Administered by a third party this year, our year-end teacher and student surveys provided us with lots of useful data. A big thanks to the more than 300 teachers and nearly 2500 students who took the time to respond! You are among our most valuable resources!
From the survey results, we find out how The Walking Classroom is working for all of our adopters. We get fresh ideas for resources, and gain some practical tips from new and seasoned adopters. In addition, from students, we find out which podcasts are fan favorites! I took some time to tally those responses as I did last year, so that I could share the most popular podcasts (among students!) with you.
But First, a Few Words . . .
To provide you a better sense of their popularity, I am listing the podcasts (top ten for Programs 4 and 5, and the top five for the STEM Program) in ascending order, so the most popular of the favorites in each program is listed last. Note: In some cases, the same podcast appears on more than one of the programs, and thus, on more than one list.
From Program 4 . . .
Interestingly, there were not too many changes from last year’s top ten, with only two podcasts moving up the list to bump two others down!
- Barack Obama (4-#12, Combined-#125)
- Heart & Circulatory System (4-#6, Combined-#128) – new to the top ten!
- Human Body’s Slimy Shields (4-#4, Combined-#127)
- Tornadoes (4-#31, Combined-#149)
- Hurricanes (4-#12, Combined-#150)
- Food Chains (4-#42, Combined-#130) – new to the top ten!
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (4-#64, Combined-#123)
- Similes and Metaphors (4-#11, Combined-#4)
and, the top vote-getter (with a significant lead over the others!)
- Idioms (4-#7, Combined-#3)
From Program 5 . . .
Here, four podcasts were replaced by four others inching their way up to the top ten!
- Currents and Tides (5-#77, Combined-#141) – new to the top ten!
- The Ocean Floor (5-#75, Combined-#143) – new to the top ten!
- Leonardo da Vinci (5-#26) – new to the top ten!
- Thomas Edison (5-#16, Combined-#162) – new to the top ten!
- “Casey at the Bat” (5-#5, Combined-#29)
- “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (5-#6, Combined-#30)
- Negro Baseball League (5-#4, Combined-#121)
- “Who’s on First?” (5-#19, Combined-#122)
- Similes and Metaphors (5-#22, Combined-#4)
and, the top vote-getter (at nearly twice the votes as the one before it!)
- Idioms (5-#3, Combined-#3)
From the STEM Program . . .
- Human Body’s Slimy Shields (STEM-#29, Combined-#127)
- Tornadoes (STEM-#14, Combined-#149)
- Hurricanes (STEM-#13, Combined-#150)
- Volcanoes (STEM-#19, Combined-#138)
and, the top vote-getter (making its first appearance in the top five!)
- Food Chains (STEM-#33, Combined-#130)
Other Nuggets of Note
While not making the top ten (or five), those early podcasts (Welcome to The Walking Classroom and Introduction to TWC), were still rather popular among the students. They are clearly memorable and absolutely worth a listen, as they provide lots of valuable information to help get you started!
Interestingly enough, it may be a bit of a different story when we tally these top podcasts next summer. With our new combined program, 167 of our podcasts will be in one place – on one device! While it’s safe to say that it will be pretty hard to topple Idioms (4-#7, 5-#3, Combined-#3) from its top spot, it will be interesting to see what else falls in the top ten then!
A Final Point
NOTE: If you are changing positions or schools and did not let us know by responding to the year-end update request I sent out in May, be sure to update us as soon as possible. We want to be sure our records are current, so that we can continue to provide you (or whoever is using the program!) with the resources and support to have a positive experience!
Happy Trails!
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