Bud the Teacher

Johnny Carson has passed away. 
    I remember long ago sneaking around in order to stay up late enough to watch him and, after The Tonight Show, The Benny Hill Show.  I didn’t get why they were funny as a little boy, but I watched them just the same.   Carson was funny and, to a young man, a kind and gentle person.  I suspect the real truth was something different, but I am saddened by his death. 
    Why do we have such connections with celebrities?

    I’m sitting right now in a board meeting for the CSUWP.  I am on the board as the Teacher as Researcher member — which means I am tasked with discovering ways for teachers to incorporate inquiry and questioning into their teaching.  The idea is that teachers who are questioning their practice are better teachers.  That’s pretty much the main idea behind this blog.   I ask questions and seek answers in order to improve my teaching.    I digress, too . . .
    We’re talking about plans for the future and opportunities for teachers to write and improve their teaching.  Steve Sloan has this big idea about using podcasting to record college lectures — but what if we were using podcasts to record teaching demonstrations?  A teaching demonstration is essentially practice teaching — this term
will probably mean nothing except to those of you who are familiar with
the National Writing Project.
    How about students reading their work?  Perhaps a weekly student presentation featuring a different student or students every week?  Something like this?    
    I continue to get excited about the potential for podcasting.  Now if only I knew more about how to create a podcast . . .