The Edible Schoolyard and A Night in the Global Village Podcasts

     I have just completed looking at the podcasts "The Edible Schoolyard" and "A Night in the Global Villiage".  The first podcast "The Edible Schoolyard" was about a project at the Marin Luther King Junior High School in Berkely, California.  The project was the brainchild of Alice Waters, a chef in Berkely.   She wanted to do something to increase awareness of the environment and our responsibility to it and to each other.  Through this program, students learn about interdependence, responsibility, the environment, and the value of hard work.   The students were enjoying not only growing their own food in the organic garden, but also cooking it in the classroom adjacent to the garden.   I was touched by the students cooperation and their willingness to work and share with each other.   It is said that students learn best by doing and this edible schoolyard is just what they needed to teach social studies, science, and so much more.     The next podcast was called "A Night in the Global Village: A study in Poverty".  These students in Denver, Colorado were given the opportunity to live the way 3/4 of the world's population lives today, in primitive surroundings without luxuries like lights, running water, or adequate fool supplies.   The children lived in various "villiages" for the night and had to bargain with each other for things like food and water.   The students realized that although they would be going home to adequate food and housing in a day or so, that many people have to live like this all their lives.   The object was to teach the students the responsibility that they have to others around them in their communities and world.   This program was sponsored by Heifer, a program for providing livestock to pooer, developing countries and raising global awareness of poverty.     As a teacher, I like the idea of hands on learning.  I already plan to incorperate it into my classroom.   I just believe that people learn best by doing and that being an active learner leaves more of an impression of knowledge on the student.   These podcasts have inspired me to think of ways that I can get my English/Language Arts students "out of the box" and into a more meaningful learning experience.      I have learned much by being exposed to iTunes University, blogs of other educators that I have researched in class as well as what I have learned of ALEX and ACCESS.   I believe that technology coupled with hands on learning is worthwhile and that it is the direction that education is taking today.   We should encourage our students all we can to gather all they can, and I canno think of a beter way to do this than with iTunes University, Podcasts, and sharing through technology.