WMS Teachers See an Increase In Student Engagement
Submitted by Shannon Regan
Warren Middle School (WMS) Teachers Mrs. Gina Banks, Mrs. Jessica Decelle, and Mrs. Leslie Ortega have implemented a strategy in their classrooms that has ignited a spark in their students as well as increased student engagement within their classrooms.
Using Podcasts in a classroom setting has been found to be a powerful educational tool to promote curiosity, interest, optimism, and a passion for learning. Since including digital audio files into their lessons, in addition to traditional reading, Banks, Decelle, and Ortega have noticed an improvement in their students’ listening skills and classroom engagement. The increased classroom engagement has been extremely beneficial for the student’s social and emotional wellbeing.
According to Banks, “Students must be ‘all ears’ while listening to the 15-20 minute episodes. They have learned a great deal about the art of note-taking since while they can go back and re-listen to the podcast episode, they can’t ‘re-read’ the text. Thus, they are learning to take great notes, and they are always prepared to discuss their notes which include key events, questions, clues, suspects, and theories with their peers.”
The students are currently listening to The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel. This story for middle school students, performed by middle school students, is a serial mystery adventure following a group of eleven-year-olds trying to find their missing friends.
Most importantly, the students are thrilled about adding podcasts to their classroom experience. When asked to give an example of one benefit of listening to a podcast, the students were excited to share their thoughts. Some found that a podcast can promote a different, or in one student’s case, a better understanding of the story.
“I liked the podcast because there were sound effects and different voices of the characters to make me visualize it better,” said 6th Grade student Alexandra.
“I enjoyed the Mars Patel podcast and podcasts in general because you can hear the characters talk and learn more about the characters. You can also understand the topic much better than you would in a book,” explained 6th Grade student Jared.
While some students may prefer using a podcast as an educational tool, many of the grade 6 students agreed that they still love reading a book just as much.
“I like the Mars Patel podcast and podcasts in general because you can feel the feelings of the characters better and you can hear their voices. When you hear their voices it helps you envision what they would look like better than in a book. But I still really like books and their feel and the information in them,” said 6th Grade student Abriel.
All three middle school educators are delighted to see their students’ enthusiasm. The teachers describe the students as eager and excited to listen to the podcast episodes to gather new information and clues to try and unravel the mystery.
For more information about the podcast the WMS students are currently listening to (The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel) please visit marspatel.com.
Photos by Warren Township Schools
