I Still Get Nervous!

This week I found myself preparing for two very important mini-presentations. I was surprised when I felt my heart racing just before delivering these presentations. I was nervous (and I rarely get nervous) because these were personally important presentations.

Who were the important clients? My daughters’ third grade classrooms (I’m mom to identical twin girls who are in two different third grade classrooms).  Each teacher invited parents to come in and talk our jobs–the teachers were discussing the difference between goods and services in their social studies unit. I was there to tell them about my services.

I spent a few days thinking about how I might explain what I do.  I was nervous becuase I was afraid I might be boring or worse, embarrass my daughters. I decided to ask my daughters to help me prepare a bit.  I told them what I was planning to say and they made some suggestions. I then asked them if they thought it would be a good idea to bring a microphone in and let the kids record a podcast. They smiled and said in stereo, “That’s a good idea, mom!”

So, I brought in my Blue Yeti table top microphone hoping I might win some points with the “coolness factor.”  We decided I should talk about podcasting and how I create the show each week.

I started by explaining what I do in general, then I played a minute or two of a podcast episode and asked, “What story crafting techniques did you hear?”  In each class I was surprised to see so many hands go up immediately.  They answered correctly: “Dialog,” “Descriptive details,” “You asked a question,” “Show not tell, ” and “You used one of the senses.”

I then explained that the podcast is similar to the essays that they have been writing; with an introduction, three-five main points, with small moment stories and other examples to support the main points. I told them that I submit my essay to an editor, who like their teacher, corrects my work and makes suggestions for improvement. Then once I make all the final changes, it’s time to record and when I finish I send the recording to the audio editor who posts it to iTunes.

Then, came the fun part.  Time to make our own classroom recording. I grouped the children around the microphone by their tables (they sit in groups). I had them say their table name and then asked the teacher to record a message. I showed them how editing audio is like editing a document.  But, the kids were most eager to record their voices and listen back.  They couldn’t wait to do the recording and listen back.  We then asked the teachers to add in few words to wrap up our classroom podcast.

In both classrooms one of the children asked, “Can you post out recording to iTunes”?  I told them, I would post it to my website. Click the links below to hear the quick podcast they recorded:

Mrs. DiBattista and Mr. Smith’s third grade podcast: Room16

Mrs. Kleiner’s third grade podcast: Kleiner

Most importantly, please  leave comments below to encourage our young podcasters!

 

There are 3 comments .

Stacie Walker

Hello Lisa,

You are cool in the eyes of your daughters’ third grade classrooms. I just discovered you today and I have been glued to your content.

Thank you for providing excellent and entertaining advice. I look forward to learning more about you.

Have a fantastic week!

Best,
Stacie Walker

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Cecilia —

Amazing recording! Congrats! I really enjoyed reading the article and listening to the young podcasters!

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Peter Billingham

Hi Lisa – great post! I remember when my kids ask dad to go and do a “show & tell” at their school, I was nervous too, it’s a big gig! BTW Is it the Yeti you use for your quick and dirty podcasts? Sounds great! Thanks for the post. Four tables of great kids! room 16 was the loudest!

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