[Eric]

Stemming from this thread, what podcasts do you regularly listen to?

Here's what is in my podcast playlist:

Tech:
Diggnation
TWiT
Buzz Out Loud
Cranky Geeks

News & Current Events:
NPR Most Email Stories
NPR Wait. Wait. Don't tell me
On The Media

Teaching:
I edit ESLTeacherTalk

Other:
This American Life
Leonard Lopate: Please Explain

[DaveESL]

ESL-related
ESLTeacherTalk
ESLetc. - mine

Comedy
Never Not Funny
Digital Flotsam
NPR - Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me
Le Show (Harry Shearer)
The Sound of Young America

Spirituality
BBC - All Things Considered
21st Century Buddhism
Urban Dharma

Other
NPR - Intelligence Squared

I also listen to This American Life but I don't like the podcasts because they're just excerpts.

[mesmark]

It's horrible but I don't even listen to my own

[livinginkorea]

Quote DaveESL

ESL-related
ESLTeacherTalk
ESLetc. - mine

Comedy
Never Not Funny
Digital Flotsam
NPR - Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me
Le Show (Harry Shearer)
The Sound of Young America

Spirituality
BBC - All Things Considered
21st Century Buddhism
Urban Dharma

Other
NPR - Intelligence Squared

I also listen to This American Life but I don't like the podcasts because they're just excerpts.

I see that you added another podcast in your series. I have downloaded it and will listen to it next week when I'm travelling to work.

[DaveESL]

Quote livinginkorea

I see that you added another podcast in your series. I have downloaded it and will listen to it next week when I'm travelling to work.

Right on! Let me know what you think.

Dave

[livinginkorea]

Listened to number 3 yesterday. Very interesting. It's very rare to find a teacher who doesn't have a rough syllabus lined out before they head into class. It's kinda a needs based analysis approach where the students pick what they want to learn. I do the same myself with my Samsung students (company classes) on the first day but I have some ideas for them if they are slow to think of any themselves. Did you find the same with your college students?

Also I like the idea that you will give them a project rather than exams to work on. It's an individual project right? It's great that you have practically free control to teach what is needed rather than a set syllabus pre-arranged by the department. I imagined that this would be rare in a college/university setting.

Anyway very interesting and looking forward to the next one.

Regards,

Lik

[simplyesl]

none.

[DaveESL]

Well, it's not like I go in with absolutely no idea of where the class is headed. It is true, though, that I'm willing to abandon whatever I had in mind if 1) it isn't working or 2) the students (or I) come up with something better.

The college students haven't been very forthcoming in terms of shaping the class, so I find myself kind of dragging them into letting me know what topics / language points are relevant to them.

As far as the final projects, they're actually doing group projects. I simply have too many students (~350) to evaluate individual projects. In the past, though, I always did individual projects. In the next podcast (#5 - I posted #4 today) I think I'm going to talk in more detail about some of the various projects I've done with my students.

As far as freedom, I kind of went into my MA degree with the attitude that I wanted to teach at a "bad" college so that I would have complete freedom. And when I started teaching here in China last month, I was given absolutely no syllabus or curriculum of any kind. Granted, I'm the first foreigner teacher at my school, and nobody really has any idea what's going on, so it could be different elsewhere.

Thanks for listening!
Dave

Quote livinginkorea

Listened to number 3 yesterday. Very interesting. It's very rare to find a teacher who doesn't have a rough syllabus lined out before they head into class. It's kinda a needs based analysis approach where the students pick what they want to learn. I do the same myself with my Samsung students (company classes) on the first day but I have some ideas for them if they are slow to think of any themselves. Did you find the same with your college students?

Also I like the idea that you will give them a project rather than exams to work on. It's an individual project right? It's great that you have practically free control to teach what is needed rather than a set syllabus pre-arranged by the department. I imagined that this would be rare in a college/university setting.

Anyway very interesting and looking forward to the next one.

Regards,

Lik

[HUE]

Hi Dave,

I just listened to the second podcast yesterday morning, the one on role-plays. Two weeks ago, I went to a lecture on role-plays. If you're interested, I can send you the handouts, unfortunately which are also filled with my scribble. I disagree with some of the points the presenter was making, but he had some good ideas overall.

It sounds like you worked into the class scripted role-plays (which I prefer to call dialogues) and goal-oriented role-plays. Did you have the students practice a scripted version first, so that they have the opportunity to see the language in context? I usually have everyone practice the dialogue several times, working in other tasks with each reading. I might also have them extend the dialogue, or even write a new one. This gives them the benefit of planning the conversation with the day's target language. Finally I'll move on to an unscripted role-play with a clear situation, characters, and goals. In my experience in a Japanese classroom, which may be different than what you're facing in China, the students are much more willing to participate if they have had ample time and practice to get comfortable with the target language.

Let me know about the presentation materials. I can scan the contents and send them to you.

[clivehawkins]

I've only just started really listening to podcasts too.
I get bored fairly quickly with listening to music all the time so pretty much any chat is welcome.

At the moment I'm halfway through the BBC's The Now Show, which has had me laughing out loud a couple of times.
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/do...owshow/rss.xml

Still with the BBC you can listen to film reviews at
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/do...eviews/rss.xml

I've downloaded the Wait, wait don't tell me show that a couple of you have suggested - I'll let you know what I think.

[clivehawkins]

The wait wait . . . . . podcast was nice. However, not being American I lost some of the references. Still, it had me laughing a couple of times. :-)

[livinginkorea]

Quote clivehawkins

At the moment I'm halfway through the BBC's The Now Show, which has had me laughing out loud a couple of times.
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/do...owshow/rss.xml

Thanks for the link. That's a very funny show but is there an archive list?

[clivehawkins]

If there is an archive I couldn't find it. Pity.
Try this too:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/do...sdaily/rss.xml
There's an archive.

Anyone else got any good comedy?

[livinginkorea]

Haha that's a funny show...a bit dirty...but I like it

Quote clivehawkins

If there is an archive I couldn't find it. Pity.
Try this too:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/do...sdaily/rss.xml
There's an archive.

Anyone else got any good comedy?