Do some technical difficulties for which I couldn’t fix, I’ve had to move the Wagener-Salley HS podcast page to a new site.   Currently, the site contains podcasts for the 2009-2010 South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominees.  I hope to move last years podcast over  to the new site soon.

Here are a few of the podcasts that I listen/watch on a fairly regular basis (all subscribed to via iTunes.) Some of them feed my need for knowledge, some feed the needs of my soul, and some feed my need for a few laughs every now and again.

ATW (American Theatre Wing) – Working in the Theatre (video podcast)

Great discussions with top theatre professionals working on Broadway. Provides up and comers with a better understanding of theatre. I originally subscribed to these to share with a student and to help me learn more about theatre myself (since I am a drama sponsor). My favorites (or course) are the ones on performance where they interview the actors.

ATW – Downstage Center (audio podcast)

Podcasts taken from an XM Satellite Radio interview show. Guests are theatre veterans. I only recently started subscribing to this one. As with any interview show, some are better than others – just as some actors/guests are better speakers than others.

GeekBrief.tv (video podcst)

Hosted by Cali Lewis who shares new/upcoming technology as well as technology news. I like GeekBrief’s short video podcasts as they highlight some interesting gadgets. I love the bloopers they tack onto the end of the podcasts, too!

Mr. Deity (video podcast)

iTunes description: “Mr. Deity offers a humorous (and slightly irreverent) look at the day-to-day operation of the universe and the “Big Man” in charge.” When asked about my religion I usually state: “I’m a non-practicing, liberal Catholic.” So if you watch this, you’ll understand why I find this podcast series HILARIOUS! You have been warned, so don’t post negative comments about this or state I’m going to H-E-double-hockey sticks if you’re offended by Mr. Deity.

NewSpring Church (audio podcast)

Church services given by Paster Perry Nobel out of Anderson, SC. I stumbled upon this podcast when I was looking for ones by Greg Laurie (see below) and I initially subscribed just because it’s produced out of South Carolina. I keep subscribing because I love the fact that Paster Perry tells it like it is (no sugar coating) and he talks like he could be my next-door neighbor. You can also watch the video podcasts of the sermons online.

A New Beginning with Greg Laurie (audio podcast)

“Pastor Greg Laurie’s thirty-minute daily radio program featuring relevant, biblical teaching.” I used to listen to these broadcasts on my way to evening classes at USC (That’s THE USC- University of South Carolina and not that upstart on the west coast who stole our initials.) Unfortunately, I can no longer get the station out in the boonies where I live now, so you can imagine how pleased I was that they’re available via podcasts!

Tech Chick Tips (audio podcast)

“Tips and tricks for teaching 21st century students using 21st century skills from two Texas educators obsessed with anything digital!” Another recent addition to my podcast downloads. These two ladies share lots of useful tech tools and I love their interactions/camaraderie during their show. (Thank you Cathy Nelson for introducing me to this one.)

TEDTalks (video podcast)

“Inspired talks by the worlds greatest thinkers and doers.” WONDERFUL, inspirational, educational, motivational, … lets see, how many more adjectives can I use to encourage you to subscribe? Seriously, this is one resource you won’t regret downloading (or you can watch them directly from the website.) A few of my favorite speakers are: Sir Ken Robinson (2006); Larry Lessig (2007); Jill Taylor (2008); and any from David Pogue (he’s so funny!)

WebbAlert (video podcast)

“WebbAlert is Morgan Webb’s website and daily videocast, covering the day’s developments in tech news, video gaming, gadgetry, and digital culture.” The reason I like this one is that she not only focuses on technology gadgetry, but the latest technology business news.

Women of Web 2.0 (audio podcast)

“WOW2 is for all who are using the tools of the internet whether it be in a classroom setting, leading seminars, authoring books, maintaining blogs or wikis, or just enjoying the tools of the internet in an educational and exciting way.” I’ve never can seem to remember to join in the live show, but like what I’ve heard and learned so far. (Another, shout out to Cathy Nelson for introducing me to this one.)

If any of these sound like ones you’d like to try, please keep in mind the title of this post is “my favorite podcasts.” If you don’t like something here, don’t blame me. I’m just sharing what I like! : – )

Conversely, if you have some that you think I should check out, please share them in the comments. I look forward to finding new material to listen and/or watch.

Another media specialist recently emailed me to ask about our state library association’s book award podcasts. She stated she knows nothing about “pod casts” and asked “do you download them to an MP3 player?” This got me thinking – as I’d jumped all over podcasts a number of years ago and have been happily downloading them religiously, especially for educational uses. However, it was only this year that I seriously wanted to produce “something.” The SC Young Adult Book Award (YABA) program gave me the chance by allowing me and the Wagener-Salley HS drama students the opportunity to produce the podcasts for this years Young Adult Book Award Nominees. [More on that in a minute.]

Jumping back to the question: If the lady who asked me about podcasts is reading this, please don’t feel bad about not knowing who, what, why, where, when, how to’s of podcasting. You are definitely not alone. Even I am not a definitive source of knowledge on the subject and could not fully explain it in all it’s wonderful glory in one blog post. However, for a quick and dirty explanation, here is a video by Common Craft that explains “Podcasting in Plain English.”

While the Common Craft show focuses on personal learning or entertainment podcasts, there are numerous out there that are useful in the K-12 setting both in and out of the classroom. And there are some not so educational podcasts being produced, too. As with anything you want to incorporate into your classrooms you need to view/listen to the podcasts first. Yes, podcasts can be viewed if they are a video podcast. If you’re new to podcasts, I recommend downloading iTunes and exploring their podcast pages. Also take a look at the iTunes U pages as those are specifically educational podcasts. Not every podcast out in Internet Land is listed there, but it at least give you some idea of what you can find.

Back to the 2008-2009 Book Award Nominee podcasts. You can find the links to all of the podcasts for each category (picture, children, junior, and young adult) on the SCASL website. Click on the “Book Awards” menu option and then choose the type of Book Award you want to view. They have an RSS reader icon on their podcast pages so you could subscribe to them in your RSS reader (Google Reader, Bloglines, etc.) HOWEVER, the files are all there as downloadable MP3s that you can save to your computer. They should open up in either Quicktime or Windows Media Player depending upon your computer (Mac/Windows). You can also transfer the downloaded files to your MP3 player.

Another option for the Young Adult Book Award Nominee titles is to subscribe to the podcasts via my school’s podcast page: “The Journey Begins…“ I’m in the process of putting all of the YABA Award episodes there with descriptions, cover art, and in such a way as to allow subscribing directly via iTunes. What’s taking me so long is getting the descriptions typed and giving the media specialist who wrote each booktalk the credit they so richly deserve. I hope to continue to add newer titles once all of the YABA books have been posted. However, since that means I have to write the booktalks, don’t expect them too regularly!

I’ve also been asked how did I produce the podcasts. Well, I “cheated.” I have a Mac! With Garageband! I simply opened Garageband, chose to create a podcast (or create new podcast episode) and had the students read the booktalks provided by the committee members. My Mac comes with a built in microphone, however, some of the podcasts were produced with the new Blu Snowball USB microphone

I purchased. Garageband also has jingles that you can use in podcasts. I recorded and saved an introduction that I included on all of the podcasts (next time I’ll change it to a conclusion as I’m sure the subscribers are tired of hearing my voice saying the same thing over and over and over!) I simply pieced together the different parts of each episode (music, intro, booktalk, music) and shared it as an MP3 file. For the school podcast page, I shared it to my iWeb page. The Mac did almost all of the work for me.

One thing I’m disappointed with SCASL’s podcast page for YABA is that they didn’t use the graphic I created for the podcasts. It tells a story and then the music I chose makes more sense when you hear it.

In my next post I’ll share some of the podcasts that I subscribe to and enjoy.

A couple of us were talking in the office Wednesday about this article from the Wall Street Journal and I thought I’d share it with the rest of you guys: What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?

Another article I found interesting was one from The New York Times written by David Pogue: How Safe is the Internet for Children?

I found some interesting podcasts in iTunes from the site Quick & Dirty Tips. You can listen to them from their web site or download (or subscribe to) the podcasts in iTunes. Note: the target audience for these are adults, so as with anything you decide to use in your classroom, please preview them before you use them! Ones I particularly liked are:

Grammar Girl: Quick & Dirty Tips For Better Writing

“Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing. Covering the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers, Grammar Girl makes complex grammar questions simple with memory tricks to help you recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules…”

Mr. Manners: Quick & Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life

“Whatever the occasion, it’s always good to put some effort into your appearance. This can help show your hosts and companions that you were looking forward to spending time with them, and may help you feel a little special.”

The other Quick & Dirty Tips pages/podcasts available are: Money Girl; Mighty Mommy; Legal Lad; and Get it Done Guy.

You might also like to take a look at the Internet Archive. The site lets you watch classic movies (ones fallen into the Public Domain) online. While this may not be the best way to watch movies, you can’t beat the price (FREE). You can also find books/text, audio, and software.

Speaking of books, (and no, I’m not a paid sponsor) did you know that Books-a-Million has teen books on their remainder (bargain) tables? Prices range from $1.97-$2.97 (paperback) to $3.97-4.97 (hardcover) and they are recent copyright dates (2006-2007 releases) as well as some older titles and classics. Great way to add to your classroom collections! They even have a couple of titles I know are on the SC Book Award lists! I was just there this afternoon and they’ve added a slew of new titles since I was there two weeks ago.