Podcasting

Since I do not have a microphone I have not been able to experience this first hand, but I saw many ways podcasting might be useful in the classroom. One of my favorites is being able to record a lesson, or helpful hints for the students to go back to when they are working on their homework. Some students do not have people at home to help them, or their parents might even struggle with the work they are doing, so I can see this being a very useful tool.
Another idea I really liked was recording book narrations for beginning readers to read along with. This allows them to hear the inflection in your voice, and will help them as they learn to read. This would be great for a listening center. Here are a couple websites I found where the students can listen to people read stories to them. http://www.robertmunsch.com/storytime.cfm , http://storynory.com/
Another idea I had was that students could record their oral presentation. There are always students in your class who can excel in their work, but get so nervous when they have to get up in front of their class, that they almost faint. I thought they could record their presentation, and present it in podcast format. This would help to reduce some of their stress, and show their true potential, but it might also help them gain confidence so one day they won't be so afraid of public speaking.