket and into the light,
Now seeing before me
that the battle is in sight.
In the hands of a soldier, shaking in fright,
Waiting to be shot from the gun and take flight.

From the trembling
hands to gun's dark barrel,
Now waiting to be shot and cause peril.
Though sometimes it feels painful, it is my job,
There are souls that I
steal and lives that I rob.

The gun goes pow... and I fly once again,
Feeling the soldier's pain as I tear through the skin.
My job is now
finished, the man falls to the ground,
Now I sit there, just waiting,
waiting to be found.

If you would like to comment on the poems or the Speaking of History podcast please leave a comment to this blog or e-mail me at speakingofhistory@gmail.com

You can subscribe to the Speaking of History podcast directly at i-Tunes here.

Direct link to Podcast #76 - Civil War Bullet Poem Student Project - MP3 Format - 4:55 minutes

Podcast #76 Show Notes:

- Shiloh National Park