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Guest post by friEdTechnology Associate & 3rd grade teacher, Melissa Summerford, Tweet her at @SummerfordStars
My name is Melissa Summerford and this is my fourteenth year in education. I am a 3rd-grade teacher at Bear Branch Elementary and I absolutely love my BBES Family. I realized I wanted to be a teacher while working as a paraprofessional in 2003. I saw the impact teachers were making on students lives and I wanted to be apart of that club. I was twenty-six years old and had three kids when I decided to go back to college. Six years later I became the first in my family to earn a college degree. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Prairie View A&M in 2008. After 10 years of teaching, I have decided to work on a master's degree from Lamar University. I am majoring in Digital Learning and Leading. I have learned that showcasing my learning is a way to grow and improve my craft of teaching. My ePortfolio website is a place where I can reflect and share my experiences as a teacher. It is my goal and desire to inspire others to learn and grow using new and challenging methods.
Student voice is something I strive to give my students and I consider it to be an important component in my classroom . Student voice “is the individual and collective perspective, and action of students within the context of learning and education". One way I incorporate student voice is through Podbean. Podbean is a site that hosts podcasts for all types of learning and interests. Incorporating a classroom podcast has created another way for my students to share their learning globally. I believe when students know they are sharing with the world their desire for learning increases.
How does it work?
Create a Podbean account here - You can try it for Free
You can sign up through facebook, twitter, your google plus account, or you can create a new account using an email.
There is also an app you can download from the app store. This is a handy tool because I can record podcasts straight off my phone. I love this tool because my students get so excited when they know they are about to be featured on the channel.
I also allow students to create recordings of their own. They use a google extension called voice recorder. Students are able to save their recording in their google drive and share with me. I review their recording(s) and then upload to our station.