Saturday, February 24, 2007

SSR 2.0 - a podcast

(3/5 update: I reposted the podcast - it was incomplete here for a while - sorry about that!)

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my kids' experiences reading blogs during silent reading (SSR). I have continued to let them choose either blog reading or book reading. It has been interesting, to say the least. One day last week I asked them all about it, afterwards. Their perceptions and feelings were amazing. I told them I wished I had been able to record their thoughts - so, the next day I brought in my little mp3 player, put it on my stool in the middle of a circle of the 13 of us, and we talked about it. Here's the six minute podcast:

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting and a well spoken bunch of kids. I like their emphasis on "learning." This seemed to come up several times over the six minutes. Contrary to what people sometimes believe about kids, they really do want, and like, to learn, we jsut have to create the structures that lets this happen.

Miguel Guhlin (@mGuhlin) said...

Thanks for sharing this, Mark! I'm going to use it with teachers!

Miguel
http://www.mguhlin.net

Mark Ahlness said...

As I listen to this, and having the advantage of knowing the kids, I hear their repeating of "learning" as a way to justify that what they are doing is all right. I think some feel like they're getting away with something here... I'm just so happy they're reading!

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work. You have a lot of articles. I have one question. How many years have you been teaching? and I feel good about that we can read their blog because I am in your reading group. by Keean

Anonymous said...

I'm a K-4 school librarian, interested in using a blog with young kids. I find your entries lively and inspiring. I am concerned, however, with the unanimous preference for blogs over books among your students. I guess this is a function of web 2.0, where immediacy and interactivity trump reflection and language. I'd be interested in your thoughts on this.