Edutopia Podcasts

For this assignment I was asked to watch two video podcasts found in Edutopia on iTunes. The first video podcast I watched was "The Edible Schoolyard" which was done by students at Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in Berkely, California. This classroom is actually an outdoor classroom where students spend their first period planting, harvesting, and eating what they grow from their organic "edible" schoolyard! Their outdoor classroom is adjacent to their indoor kitchen area where they also learn social studies, math, science, and life. The teachers use every part of their environment to teach. I feel like I can relate to this somewhat because I come from a farming family. We only grow fruits and vegetables and I absolutely love having access to fresh vegetables anytime I need them. I also love watching them grow. I thought this podcast was amazing and would love to be able to incorporate something like this into my classroom as well.

The next podcast I listened to was "A Night in the Global Village" by Heifer Ranch for sharing and learning. The program is designed to let kids walk in someone elses shoes and focuses on hunger and poverty. They also raise and then donate livestock to poverty stricken countries. The ranch simulates living conditions that would be found in a country with poverty such as Thailand. The living areas are actually categorized into different countries. I think this is an amazing way to make students aware of what is happening in the world around them. It also lets them know how lucky they are to have what they have. This would be an awesome experience for anyone, not just children.