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Podcasting Experience (so far)



So my co-worker, Estee Williams (Twitter - @esteeeducates), and I are now into episode four of our podcasting experience this school year.

We have been enjoying it but are in awe of regular podcasters who manage to put out an episode a week. We struggle just to get one a month put out! This is mainly due to our work schedules. We recognize that folks like Matt Miller, Kasey Bell, and Monica Burns all are self-employed in the EdTech world so their time is a little more flexible and podcasting is one of the ways they communicate to keep their brand current (but we now have a much better idea of how much time they put into it each week).

When we started this project we decided we needed to make sure that we set aside a non-negotiable Friday a month to record the show. As it is, we are still pulled in many different directions and we wind up doing a lot of the editing and updating of show notes on our own time.  We set the theme for the following month after recording and put together an outline that we add to, as we have spare time, during the month.

Estee handles the recording and editing (as well as co-authors the script). She has a personal paid subscription to a Adobe Audition and took a class this summer on how to use it. If she didn't we would have used Audacity, which is free with plenty of YouTube tutorials on how to use it for podcasting. We also went to the TCEA conference last year and she took a lot of classes on how to publish podcasts so she, by default, became the technical director of the show.

I handle the PodCATS Show Notes blog (and co-author the script) while Estee edits. It is a pretty good arrangement which plays to both our interest and strengths.

I wouldn't say that the podcast has taken off like crazy in our district but we do have some loyal listeners (yes...we are counting our parents on that list 🤣). We have been approached by some classes to help start a podcast (or record some "podcast like" readers theaters) so we think that is a win. We also have enough experience to present a tech conference (also a win). Sadly this year our department has been cut back and is under the budget microscope so we also feel that a podcast helps to keep us relevant and on the radar, along with our EdTech Newsletter and Facebook group.

If you are interested in checking out our P.O.D.C.A.T.S show you can find it three ways:
🔗Website (check out show notes here, too): https://sites.google.com/beaufortschools.org/podcats/home

Since we try to keep it under 20 minutes we have found ourselves talking VERY FAST to get it all in so we apologize. We are working on our speed (so please be kind with any comments). Estee does a great job of editing with time constraints!  The content is designed for Beaufort County School District Employees but a lot of the tech tips and tricks would translate to other teachers as well. 

We hope you check it out! Please feel free to leave comments in this blog post or on our PODCATS Twitter page. 
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