Classroom Management Podcast

Classroom Management Podcast MP3

As a musician, I have used a lot of different recording and audio editing softwares. I like Audacity because it is a decent editing software that is free and simple. The simplicity, however, can sometimes be a bit of a challenge.

One of the biggest obstacles I encountered was the cutting and fading of audio. It took me a long time to figure out how to be precise with it. Other softwares like Garageband and Pro Tools are very user friendly in these areas, and I have memorized the shortcuts. Using a program with very different shortcuts made things challenging.

Googling questions I had was the fastest solution to all of the things I could not work out on my own. Because Audacity is free, there is a large network of users who have figured out all sorts of shortcuts and tricks. By using their advice, I was able to find out how to quickly get things faded.

I really like listening to podcasts, so it was really rewarding to record my own, even if no one will ever hear it and I will never make another. To be allowed that ownership was rewarding. I think I may use something like this is the "flipped classroom" model, where students listen to a lecture at home and complete activities in class.

Google Sites and Wordpress

For the website assignments, I decided to use Google Sites and Wordpress. I have used both of these platforms in the past, but it had been years since I had tried them. A lot had changed about both platforms, and it took a little more relearning than I thought.

All-in-all, I liked Google better. With Wordpress, I kept running into issues where I could not edit something that I needed to. Luckily, my new experience in HTML helped me to go into the coding and fix a couple issues, such as inserting my email address, which is not made easy for you in Wordpress. Google, on the other had, was a lot more user friendly in this respect and many others. The major benefit I saw from Wordpress was a speaker and more creative design.

Another major obstacle I faced was finding topics for my two sites. For the Google one, I took an assignment that I give to juniors and converted it into an online platform. This is included linking to videos and sites outside of Google. For my Wordpress site, I was trying hard to think of something I know that is step-by-step. I have taught surfing to kids for years, and it is a very step-by-step process, so I decided to make my site on that. The only problem for me after that was the amount of detail I wanted to go into. With something like surfing, it is hard not to get a little carried away.

With both, I figured out how to make my organization match the site's and page's structure. This is an invaluable asset to have for your site because it can attract and hold the visitor instantly.