As they always do, our year-end teacher and student surveys provided us with lots of useful data. A big thanks to the nearly 300 teachers and more than 3400 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, we find out which podcasts are the students’ top picks as fan favorites! After a quick tally of those responses, here are this year’s most popular podcasts (among students, at least!).
But First, a Few Words . . .
This year, the Year-End Student Survey was administered only to students in those classes in their first year using the program. As the Complete Program was rolled out in August 2018, nearly all of these students spent the year walking, listening, and learning with this new program.
The podcasts in the top 10% (top seventeen for the Complete Program, and the top seven for the STEM Program) are listed below 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 both Programs, and thus, on both lists.
From the Complete Program. . .
Interestingly, there were not too many changes from previous years’ favorites, with only two podcasts moving up the list to bump two others down!
- Human Body’s Slimy Shields (Complete-#127, 4-#4, STEM-#129)
- Skin (Complete-#126, 4-#5, STEM-#30) – first time in the top podcast picks!
- Heroic Dogs and Horses (Complete-#44, 4-#37) – first time in the top podcast picks!
- Hurricanes (Complete-#150, 4-#28, STEM-#13)
- Slave Life and Rebellions (Complete-#76, 5-#47) – first time in the top podcast picks!
- Tornadoes (Complete-#149, 4-#31, STEM-#14)
- Food Chains (Complete-#130, 4-#42, STEM-#33) – last year’s #1 among the STEM podcasts!
- Sun, Stars and Galaxies (Complete-#144, 4-#78, STEM-#26)
- Boston Tea Party (Complete-#62, 4-#53) – first time in the top podcast picks!
- Volcanoes (Complete-#138, 4-#76, STEM-#19)
- Take Me Out to the Ball Game (Complete-#30, 5-#6)
- Idioms (Complete-#3, 4-#7, 5-#3) – the top pick for the past two years!
and, entering the top five favorites
- Barack Obama (Complete-#125, 4-#12)
- Rosa Parks (Complete-#124, 4-#65)
- Negro Baseball League (Complete-#121, 5-#4)
- Similes and Metaphors (Complete-#4, 4-#11, 5-#72)
Finally, the top vote-getter (with a significant lead — 23% more votes — over the others!):
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Complete-#123, 4-#64)
From the STEM Program . . .
- Human Body’s Slimy Shields (Complete-#127, 4-#4, STEM-#129)
- Skin (Complete-#126, 4-#5, STEM-#30)- first time in the top podcast picks!
- Hurricanes (Complete-#150, 4-#28, STEM-#13)
- Tornadoes (Complete-#149, 4-#31, STEM-#14)
- Food Chains (Complete-#130, 4-#42, STEM-#33) – last year’s #1 on the STEM list!
- Sun, Stars and Galaxies (Complete-#144, 4-#78, STEM-#26)
and, the top vote-getter
- Volcanoes (Complete-#138, 4-#76, STEM-#19) – in the top two the past two years!
Other Nuggets of Note
While not making the top podcast picks above, those early podcasts in both programs, Welcome to TWC (Complete-#1, 4-#1, 5-#1, STEM-#1) and Introduction to TWC (Complete-#2, 4-#3, 5-#2, STEM-#3), were still rather popular among the students.
These two podcasts are clearly memorable and absolutely worth a listen. They provide lots of valuable information to help get you started!
A Final Point
NOTE: If you are changing positions or schools and did not let us know by responding to the Year-End Teacher Survey or Year-End Teacher Update sent out in April, 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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