I enjoy listening to podcasts! I have always loved the radio and it just a talking version of the radio that I can put on my ipod!!! I already subscribed to a few podcasts, but it was fun to look for new ones to become addicted to. I wanted to start with finding a science podcast since I have nothing that relates to teaching. I found a few that I added and I have tried listening to them, but got bored rather quickly. Most of the podcasts I found sounded really good when I just listened to clips, but when I tried to listen to the whole episode, I could not! Some of the podcasts were just lectures recorded, which can sadly are boring when you can see the person, but it is 100% worse when all you can do is hear them. I did find this lecture interesting (http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details.php?seriesid=1906978358) but I was not willing to listen to the entire lecture. I found myself fast forwarding quite often just because I could. I think I need to keep searching (maybe not science though) and hopefully I will find a professional resource out of a podcast!
For personal use I went right back to my favorite podcast place: NPR! I already was subscribing to Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, so I decide to find my other favorite NPR show that I never catch in the car: This American Life. This show picks a different topic every week and then different people narrate their stories that relate. The episode I listened to was about “Oh you shouldn’t have,” which discussed the giving and receiving of gifts, both good and bad. I really enjoyed listening to the podcast instead of music while I graded, however, I kept trying to “see” the people talking! When I got wrapped up in a student’s paper, I would click (I was listening from my Google Reader online) and go through all the windows until I realized it was just audio…I did this 5 times! I love podcasts, but podcasts + grading = NO. I have to focus and people talking to me does not help the focus.
I added This American Life when we were filling up our Google Reader. I loved it! I have to say though, I'm not so great at listening to it while working(I tend to stop and listen instead of planning or grading), so I just add it to my iPod and take it on the go! But how great is it that we can take it anywhere! :-)
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