How to Podcast in a High School Library

In the Fall of 2021, the Tech Integration Coach and myself started toying around with the idea of podcasting. We began researching and spoke with our technology department to see what equipment would best work in our high school where the students all have ipads.

During this same time, I was completing a big weeding project in my non-fiction section and was going to be able to condense my books, which meant I could potentially eliminate a lot of shelving. In the photo below you can see a lot of those tall shelves in the background.

Knowing that condensing shelves was possible, this was when I started to have conversations with my building principal about eliminating shelves and adding in some new small conference room spaces. We had been fortunate enough to recently build a new Middle School and it looked as though one of the companies who supplied the furniture for that building was also going to be willing to help us construct some new spaces. If you’re local to Pennsylvania in the Susquehanna Valley, we worked with Tanner Furniture and they were great for every step of this project.

Tanner Furniture came to the Library and we discussed what the space would or could look like and then gave us an estimate for the rooms. At the same time, we started looking at Rodecaster Pro for our actual podcasting equipment. Our tech dept had a great working relationship with a company called Sweetwater, who put together a nice quote for us so we knew what that equipment would cost. Our tech dept also recommended some Mac computers and televisions that would fit in the space and really make our podcasting studios come together nicely.

Now that we had many of the elements we needed to put together a quote of what everything would cost us, we needed to figure out how to fund this project. This was when we went to our Education Foundation and wrote a grant asking for $50,000.

Because I want to be as transparent as possible, here is a list of everything we wanted when we asked for the grant.

We were awarded the grant and that’s when the fun began to happen. I finished my giant weeding project, put in a work order to have our shelves taken down (I eliminated the last 5 in the row), and we began ordering the podcasting equipment. All of the equipment began arriving in early 2022 and we had teachers who didn’t care if the rooms were built, they just wanted to use the equipment, and use it they did! We found some empty tables around the Library and had kids begin. You’ll notice we came in under budget in the figures above. With the extra money we were able to purchase some whiteboard tables for the new space.

What we found to be great about the rodecasters, was how easy there are to use. They students record to a microSD card then we place the files on their ipads. They can then edit the recording in Garageband or iMovie. We can also add sounds to the sound board and students can record their sounds at the same times they’re producing their work. We chose to get two sets with boom arm microphones and then a third set with just small microphone stands.

MicroSD cards and adapters for ipads

At the end of the 2022 school year the shelves started to be removed and the rooms were built in the Fall of 2022. There were some complications with safety codes that had to be sorted out and that definitely pushed the project back. I’m happy to say that this is what our rooms look like as of January 2023.

We are currently still in the process of getting the TVs mounted and having the furniture built in the rooms. Our fingers are crossed that they get completed by the end of January.

So…how are our teachers using the equipment? We’ve had multiple teachers come to use the equipment for various projects. Some of them have had students work in groups to collaborate on created a podcasting addressing literature they have read, or one of my teachers had them create advertisements for their marketing classes. An government teacher had them research for their capstone project and then produce a podcast with their results. One of our creative writing teachers made them write and narrate a short story with matching sound effects. They’ve been really used for a variety or projects and the kids just enjoy using the equipment. Below you’ll see a group of students from one of my study halls who just wanted to check it out.

This podcast set has the boom arm microphones.

Some Key Points:

The Rodecasters work well on their own. While having the actual space to house them will be great, the students and teachers have enjoyed working on them when they are just out in the open.

Students love to hear themselves talk. I’ve let a lot of my study hall students just play on them and they’ve really enjoyed that!

If you plan on starting on a project where you’re building rooms, be sure to check in with your maintenance dept and safety codes. Had we known about some of the codes sooner, this project probably would have been totally finished at this point!

Great news! As of 2/24/23 the rooms are complete! Here are the final podcasting spaces we now have for our students!