Rockstar teacher move

My grandma, who is way hip with no white hair or walker, got an iPod for Christmas. We were on the phone talking about it, because she was just getting started loading iTunes and figuring out how the whole thing worked. I was giving her a few tips, and then the mention of loading audiobooks onto it came up. I’d never thought of this before, but leave it to my rockin’ g-ma to figure out how to read book-free while at the gym. I mean, I’m sure lots of people already have Harry Potter or whatever loaded onto their iPods. It’s just not something I ever thought about doing.

I went to the library today and looked for some kid books on CD (this because I am a teacher and listening to them gives me a quick preview before I choose it for my reading groups or whatever. However, I am fairly certain I can read the book faster myself than by listening). I picked up Bridge to Terabithia because I had started it once but never got past chapter four. I went home, loaded it up to iTunes and then my iPod, and then was struck with a brilliant idea.

I am so making the iPod a station during literacy time for my fourth graders. Right now I have my low readers sitting at this ghetto tape deck for a half an hour, listening to a book by Jerry Spinelli (love him). The tape player is probably from the 80s, and I am limited on what books I can have the kids listen to because I have to find them in the library on tape, not CD. This eliminated a lot of new books.

However, with the use of the iPod (or really, I suppose I could do this with a CD player, only the problem comes to the fact that I have eight kids in the reading group that need to plug in eight headphones, and the contraption that does this is only set up for the ghetto tape player), I have devised a new plan of technological attack. I am going to buy two Belkin Rockstars and daisy chain them together so that I have a headphone splitter and all students in the reading group can listen. Then I’ll be able to hook up ten kids to the iPod to listen to the audiobook. I like this idea because it will also eliminate the possibility of overdue library material. When I check out a new CD audiobook, I can load it onto my iPod in one day, return the CDs, and my kids can take however long needed to finish listening to the book. I'll be able to have a lot of books already loaded on my iPod, so if I don't have time to go to the public library, it won't be a problem. Plus, how many kids get to say they listened to an iPod during literacy time at school? Instant cool points for Ms. G (though I have to say, I was probably already the hippest teacher rocking the school).