Ah the Podcast. This handy invention has innumerable uses in the classroom. Students can create or listen or do both! I’ve learned the usefulness of the Podcast because of an unwanted snow day that took much needed class time away from me.

My class has been studying four Supreme Court cases for the past week. We are focusing on the fourteenth and fourth amendments. Students were asked to make cases for each side of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954), New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985), and Vernonia v. Acton (1995). This lesson has had a dual purpose: to get students familiar with the proceedings of the United States Supreme Court and what it does as well as to delve deeply into constitutional issues.

Because of the snow day, I lost one day of “court session” time. In order to play catch-up, I’ve been podcasting my lectures about the outcome of the cases and the implications of the cases. Without having to lecture in class I can skip straight to the good, er, I mean discussion part of my lessons. Students listen to the podcasts at home or on school computers and then come in prepared to discuss the next day. Some of them even choose to do extra research with links I’ve provided! By leaving the preparation lectures to students to listen to for homework, they come in to a class that is able to discuss issues on a deep level. Also, students can listen to my 4-10 minute lectures more than once to make sure they’ve understood all of the main ideas.

Podcast preparation has been working swimmingly in my classes and I would encourage all teachers of middle and upper school students to try it. Class is so much more rewarding for both teacher and student if they can be actively engaged for the entire 50 minute period.