Thursday, September 22, 2005

Teacher gear: audio equipment

Many guy magazines include "gear" sections for their readers that feature gadgets that the writers feel are indespensible, or some company is paying them alot to advertise.

Well I was thinking, what is teacher gear? What are some gadgets that I use that I could not really do without in class. The first in the feature is my boombox. It is an "awia" CSD-A100 with a CD player on top and a cassette player in front. As you can see it is well worn. The "awia" tag on the front is falling off, hit it on something I guess. There is also a dent in the mesh covering the speaker on the right side. Hit it on something again. I play all the hits.

I always take this to class, because, if nothing else, I play music in class before and after, as students are arriving or leaving. Of course all of the music has English lyrics. I also use the CD's that come with the text sometimes, too.

There is a body of research on a teaching method called "Suggestopedia" that suggests that teachers use classical music in class as a way of relaxing the learners and activating their creative learning centers. That is all well and good, but I'd rather get the students tapping their feet and enjoying some good music, so I almost never use classical. I use jazz alot. I also play some rock and other topical kinds of music from time to time.

boombox
Originally uploaded by Yokkaichi 1.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Personally I use my mp3 player in the classroom with a set of mini-portable speakers. It weighs less, is more portable, and much more versatile. Additionally I don't ever have to burn cd's now and can get students listening to podcasts in the classroom.

5330 said...

More good uses for an mp3 player, and a great way to transport podcasts!