UEN Homeroom hits the road for this episode as Dani visits with Kelly Witkowski's students at Newbridge Elementary in Ogden School District. These students are the producers and hosts of a brand new podcast, Bookcast, in which they provide summaries and reviews of the books they are reading.
UEN Homeroom hits the road for this episode as Dani visits with Kelly Witkowski's students at Newbridge Elementary in Ogden School District. These students are the producers and hosts of a brand new podcast, Bookcast, in which they provide summaries and reviews of the books they are reading.
All right, thanks for coming to UEN's homeroom. This week, we're going to be talking about another podcast. Are you ready for that, Jared?
Another podcast? Can we really give the audience more?
Are there more out there-- absolutely. So thank you for joining us. There's the bell!
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So Dani, I heard that you recently went and visited an elementary school, and learned about a cool new project they're working on.
I did. I was able to go to New Bridge Elementary. It's up in Ogden School District. And I got to sit down with some of Kelly Witkowski's students, to talk to them about their podcast that they're doing. And before they would even let me talk to them, they wanted to interview me for their podcast.
So wait a minute. Before you could even have them on our podcast, you were a guest on their podcast?
Oh, yeah. These young leaders, they knew what they wanted. And they had to get that out of me first, before they'd sit down and talk to me.
Were you scared to answer their questions?
They sent them to me in advance, much like a service we do to the people on our podcast. But they were lovely, lovely young leaders, and they were awesome. And so, no, I wasn't afraid. They didn't ask me any crazy questions, but I did make them answer our usual questions from our studio audience.
Well, wonderful. Well, let's take a listen to Dani's interview with some of the kids from New Bridge Elementary School.
Yep, here we go. These are the students from Kelly Witkowski's class.
All right, today on "The Homeroom," we have some very special guests. Now normally, when we have a guest on "The Homeroom" we have questions from someone in our studio audience who is a Utah student. But today, I have three Utah students with me who I am going to be interviewing-- so I am going to ask them the questions. But I think first, I should have them introduce themselves.
Hi, my name is Caitlin.
And I'm Kaylee.
And I'm Lauren.
OK, Caitlin, you're first. Caitlin, can you tell me what is your favorite color?
Pink.
Pink. And do you have a favorite food?
Crepes.
Crepes-- interesting choice. OK, Kaylee, what is your favorite dinosaur?
The stegosaurus.
Stegosaurus, I love it. And do you have a favorite movie?
It's "Leap."
"Leap--" I haven't seen that movie. Should I see it?
Yes.
Would my son like it? He's six.
Yes.
OK, OK. And Lauren, do you have a favorite snack?
I like desserts.
You like desserts? OK, I like it. And if you had to pick a favorite holiday, what would be your favorite holiday?
Christmas.
Oh, well, that's easy. All right, it's almost Christmas time when we're recording this episode, so that makes sense. OK, ladies, it's nice to have you here.
Thanks.
OK, so I need Caitlin. I want you to tell me, what makes your class special?
Our amazing teacher, Ms. Witkowski.
Oh my gosh, why is she special?
Because she lets us do all these fun activities in class.
OK. And Lauren, do you want to tell me a little bit more about Ms. Witkowski?
She got a Maker Spaces [INAUDIBLE]. So we used it to make models of, what is it you could get energy? Like, using solar panels or windmills.
Oh, that's awesome. And [? Kaley, ?] what do you think makes your class special?
I think it's the different people. I think it's the different people that are in our class.
The different people in your class make your class special?
Mm-hm, because they all have different personalities and their own opinions. And they all act different.
I like that, too. And what's your favorite thing about Miss [? Wisnowski? ?]
My favorite thing about her is that she's really funny and she has a great sense of humor.
I agree. Did you know that she's been in one of my classes? So I was your teacher's teacher one time at UEN?
No, no.
Just this summer. Isn't that cool?
Yeah.
And guess what. She's a really good student. Did you know that?
No.
Did you expect that?
It's not surprising.
No.
It's not surprising? OK, Lauren, do you want to tell me about your podcast? What is it called and what's it about?
It's called "Bookcast." And so what we do is the kids will-- we will read different books. And we will record ourselves. And we'll tell a little bit about the book. And we will email it to our teacher. And she will bind them all together. And we'll make like a four- or five-minute episode so that anyone can look at them.
And they can look at the different books. And they could think, I want to read that book. And then they can read it.
I love it. So you're almost inspiring other people to read, but also, to be listeners of podcasts.
Yes.
That's pretty cool. That's awesome. OK, [? Kaley, ?] what have you learned doing a podcast?
I've learned that I like to not do video as much. I like to just show my voice, because when I'm on camera, I'm really shy.
Sure, it makes you nervous to be on camera. And being on the podcast doesn't make you as nervous?
Mm-hm.
Thank you. All right, [? Kaley, ?] what tools do you use for your podcast?
We use a microphone and a Chromebook.
A Chromebook. And is there a specific website that you use when you are--
Yes. We get into our Google Classroom. And our teacher has a link for us to click on.
OK, and Lauren, what's the name of the website that you guys are using?
We just go-- we can just go onto Google. Or it's in our Google Classroom. And we can just go in and type "online voice recorder," and one will pop up. And you can just click play and plug in a microphone, and it'll start recording you.
That is fabulous. So it's really easy to do. I came and, before we started recording this podcast for you guys to be on our podcast, you guys had me on your podcast. And you guys just got it set up so quick. It's really-- it seems really quick and easy. Yeah?
Yeah.
OK, what would you want other kids to know about podcasting? Who wants to answer that? Oh, everyone. OK, everyone can have a turn. Let's start with Lauren.
I want people to learn that it's fun to read books.
OK.
I want people to learn that your can actually, like, find a way to listen about books. And you can be inspired by someone else to read a book.
I love that.
I think said it's good because it can show kids that if they don't know if the book's going to be good, they can just listen to it and they can get a quick glimpse of it.
That's awesome. OK, now your teacher is letting you do this "Bookcast." She's letting you do a podcast. Now, sometimes doing new technology things with students makes teachers nervous, right? Because we all get nervous when we try new things-- is that true?
Yes.
Me, too. What would you want other teachers to know about trying something new? Whoops, we just lost a poster off a wall. It's all right. What would you want teachers to know about trying new things?
I want them to know that they should always take a chance and not be afraid and not just, like, judge something by how scary it sounds or by how scary it looks.
I think that's great advice. Does anyone else have some advice? Was it hard?
Yes.
Yeah.
You thought it was hard the first time?
Yes.
Because, like, learning all the technology on the Chromebooks--
OK, so learning how to do it. And then, how do you guys plan for the podcast ahead of time?
Our teacher, she printed out these worksheets. And we would put the author's name in and what the book is about and other things like that.
So you kind of have a storyboard or a script to go off of? Caitlin, you have something to say?
After we make the script, we type it on Docs. And then we split screen with the recorder. And then we look off of it.
Oh, that's great. So you know what you're going to say so you don't get lost in the middle of the podcast.
Yes.
I love it. OK, ladies. Is there anything you want teachers in Utah or across the world to know about podcasting, your class, "Bookcast?" Yes?
I want them to know that they should try it because it's a great opportunity for students who do the "Bookcast" or the podcast, and for students who listen to the podcast.
I love it. Those are some deep thoughts. Ladies, you have been wonderful. Thank you for being on my podcast today.
You're welcome.
All right, Jared. What do you think?
About what?
Those students!
Oh, those students were amazing.
Weren't they incredible?
Yeah, like I-- they are ready to take over our jobs right now.
I agree. But listeners, we didn't just say that.
No, they could never replace you, but I'm pretty sure I'm on the chopping block right now.
They were incredible. And they were so well-prepared. And they had a script ready to go. It was a really cool experience. And I'm glad I got to sit down with these young ladies.
They've got an amazing teacher. And I love to hear how she's letting the kids explore and learn in these fun and inventive ways.
Yeah, the thing that you should know maybe a little behind-the-scenes look is when I showed up to interview these students and to be on their podcast, I showed up, Mrs. [? Witkowski ?] just pointed at three students, they stood up out of the classroom, she barely even stopped teaching, and they were ready to go. This teacher has a handle on her class. And they are all just so ready to go with whatever rotation or thing that they're doing in class. So we'll tweet out a link to their podcast, if you'd like to see what they're doing as well. As you heard, it's called "Bookcast."
I can't wait to hear it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So [? Dani, ?] do you want to give our audience a tech tip today?
I mean, do we have to?
Well, I mean this is a podcast kind of about technology.
I'm tired. Do you have a tech tip for today?
I mean, I guess if I have to, I can come up with one.
I mean-- all right, so for our lazy teacher tech tip this week, I have a great tip if you have a Google Home or a Google Home Mini at your house. So the thing that I love about it is when I first set it up, I could say, hey Google, what's on my schedule today, and it would tell me what was on my schedule today. However, if someone else in my house asked it the same question, it would just give them my schedule.
Oh, how frustrating.
Indeed, especially when there's so many people with busy schedules at my house. Well, what I love is that you can add in other people on your Google Assistant and it will recognize their voices. So if I ask what my schedule is, it tells me from my Gmail Calendar. And then if my husband asks, it will tell him from his Gmail Calendar. So you can have multiple users.
The other thing that's really great is you can set up accounts for your kids. So when they ask, it will tell them what's on their calendar, if they do have a calendar. But you can also put in some filters in place so that different little voices, you can either block them from looking up YouTube if you have one of the Googles that has a screen on it, or turn on and off hours by using the Google Family Link app. So pretty cool tech tip-- maybe there can be some uses of the Google Mini in a classroom.
So one thing I have to tell you, [? Dani, ?] as I'm listening to your tech tip, I would find it very embarrassing if I asked what my schedule was and it gave me one of my kids' schedules or my wife's schedule.
I don't think you have to worry about that.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Thanks again for joining us for this episode of "UEN Homeroom."
Yeah, I hope we didn't lose too many listeners to "Bookcast" instead of "UEN Homeroom."
Yeah, for sure. Most of you are now going to be subscribing to another new podcast.
Thanks for listening. Have a great week.
See ya.
[MUSIC PLAYING]