Giving Student Voice a Stage ft. Tim Belmont | My EdTech Life 357

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 0:12

Hello everybody and welcome to another great episode of My Ed Tech Life. Thank you so much for joining us on this wonderful day and wherever it is that you're joining us from around the world. Thank you as always for all of your support. As always, we appreciate all the likes, the shares, the follows. Thank you so much for engaging with our content and we appreciate all of your wonderful feedback. So thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. And again, I want to give a big shout out to our amazing sponsors who have really helped us continue to bring you some amazing conversations. So I want to give a big shout out to Book Creator, Eduaid, and Peelback Education. We appreciate all of your support so we can continue to bring conversations like today's into our education space so we can continue to grow and learn together. And today I am really excited to welcome back a past guest that I've had on the show. And today we're going to be talking about a really great project that he has started within his uh school building. And we're going to learn a little bit more about that because it deals with one of my favorite things and one of his favorite things too, which is amplifying student voice and in a very great way. So for those of you that are tuning in or needing some ideas or wanting to learn more about how you can amplify authentic, genuine student voice and really bring that into the learning. Today's the day. So you are lucky to be here as I welcome my I consider him a really great friend. And I've had the opportunity to meet him. And I'm just excited that he's here to talk with me today. Mr. Tim Belmont. Tim, how are you doing today?

Tim Belmont 1:54

Fonz, I'm doing great. It's so great to be back on my ed tech life and great to see you. And uh, I'm just great for this opportunity to just chat and talk about what I've been up to. So the thanks again for having me.

Tim’s Teaching And Tech Role

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 2:08

Yeah, absolutely. I know you were here uh a couple of years back, and uh, and I mean, time flies. Talk about time flies. It was just fantastic that you were on. And I mean, just getting some feedback too. I remember you were telling me, you know, you had some family members also watching the show, and they were just so excited and everything. And I mean, that's what it's all about. So thank you so much for joining me again. And for our audience members, though, Tim, that this might be the very first time that they get a little peek into your world, into what you are doing. Can you give us a little brief introduction and what your context is within the education space?

Tim Belmont 2:44

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm based in New Jersey and I have been teaching language arts for the past 14 years. So I teach at Lyndhurst High School, and I mostly teach ninth graders. I teach mainly freshman English, and then I also teach public speaking and advanced public speaking. And aside from teaching English, I also am my district's technology coordinator. So I help run trainings for teachers on the technology platforms that we've invested in, giving them ideas on how they can meaningfully integrate technology into their classrooms, which also has included, as you could imagine, over the last couple of years, some new responsibilities like being on the AI committee and thinking about things like that and how that can come into the classroom. And something that's been a passion of mine through my teaching, especially within my context, teaching public speaking and advanced public speaking, has been not just focusing on more sort of traditional speeches where the student is up in front of the classroom, but bringing in technology and modern ways that speaking skills can come into the classroom. So podcasting has become a pretty big part of that. It's become a part of my public speaking class. I've have students demonstrate their mannerisms and also the idea of connecting with audiences through recording short shows. And then the elective advanced public speaking, that is a class that I created, really has almost half of the class is recording podcasting. And we get into some of the more technical aspects, but then again, it's such a great opportunity for them to demonstrate their speaking skills and connect with others. So it's become just a big part of my everyday, is that that sort of podcasting step.

Podcast Assignments That Build Confidence

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 4:48

And you know, that's something that's such a fantastic opportunity, first and foremost. And I am a big fan, a big proponent of authentic student voice and show in allowing students, I should say, to be able to demonstrate their learning, not just in a written form, you know, through a worksheet or, you know, through slides, but just that the speaking aspect of it is so important. And at least from my experience and from what I've seen is with language acquisition and building that confidence, building, like you mentioned too, something very important is uh having that authentic audience, your authentic self, your authentic voice, and just really sharing that with others and building those, building on those soft skills, you know, the collaboration, communication skills, the critical thinking, all of those things as you know, you dive into creating a script that is going to be fit for what it is that you might be asking for, depending on the assignment. But I want to ask you here, because I uh I've been to several conferences, and one of my favorite things to do is present on podcasting in the classroom. Now, oftentimes what happens, and I feel is that many people, uh, when they hear podcasting, or maybe even like maybe district leaders also who may not be aware about the power of podcasting, sometimes I feel that they think that it's more of a tool, like a gimmick, just something just a little different. But I don't think they realize, you know, how much of a pedagogical shift this can be, especially in an environment within a classroom. So I want to ask you, Tim, if you can just dive in a little bit and maybe give us a little example as far as how you integrate podcasting with your students, maybe describing some of the assignments in depth and really just the outcome of that, not only as a finished product, but as far as the student and how they feel in sharing their authentic voice.

Tim Belmont 6:49

Yeah, absolutely. And I 100% agree. It's very easy to be like, oh, podcasting, it's just, oh, people are doing it just because it's this popular online thing and that's the only reason. Which I mean, it is a huge industry. And so there is some value to being like, this is a popular thing, and that in itself, I think is a good reason to pursue it because it has a lot of transferable skills to careers and things like that. But uh it absolutely has uh it's just an avenue for students to express their opinion and their learning that sometimes isn't as accessible or maybe they're not as comfortable with writing. So, to give a couple of examples, I just wrapped up one of my public speaking classes, which is a half-year course. And uh it's a sort of more traditional class originally. It's a really an introduction to public speaking. So it really is about giving students the confidence to stand up in front of the class and just get comfortable being in front of each other and having that opportunity to sort of experiment. And the final project that we did was a podcasting project where students had to, uh they were asked to choose a career or a passion or a hobby that requires public speaking skills and then record a podcast with them sharing how that field uses public speaking. So it was not only them expressing what they've learned about public speaking, but then they had to use their public speaking skills to create the product itself. And it's always interesting because obviously public speaking is a very nerve-wracking endeavor for most students. I think most people in general, I mean, I tell them all the time I get nervous just when I'm up talking in front of anybody. But it's always sort of amazing to see which students maybe showed trepidation when we were doing other assignments. And then within this medium of podcasting, they really are able to articulate what they're thinking and they get that confidence that maybe they didn't have before. And especially if you give them that ability to infuse it with something that they care about and they want to talk about, uh, that choice is a huge aspect of it. Um even if, you know, with this assignment where they had to choose a career, it's a pretty narrow band that they could talk about. It's not like I told them talk about anything, but even within that prompt I gave them, they had the choice to choose something that is of personal interest to them, which I think is always huge, is allowing that ability for them to really bring in that personal connection to it. And so with that, I it was I was able to not just figure out whether or not they understood how public speaking applies in life, but then there's that other layer of sort of grading their expression that they're using in their product. So that's the the most recent example that I used. But again, you're you're just you're able to uh allow them to express what they know on different levels at the same time through something like a podcast, which I think is a huge benefit to it.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 10:19

Yeah, absolutely. And so kind of going along with that, that's a great segue into my next question that I did want to ask, because I know for us within our circle, you know, we're going to conferences, teachers hear this all the time, and and I'm always saying it too as well. We always use the phrase student voice, student voice, student voice. And so we say it so much, but sometimes I feel like maybe it's might have lost its meaning somehow along the way, or there's different varieties and ways that students can actually share uh and express their student voice. So sometimes it becomes a little bit more kind of like symbolic rather than kind of like a structural way of doing it. So I kind of want to ask you, as far as in your classroom, as your students are working on these projects, what are some ways that they understand how to distinguish maybe the authentic student voice as opposed to more of a performative student voice, especially within the context of not just podcasting, but within the assignment?

Tim Belmont 11:24

That's a good question. And something that I I talk to my students about this really throughout all of my public speaking classes, because uh this is the idea of having an authentic student voice, it doesn't really just apply to podcasting. It can apply to really anything where they're expressing ideas. And so one way that I frame it is that when you're choosing a topic for a presentation or a podcast, you don't just want to choose something that you think the audience will be interested in. It's sort of like a Venn diagram where you want it to be something that the audience you think will be interested in, but also that you are interested in talking about. And if you that's really hard to fake being interested in something. And a lot of times the audience will realize that. And so, really, the best way to be engaging is to be engaged yourself in whatever you're talking about. So it can be tough sometimes because a lot of times students might be motivated by getting the best grade. And I really try to emphasize this is an opportunity for you to express what you care about. And of course, you want it to be as engaging as possible, but you want to get something out of it as well. So I stress that to the students, and that's with the podcasting, especially, but then even with just formal presentations that we do in front of the class. And I have a slide that has that Venn diagram with what you're interested in, what the audience is interested in, and then that little middle part, the overlap is really what you want to focus on.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 13:14

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, and that's something that is great that you share because, you know, and many times because they are concerned about the grade. And for me, you know, what was most important as always was that authentic voice. Like I wanted to know more about how what they were thinking and the way they expressed it, that that would allow me to know if they did master the content or there was understanding of the content. And so, very much like you said, you know, if there's some students that may not feel comfortable, I mean, you're gonna hear a little bit. Maybe there's those misconceptions. So for me as a teacher, I just really liked for them to not only work on it on paper, but I mean, if they can verbalize it and express it for me, I think uh it was a win-win in the sense that they worked on how to present the information on that particular assignment and then their comfort level, but also for me, be able to hear and find those misconceptions that I can easily reteach. And that's just being in a general ed classroom, per se, as far as a um self-contained teaching multiple subjects. I know you're working specifically on speech, but still that is very important. And those skills that they do gain, uh, I truly believe that they are very, very important. I mean, and when I if I think back to my very first communications class in at university level, wow, I mean, talk about learning about public speaking. I mean, I know we did presentations in high school, but when you get into college level, I mean, it is very different. And luckily, I had a great professor that I learned a lot from. And, you know, you get better with practice and learned what verbal crutches were and things of that sort. And, you know, you you continue to grow from there. So that's something that's great. And I know that students definitely grow with the more that they practice. And so going back to the content here, as far as that genuine authentic voice, now when you present their products or they present their products to a genuine audience, what do you feel that maybe that reshapes the the accountability as far as the effort is concerned that they put on their part? And are there any projects that maybe you've done? And I believe maybe you you've shared it a couple of times, like through MPR. Um, I know that there was a podcasting project that they did. Um, if your students did participate in that, can you tell us like what it is that you saw when a student truly knew that there was going to be an authentic, genuine audience listening to their work?

Tim Belmont 15:59

Yeah, and this is a big part of and it's a challenge that I've been sort of trying to address over the past year, but it it's huge. Really heading into recording a podcast and having a wider audience in mind that adds to that authenticity. A lot of times, it uh knowing that they're making a product that is it's it's a product uh podcast with a genuine audience that's gonna listen to it. They may have feedback, it's a chance for them to get their voice beyond school walls. The attitudes that they have definitely changes and they take it a lot more serious. And you mentioned the NPR student podcast challenge, which it's I've now integrated this as part of my advanced public speaking class. Um, it is a podcast recording contest that NPR does every year, and it usually is in the spring. So I think that this year the deadline to submit is in May. And essentially, students need to uh they have some prompts that students take up, and they have to record a podcast addressing one of the prompts, which is pretty general, and it definitely allows for students to share their opinions. And then there are pretty specific guidelines, like they can't use any recorded music, they have to record any music and sound effects themselves. And I've had some students actually record their podcast and submit it to the contest, and the excitement that these students have when they do it is it's like unmatched. I uh I've had students who are staying after well after the bell rings at the end of the day, just recording, sitting with me and editing, getting suggestions on how to tweak their recordings. And it just really invigorates them when they know uh this is being sent out to a wider audience. It's an opportunity, and that authenticity really has them rise to the occasion. So it's one of the favorite things that I do is when we have these opportunities for students to record uh and have it go outside of the classroom walls, which it also has been a challenge to sort of navigate that. But I'm I've been trying to find creative ways to have it, you know, uh adhere to guidelines, but then still have that authentic audience. But it's it's been great. And I'm looking forward to my students submitting their podcast this year to the competition.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 18:42

Excellent. And I, you know, I think the way that you describe it too, I mean, cognitively, you know, emotionally, there's a lot that goes into it. And I mean, the students are heavily invested in that final project. They they see, again, not only the fruit of their labor and they but putting it out there. And for them at that young age, you know, and being in high school and putting themselves out there in with a genuine audience of adults that are going to be listening, or the judges and so on, I think that that is something that not everybody is prepared for many times, or maybe they don't think how grand this is as far as you know, the implications of somebody out there that is listening to their work, their thoughts, what's coming from their heart, you know, and that they're they're putting down on paper scripting and then uh polishing that product uh for the end result. And I think that's something that is great. And um, yeah.

Tim Belmont 19:44

Yeah. Sorry. Uh one thing that I did want to point out is that what when we do these products, uh, the the uh project for the NPR student podcast challenge, I never start off and I'm like, listen, you need to just let it all out there. You need to just bleeding heart tell everybody about your life. Yet they they want to do that. So it's it it that always sort of blows my mind when I it's like, wow, they're they really are they're genuinely sharing these personal things about their lives. And so they again, it's just something where they they take up that opportunity.

Building The Bell Tower Platform

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 20:21

Yeah. No, and I mean it not only that, Tim, but I mean, it's looking back at even with the presentations that I do on podcasting, uh, oftentimes I think that like we talked a little bit about it. Um some people may dismiss it as I mean, they're just gonna record their voice, they're just gonna record their thoughts, they're just gonna record what they did in that lesson. But I think it hits so many other things. I mean, for me, it's just on the literacy standpoint. I mean, they're scripting, they're taking either a chunk of learning and really condensing it. Because at least what I have done in the classroom is I won't tell you, like, yeah, I'm gonna give you 30 minutes or I'm gonna give you three minutes. It's a 90-second podcast, and you're gonna go ahead and summarize what it is that we talked about. And in this those 90 seconds, you're gonna show me exactly what it is that you learned and things of that sort, and making it quick and in that aspect. Of course, then you can extend those projects too. But I mean, just the consideration and the awareness of writing a clear script, getting everything ready, making sure that everything fits and it's in line and it's sequenced. I mean, it it really shows some strong academic core skills and not just, hey, let me go ahead and click record, and now all of a sudden I'm just a podcaster and just talking into the mic with no form or at all whatsoever. So that's one thing that I do love about it. So I'm glad that, you know, throughout that work, I know that your students developed that too as well. So, Tim, I wanted to talk to you because I know a couple of months ago, actually in January, as we started the year, you had posted on LinkedIn and And you know, we were connected on LinkedIn and I saw that you had posted something regarding the Bell Tower, a project that you're working on. So can you tell us a little bit about the Bell Tower and maybe what the vision is?

Tim Belmont 22:42

Sure. And uh it's been really fun to work on, but it started with one of the issues that I alluded to a little bit earlier, which is having an authentic audience for student podcasts. I found that, especially sort of last year and the year before, when I had students doing these podcast projects, they were recording and they were these really, really great uh shows that were exploring ideas that were really personal to them and interesting and highly engaging. And I had experimented with a bunch of different ways to share the podcast, um, ranging from having students sign a waiver to have them uploaded to Spotify for sharing to having a Google site with an embedded audio file on them. And the challenge that I was facing is that I wanted the ability for students to listen to and engage with each other's podcasts in a, again, an authentic manner, sort of the way that people listen to podcasts in everyday life through an app or through the internet. But then also allowing them to share it beyond the classroom, yet still following the education privacy laws, such as FERPA and KAPA, and not worrying about students' personal information sort of being out there in a way that might be uncomfortable for community members or people in the district. And there were some ways that I uh got around it a little bit, where again, I mentioned I made a Google site and they uploaded their audio, and then that could be shared within the school. You could limit it so it's only for students who are logged in so they could share it with uh other classes in the building, which was working pretty well. But I I was noticing that students weren't really engaging as much as I would have liked with each other's podcasts, because the process of doing that, it doesn't, again, it doesn't feel sort of authentic. So I thought, what if there was a platform where my students could put their podcasts on it and they could sort of choose who it's shared with, whether it's in the classroom or even a little bit further beyond. But it had some of the authentic feeling features that are on some of these podcast sharing websites and apps. So allowing them to browse through classmates' podcasts, they could listen to them and sort of pick up where they left off later if they want. Uh, they could upload podcasts that they made and they could put up uh artwork for it. They could generate a transcript and uh have the teacher have control of how far these podcasts go. Share them with the class, share them with other classes, have shareable links that are trackable so they could be turned on and off. And so a little over a year ago, uh I've I've done some coding projects in the past. I've made some websites that I've used in my classroom, ranging from a little like Twitter clone based on Romeo and Juliet, where students were tweeting as Romeo and Mercutio and things like that. And I had uh messed around with a couple different things using Node, which is a programming language. And I started to piece together this website. And uh a year later, a little over a year later now, it's a basically functional website that I've used with my students where they can go to it and they can upload their podcasts, and it's easy for their classmates to access them. And then we have the option of sharing them out a little bit more too. And as far as my goal with making the website, as I started putting it together, I was really, really intrigued by I mentioned before, those educational privacy laws like FERPA. And I wanted to think about what would have to go into a website like this where other schools, other teachers could use it. And so it became not just this platform for my students, but trying to make it so that other teachers could use it as well, such as integrating, allowing districts to audit student information and having it sort of uh being able to log what students are doing in case districts want to see that. Uh so it's been a huge learning experience for me. And as far as what the future holds, uh really my main goal is to allow it for my students to use to share their podcasts. But ultimately, I would like it to be a place where students can come and listen to each other's podcasts. So if my students record a podcast and they want a school, you know, in another state to listen to it, this website could facilitate that where they could sort of share their podcasts and give each other feedback. So uh it's it's sort of just been a personal project that I've expanded to my own use. And but I think there might be other teachers out there who might be interested in using it for the same type of purpose.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 28:00

I think that's something that's fantastic, Tim. I mean, even going back to pre-COVID times when I was in the classroom, I would invite, you know, other teachers or from you know different districts into the classroom, you know, using Google Meet or, you know, or whatever it was that was there. Then of course we went through COVID, everybody's virtual, you know, things of that sort. But this is what it kind of reminds me of of still taking your school and extending, extending it out beyond the four walls, not necessarily, you know, in real time, but with the authentic voices of your students still being readily available. And like you mentioned, I think that this is something that can definitely be something great when now you have schools in uh in other districts, you know, that are listening to uh, you know, other students from a different area, demographic area, just geographical area, whatever the case is, and just listening to what it is that they're putting out. And it's just a a great genuine audience of students their age giving them feedback. And I think that's something that is great, that does not just have to stick with what you're doing at school. So it really gets me excited. Like you said, you know, another school might be interested to hopping on that this could turn into possibly some kind of a network altogether, you know, like a podcasting network where now you have um neighboring states that have schools that want to participate and now they want to go ahead and put their uh content in there, and now you're getting audiences from all over the nation and many districts. And I think this needs to be something that is wonderful and such a great idea because I'm already seeing it, you know, because uh and uh it's just an age-appropriate Spotify where everybody can get access to it, you know.

Tim Belmont 29:51

Yeah, yeah, that's really ultimately uh I'm I'm trying now with the current uh class that I have of my advanced public speaking class just started. And my goal is that before the end of the year, they're gonna be using it to house their podcast that they create. And um, I've been reaching out to some teachers about having uh their students listen to their podcast to give them feedback and then allowing them to use the site if they would like to have their students share products as well. So it's um it's it's exciting and it's it's pretty cool uh to sort of just I had this one sort of gripe about doing these podcasts, and I feel like I'm closer to having a solution that is really in this very specific niche of balancing that authentic sharing, but then not, you know, having it just be open to everybody to uh access their podcast that they make.

A Student Story Of Breakthrough

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 30:53

Yeah. No, this is wonderful, and I hope I you know that this really takes off because I can definitely see that being something that is great, and obviously having just somewhere a repository of so many authentic, genuine voices that maybe feel that maybe that they would never be heard, but now they're they're being heard, their projects are out there, their thoughts, their ideas, their learning, whatever niche they may be, you know, uh podcasting in, it's out there. And you know, there's gonna be somebody out there that is just gonna find some gems in what it is that they're saying and can make a difference in, you know, one of the one of those students, whether it be within the district or outside the district. So I want to ask you with that in mind, because right now I'm thinking, if I'm a student, now I'm putting myself out there, I'm uh not my podcast is now on the bell tower, and now I get a district that is, you know, from the outside nearby, maybe possibly many states away, listening, you know, and and maybe in your experience, I know for me, I would be like, oh my gosh, this is like very, you know, maybe exaggerating a bit, but it could be a life-changing in the sense of building confidence. Now somebody's listening, I'm getting genuine feedback. So, Tim, and in your experience, in the years that you've been doing this, uh, without giving any names or anything like that, but maybe can you share a moment in one of your classes, maybe a specific student and how one of these projects that they worked on really transformed them, you know, uh their academic identity per se, or maybe they began to see themselves differently as a thinker or a communicator. You know, what what is one story that really sticks out for you?

Tim Belmont 32:44

Sure. I I had a student who I had in my freshman English class, and then the this student I ended up having in my uh advanced public speaking class uh a couple years later. And in my English class, this student struggled quite a bit, and sort of staying on top of the work that I think that they had some different things going on at home that they were dealing with and they didn't feel really focused on the work. And, you know, a student who was capable, but maybe wasn't didn't have the opportunity or the motivation to rise to the occasion, or because of those outside forces that were going on. But this NPR student podcast challenge that we mentioned, I mentioned it and they were like, I need to, I, I need to do this. And there was one of the prompts that they give is what's something that students and teenagers understand that adults don't. And they ended up recording a very, very personal podcast. And they worked really hard on it. They came after school, we worked on it together. And uh through the process, I was talking to this student, and I think they really sort of not just worked through some of their personal things by expressing it through the podcast, but it again, it gave them confidence because they went through from conception of this idea all the way to the end through those steps that you were mentioning, constructing a script, organizing everything, editing it together. And uh from what I had heard, that students sort of way they approach some assignments in other classes, because at this point, uh, I had them a little bit later, but in their core sort of English classes, it seemed like they sort of turned over a new leaf. And they were very appreciative just for the opportunity to express themselves and what they were doing. And I I just wonder if they were doing a similar project within a different context, if it would have had the same effect. Because again, you we mentioned that the audience, the prospect that this is going to go out there and it's gonna other people will definitely hear this, and it's a chance for you to get your perspective out there. And I hope that as I continue to do this and as other teachers allow students to do podcasting, that they have that moment where that's sort of a breakthrough. Like, if I follow through and do this, I can get my perspective out there and demonstrate what I'm capable of.

Low Budget Ways To Start

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 35:31

Oh, that is fantastic, you know. And that is so good to hear, you know, because oftentimes, you know, they're there students that, you know, they're they're not gonna be band students or sports students, uh, maybe even esports students or anything, but you know, just giving them an an opportunity to try something different and maybe just different media like this and podcasting, and just seeing like, wow, like I'm can get really I can be really good at this and communicating. And like you said, with those NPR projects and those uh types of prompts that they give them. I mean, this is something that is fantastic and gives them a venue to still express themselves in an academic setting. And and of course, what what I'm always thinking is the byproduct of all of that is how well of a communicator they're gonna become, that that's something that's easily transferable into any content area, and it's something that they're gonna take right along with them forever, you know, being able to put something out into the world at such a young age, and maybe even like I said, being being vulnerable, but putting themselves out there. I mean, it's not easy. And you're talking about a young adult, you know, maybe less than 18 years old doing this. I mean, imagine how hard it is for us as adults to be able to put ourselves out there and sometimes be in that vulnerable spot. And so they're learning some great lessons at such an early age. So I want to ask you, Tim, for our audience members that are listening to this, and maybe they're like really drawn into this and say, hey, I really want to start implementing some podcasting in my classroom setting. Well, what would you recommend as far as lowest barrier to entry? Because as we know, uh budgets are tight, you know, and sometimes the the accessibility to some platforms or tech, you know, might be very difficult. But what would you say your lowest barrier of entry would be into podcasting so that we we can that you can recommend to a teacher?

Tim Belmont 37:33

Sure. One of the big hurdles, something that can be very intimidating, is uh an assumption that in order for me to bring podcasting to my class, I need to invest in audio interfaces and microphones. And there definitely is something to be said, again, about that authenticity of having that equipment, but it definitely is not required in order to record a podcast. And if you look up online what a definition of a podcast is, there are a lot of different ones out there, but I really reduce it to an audio expression of someone's ideas. And really, the equipment is something that's intimidating, just access to a Chromebook or a phone is really enough to get started with recording what could be known as a podcast. Having a built-in voice recorder and having a Google Classroom assignment where it's shared through classroom, that is a podcast. And a lot of times that's a great way to start off. When when I introduce the idea of audio recording, a lot of times it's just, hey, just hit record, talk a little bit, and then upload it, and then you can sort of work yourself up from there. So it's almost like you and the students are going up this ladder and you can get more sort of in-depth as you go. But as far as an online resource that I really love, uh again, I keep mentioning NPR, but aside from having their competition, they have a whole curriculum online to teach students about podcasting. And it has lessons about introducing students to podcasting, talking about recording, coming up with a type of show to use. And it goes really in depth. And you can sort of pick and choose which lessons and what aspects of it work best for your classroom that you're in. So that's a great resource that I use to this day. I'll go through and I'll think about my students and what skills do they need. But again, it's the idea of just hitting record with whatever equipment you happen to have. And then there are just a plethora of great resources online to sort of have a more genuine product as time goes on. But you definitely don't have to start with all the bells and whistles.

Assessment Shifts In An AI Era

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 40:47

Yeah. No, and that's great advice. And that's something that I always tell a lot of teachers too, is just like you mentioned, it's the lowest barrier to entry is if they have a phone, uh, a Chromebook. Like you said, it's already built-in recorder, or even the district. Some of the things, too, that I tell districts, if you are a district that might have something like Screencastify, you can go ahead and record that. I mean, you're recording video, but then you can just download the audio. So you've got that option there too, as well. Uh, you've also got Adobe Podcast as well that is there. And if you're an Adobe uh district that whether you subscribe to the Adobe Creative Cloud, that's free. And then you can go into a little bit more in-depth with editing as far as transcript type of editing. So there's so many possibilities out there. But I do agree with Tim and for all our listeners, do not feel overwhelmed and do not feel like you have to spend thousands of dollars to start this simply with a Chromebook and just clicking record. You're gonna be fine, and then just kind of work your way up from there, depending on where it is that you yourself, as the teacher and educator, want to go and take your students right along with you. And then, of course, after that, you can get into a lot of the fancier equipment, good mics, you know, and uh interfaces and so on as needed. But again, you know, great advice, Tim. So I want to ask you, Tim, you know, as we kind of start wrapping up the conversation, I want to ask you, like for yourself, in your experience, how long have you been doing podcasting now?

Tim Belmont 42:18

So I formally in my advanced public speaking class, this is my fifth or sixth year doing it as sort of uh like more like all-in podcasting projects from start to finish. But I've done, I did some voice recording things before that with students.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 42:38

So I want to ask you like now that you've had about five, six years of experience, and so thinking ahead now, next five or six years, how do you see student created media reshaping assessment? You know, maybe portfolio development. We talk all about that a lot. And maybe in the way that schools will start defining learning artifacts as opposed to just state testing worksheets, you know, what what might you see or hope you see maybe within the next five to six years?

Edu Kryptonite And Quickfire Questions

Tim Belmont 43:10

I mean, I think that especially with AI becoming so prevalent in all of our lives every day, whether it's in the classroom or not, I I hope that assessment especially becomes more and more focused on the creation process and the actual skills that students have and giving them an opportunity to demonstrate those skills through assessment. And a project like a podcast is such a great way for students to express their skills. And like you had alluded to earlier, uh the getting their genuine understanding through their authentic voice. It's if if a student is passionately talking about a topic, they're gonna get a more full photo of what they actually know compared to maybe a written assessment or a multiple choice test or something like that. I mean, the the issue, again, is sort of the logistics and the facilitation of it. Uh, grading a podcast is more subjective than grading a written test. So more time goes into it, but I think that we're going to have to put more time into it in order to really, again, get that genuine understanding of what students know. So I think that this is it, it really is not in my mind some novelty that is, oh, this is just a popular thing right now. I think it's uh such a great, such a great avenue to follow uh to get that genuine uh assessment information, understanding what a student knows.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 44:47

Excellent. Awesome, Tim. Well, thank you so much for joining me here today and just having a great time and especially talking about podcasting and uh a little bit more in depth as far as your work, the work of your students, what the bell tower is. And I mean, for me, I'm really excited about that, you know, as far as being able to extend beyond the walls there within your district and possibly including more states in. And so I'm gonna keep an eye out on that project because I know that. That's something that would can be very fantastic and looking forward to that. And but before we end the show, Tim, as you know, I always love to end the show with these last few questions. And I know it's been a while since you've been on the show. So I know that your answers are definitely going to be different based on, you know, the times that we're in now as far as education is concerned. So I'm going to start off here with question number one for you. Question number one is as we know, every superhero has a pain point or a weakness. So for Superman, that kryptonite was what weakened uh, you know, Superman. So I want to ask you, Tim, in the current state of education, what would you say is your current edu kryptonite?

Tim Belmont 45:57

When I I saw this question, I remember I don't remember what I said this the last time I was on the show. Uh but one thing that consistently sort of I I try to not let sort of knock me down in education is just the idea of just hype. Uh whether it's for a tool, whether it's for AI in general, whether it's for this or for that or a buzzword. Uh, because I I I just don't like feeling like something is being sort of pushed and the interest is not in the learning of the students and advancing teaching. If there's some other outside interest, some cynicism starts to creep in, and I don't like the feeling of that. So the sort of the kind of hype that feels sort of manufactured, which I mean, take your pick of what thing that is, changes week to week, basically. But it's it's something that I I try not to let affect me, but sometimes can get under my skin a little bit.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 47:01

Yeah. No, I'm with you on that. You know, that we do see a lot, and even going to conferences, you know, you run into that and you see that hype, and you're like, oh my gosh, you know, and yeah, yeah. I mean, I I totally feel you on that. All right. Question number two. If you could have a billboard with anything on it, and we'll put it maybe in the busiest street that could exist there in New Jersey, wherever that may be, and you can have your billboard there, what would your what would your billboard say and why?

Tim Belmont 47:32

I love this question. And I I actually I'm gonna have to cheat a little bit, and I have two answers. So Perfect. Uh the the first thing that came to mind is just I'd love to have a billboard that just says be kind on it. Really simple. Um, I was originally was gonna have it say more, like be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle, but that's a little too long for a billboard, I suppose. But I always try to give people benefit of the doubt. If someone is maybe not acting in a way that you agree with, maybe they have something else going on. I I try to show people that attitude, and I I hope everybody does that. Um, my other one uh would probably just say something like use your blinker, but that's more of just a driving specific thing.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 48:21

There you go. I like that one. It's good. You need to tell maybe you should say, like, did you remember to buy your blinker fluid?

Tim Belmont 48:29

It's like, yeah, go go get that fixed.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 48:32

Yeah, go get that fixed. All right. And my last question for you, Tim, is if you could trade places with anyone for a single day, who would that be and why?

Tim Belmont 48:42

So uh typically when people answer this, is it usually a very specific person, like one person in the world, or is it sort of can it be a more sort of general answer, like an occupation?

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 48:55

Well, they're they're very specific, but I've never actually had anybody give an occupation, so you may be the first.

Where To Follow And Closing

Tim Belmont 49:02

Yeah, because I was thinking about this, and I was uh if I could sort of take someone's role for a day, something I would love to do is to uh be someone who works in like a fire watch tower in a national park. So yeah, they have those big high-up towers where someone stays up there sort of isolated, looking over the forest and just making sure that there's not anything going on. And I think that with everything going on in the world, everything is so busy. Um, it's a serious job, but that also would be an opportunity for me to sort of you know get away and get into nature a little bit and sort of have a reset. So uh it's and it's also an experience that I've never had before. So it's a new experience, a little change of pace. So I'd I'd love to do that for a day and see what it's like. There we go.

Dr. Alfonso Mendoza 49:57

I've seen I I have seen, I think there was either a clip of that, and I found it so interesting. I mean, you're in isolation, you're pretty much there on your own, and you're just looking out into the horizons and just seeing, all right, is there anything going on? But yeah, like you're right, just kind of disconnecting from it all and just taking it all in, you know, kind of resetting. So that's good. Awesome, Tim. Well, as always, Tim, thank you so much. I really appreciate you being an amazing guest, an amazing friend. And, you know, I just really look forward to hopefully one day getting to see you again. You know, I know it's been going on three years now since the last time that we saw each other, but hopefully we'll run into each other soon and we can talk music, talk podcasting, and just talk about life, and we'll be all good. But appreciate you being here and thank you so much for the amazing shares. And for our audience members, if you do not follow Tim yet, make sure that you follow him, make sure you follow him on LinkedIn, and we'll make sure that we're gonna drop all our social, all the socials where you can connect with him into the show notes as well. So please make sure that you connect and also make sure that you visit our website at myedtech.life where you can check out this amazing episode and the other 256, or actually 356 episodes. Man, I'm in the 200s, if it's three hundreds, three hundred and fifty-six wonderful episodes where I promise you that you will find some knowledge nuggets that you can sprinkle onto what you are already doing great. And again, a big shout out to our sponsors. Thank you so much, Book Creator, Eduate, and Yellow Dig. I'm sorry, Book Creator, Edu8, and Peel Back Education. We appreciate all of your support so we can bring some amazing conversations into our space. And until next time, my friends, don't forget, stay techie.