Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Auditory Processing
While driving to school every morning, I listen to NPR on the radio to hear the latest news updates, discussions about current events, politics, art, literature, psychology and sociology, and the list goes on. This public broadcast is especially important to me, while it sets the tone for my day, feeding my intellect as well as getting me to think about important topics which are current. On my way to school today, I heard the next chapter to a multi-part series which has been built upon daily. The series follows the making of a t-shirt, from the first step, which is buying the cotton bails (grown in Texas), to spinning the yarn (produced in a factory in Indonesia), to the sewing of the shirt (sewn in a factory in Bangladesh), and lastly follows two seamstresses in this factory. This series intrigued me very much, and I began to think about how every morning as I drive to school, I sit in a non-traditional lecture where I listen to in depth reporting on a multitude of topics, such as the production of a t-shirt. It then occurred to me that, if this type of learning could be so effective and fascinating to me, why couldn't I integrate it into my classroom? Once I arrived at school, I searched NPR.org and found the series that I had been listening to, in the form of an article, along with the audio clips which I had heard on the radio on the way to school. Considering the push for informational texts within the classroom in the common core standards, I figured this would be a great article to have students read along to while they listen to the audio clip. Students who retain information better from reading the text will have the opportunity to do so, highlighting and taking notes as they read, while those who process best from listening will also have the benefit of listening to the journalist, which also provides proper demonstration of annunciation, pacing, and pronunciation. While the topic harps on social, ethical, economical and political matters, as well as having pedogogical benefits, I believe the integration of radio/journalism in my classroom can be beneficial to an array of learners.
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As someone who listens to a lot of NPR (I heard this series as well), this could be a very interesting thing to see in a classroom. As noted in your post, those who are strong readers will have the opportunity to learn that way, while those who are auditory learners will have that available as well. This would hopefully cover most (if not all) the students that would be in the classroom. Depending on the students in our classroom, we will constantly be needing to alter and modify our lessons to benefit the students, and this is a great example of how to properly do so.
ReplyDeleteNPR would be a wonderful addition to any classroom. Students learn in all different ways, and including auditory components to a lesson can only improve the lesson, as it would provide students with more opportunities to learn. You don't often see radio series or anything related to journalism in the classroom, even though it is such an important area of Language Arts. I also think that having this auditory component in the classroom would also help students who are not accustomed to seeing the way language is constructed in something other than writing. I would be very interested to use NPR in my own future classroom, and will probably do so thanks to your post!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! As future educators we need to constantly be thinking about how students learn and in what way we should approach teaching our discipline. Reading articles can be quite tiresome after awhile, so having that variety of format I think would be very fruitful to students. If you used a text all the time perhaps an audio version could be found - or the teacher could even record themselves reading! The first thing I think there is to think about is how you would distribute the material. It cannot be assumed that every student has the appropriate technology to access the materials needed to learn. But, there are many different ways to listen, which is fantastic. A CD can be made, an audio file can be sent through email, it could be on the internet, there could be a computer in the room for the students to put it on a usb, or they could go to a school or public library to listen. Either way, the idea is great!
ReplyDeleteSuzanne,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post! When I am teaching social studies, NPR can become a useful tool to start my students days. In the history class students are exposed to more historical information instead of current events that could be important for them to know. I think NPR will help my students stay updated with events. If used successfully, I think I could create an assignment for my students where they would have to relate current events with historical events. This way students can use technology and relate something important to them to something historical. I think this would make the information more relevant to the students and they will have a better time with the content. I am constantly trying to find new ways to teach history so students forget this whole idea that history is "boring." Thank you for posting about NPR; I think I can really use this to my advantage in the social studies classroom.
This is a great point! You could even take this idea of radio learning and pair a lecture through this technology, then transform it into a project. (Example: The History of radio) The students could create their own radio broadcast using a technology called podcasting. Students could choose a relevant topic to present that pertains the lesson plan and present their radio station. Hands on creative activities help students to become engaged in the content, where students can then participate in creative and critical thinking.This makes it fun for the students! Sparking interests might even lead to encouraging a school radio station, that could be an after school club. this could put students who are interested in production and start them on the right track.
ReplyDeleteStudents could also create a logo for their radio station, to integrate some art into the lesson!
ReplyDelete