Pod People and PS FYI "POS"

Since my AP Spanish students have been exposed to high-quality Spanish-language podcasts and videos from the BBC all year, I am looking forward to making a podcast part of next semester's assignments. We have been examining the roots of modern Spanish-speaking civilization in the Americas, and connections between the past and present. (Example: Modern manifestations of the Mayan culture in the Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala and beyond, exemplified in the work of Nobel-prize winner Rigoberta Menchu and others).

In the past, I emphasized the many research- and language-practice links already loaded on my webpage (since 2005!): http://south.mpls.k12.mn.us/31Jul20052.html) and had students present Power Point oral reports in class on a variety of culture topics. That was quite labor-intensive with the numbers of students enrolled in Spanish classes. It is no simple task to edit numerous student writing assignments in another language and provide meaningful guided feedback. It is a very different process from first-language writing development.

Now that I have learned how, I will have students do a podcast in Spanish on a topic related to the contemporary Spanish-speaking world, a world very much alive in Minnesota. Their podcasts will have a special new relevance. I am still refining the themes, but the assignments will involve an interview with someone from the community. Since the students we see nowadays need very prescriptive rubrics to complete assignments sucessfully, the MILI-suggested podcast rubrics will be useful.

PS FYI--Raise your hand if you know what "POS" stands for in texting slang: OK--"Parent Over Shoulder" (by now, that little screen would have gone blank if you had caught a student or your child texting something inappropriate). How quickly those little peas sprout wings!