The Power of Written and Spoken Text
Using the podcast and essays of Anthropocene Reviewed to teach argument and research
Welcome to From the Teacher’s Desk, where we take turns further reflecting on our episodes and applications to the classroom.
I came to the podcasting game late. Long after people started producing podcasts and then listening to podcasts, I was still trying to absorb as many audiobooks as my daily commute to school would allow.
When I finally did start listening to podcasts, I discovered a whole new world of short-form journalism, storytelling, and information at my fingertips. I couldn’t believe what I had been missing for years.
Still, I find myself gravitating towards the written word before I listen to a new podcast. I picked up John Green’s book of essays, Anthropocene Reviewed, long before I considered listening to his podcast by the same title. I don’t usually devour books of essays, mostly because they are written in an easy-to-digest form: pick the book up, read a few pages or a chapter, and put it back down to pick up a couple of days later. However, I couldn’t put Green’s book down. Each engaging essay convinced me that I wanted to learn more. I read it in a matter of days.
Then I turned to the podcast. As often happens, I started coming up with lesson plans immediately, trying to figure out how I could integrate Green’s essays and podcast episodes into teaching argument to my high school students. I had already transitioned to encouraging students to use some kind of audiovisual tool as a resource for their research writing. Now I could use the texts to show them real-world applications.
Why use podcasts?
I started encouraging students to use documentaries and podcast episodes to show them that research doesn’t stop with newspaper and magazine articles and their own research papers. The internet has given us access to a wealth of information in multiple forms; we should be encouraging our students to utilize them. I paired Green’s delightfully informative essay about Piggly Wiggly with his episode arguing that we should abolish the penny. I brought in additional videos that argued for or against the penny and used all of the texts—written and visual—in a class discussion that covered research, argument, and analysis.
Teach that writing is never done
Our students often believe that professionals have something special that they don’t: natural talent. They don’t see the work that goes into producing a podcast episode or published essay. I had my students listen to the Piggly Wiggly episode while reading the published essay from the book. There are subtle differences, but they are still noticeable. We discussed the differences, the possible reasons for the differences, and I argued, as I have for years, that even published writing is never completely “done.” A piece can be complete and finished and good but still not be the best that it could be, and that is ok. And seeing that reality demonstrated by a professional who has written YA books that they have probably read might prove more encouraging than not in regards to their own writing.
Research is more than an academic skill
A single episode or essay from Anthropocene Reviewed shows that research is not just something they are doing for their English classes. One of the things I appreciate as a writer and reader is Green’s meticulous attention to detail, including adding footnotes where he felt like he needed to include even more information or commentary. The entire collection in both the podcast and book helps to demonstrate just how much can be gained from a curious mind. I want my students to be curious about the world around them. I want them to ask questions and seek answers. And I want to show them that it is something that can and should be done outside of school as well.
When Alicia and I sat down to talk about Anthropocene Reviewed, there were so many different essays that I wanted to discuss that we could have talked for hours about the book. You can listen to that episode here.
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