First, I don't know about you, but I like to maximize my time. There are so many tiny little dead spaces in life that are perfect for passive consumption. While some of these dead spaces are perfect opportunities for quiet contemplation, other moments beg for something to step in and fill the intellectual void.
Today, the majority of Americans have powerful personal devices in their pockets. As these devices have proliferated so too has free content. In many cases this content is junk. You get, as they say, what you pay for. In other cases, however, free content is professional and thought provoking and can provide a wonderful diet of fodder for learning and growth.
Which brings me to podcasts.
Podcasts? you say. They are so 2002!
That may be true. However I've found that since the recent redesign of the IOS Podcast App that these nuggets of wonder are more accessible than ever before. These 20 minute to hour long audio programs are perfect for the drive to work, a long run or in the background while cooking dinner. There are podcasts available for a variety of topics; education, health, music, arts, business, and many more. IOS has a native app while Android devices offer Pocket Casts or Podcast Addict.
I have found a number of these podcasts to be enlightening for my teaching. For instance, Daniel Pink has a weekly hourlong podcast called Office Hours. Each week Pink invites a guest in to interview and fields calls from listeners. Recently he has had popular authors Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell, and David Allen on his program. This past week he interviewed Diane Ravitch about her book Reign of Error and there was great discussion about what Ravitch sees as shortfalls in our current educational system which she asserts favors testing over learning and privatization over developing the public good.
I also listen to The Accidental Creative, Entrepreneur on Fire and the TED Talks podcast. While some of these podcasts are not directly transferable to the classroom I like what they do for my learning and creative mindset. Good stuff. If you have an smartphone or tablet, take a gander at the podcast app and find something you like.
Secondly, speaking of current educational reforms, there was an interesting article in yesterday's Buffalo News about school districts, InBloom and privacy concerns.
Finally, a couple of our tech forward social studies teachers have been experimenting with Remind 101, a texting service which touts itself as "A safe way for teachers to text message students and stay in touch with parents." These teachers are using the service to mass text reminders to students about upcoming assignments, tests, etc. Here's a quick promo video which explains the service.
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