Marketing ...again!

The second half of the school year begins on March 13; this is the first Monday where FCAT prep is no longer a staple of the classroom agenda. With test anxiety surfacing, podcast filming has declined during the past month; when visiting most classrooms observable instruction did not stray away from FCAT test taking strategies. Go figure! I did manage to film a few examples for next year.

The start of the second half of the year means new opportunities to reach teachers (especially those with FCAT on the brain). Podcast awareness will be given a jumpstart with new Teasers.
Here are a few examples.

What others are doing

The feedback on the podcast product been quite positive and hopefully the focus can finally turn the corner and connect to coaching. Both NSU and BCC have involved (or soon will) HRD’s Teacher Podcasts to their student classes. I plan to meet with Deb and Julia (they just don't know it yet) to discuss their plan for utilizing this as a professional development resource.

The HRD podcast blog (hrdpods.blogspot.com) has promise since it will allow us immediate control of the podcast descriptions. Right now, there are quite a few steps and I am just not sure if retracing steps is possible. One possibility for improvement will be found in the “Tuning Protocol” podcast; this blog post will include links to procedures as listed from the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) and Looking at Student Work (LASW) websites. A one-stop shop for coaches would be wonderful!

Additionally, the podcast blog allows for LABELS (e.g.- Classroom Management, Instructional Strategy, Primary) to be added with each podcast post. This LABEL might ease the process for users to navigate and identify relevant podcasts. With just 15 up there, there is not much of a challenge, just wait and see when the catalog reaches 500.

Influence

The 67 participants (from the survey above) include responses from new and experienced educators from the South Central Superintendent schools and from HRD’s iPod Study Group.

These responses validate the need to develop the collaboration aspect of the use of HRD’s Teacher Podcasts.

Current AR question: How does the use of a podcast as a coaching resource for NESS School Liaisons and Instructional Coaches support and develop New Educators in the South Central Superintendent Schools?