I Love Audiobooks
Just a couple days after my post about “getting caught reading,” I’ve learned it will soon be time to “Get Caught Listening.” June is being dubbed National Audiobooks Month by the Association for American Publishers.
I have a long drive to work and back home. I’ve found I can relax more during the drive by listening to people talk rather than music. A couple of year’s ago when I invested in an iPod , I began listening to podcasts on my way to and from work. I was never really happy with the adaptor I used to listen to the podcasts in the car. The frequency was always changing; therefore I could not listen to an entire podcast without having to 
fiddle with the iPod. At the age of deteriorating eyes, it was not a good thing to be trying to squint at the iPod to change it while I was driving. I decided to try audiobooks on CD. Of course, there was a stigma associated with listening to audiobooks; it meant I was getting old. A few audiobooks later, I threw that stereotype out the window in a hurry - I’ve been hooked on listening to books ever since. I have a small collection, mostly of leadership type books, a few James Patterson and John Grisham, some educational technology books and an assortment of others. I now get frustrated when I 
find a book I want to read and it is not yet out on CD’s. I have downloaded a couple of audiobooks onto my iPod. I just don’t listen to those in the car anymore. The moral of my story? Give an audiobook a try. You might just enjoy it. (Plus, it’s much easier on the deteriorating eyes) 
Audiobooks are a great tool for developing strong, inquisitive readers and teaching literacy skills to our students.
Visit http://www.getcaughtreading.org/listening/index.htm to learn more about AAP’s “Get Caught Listening” program. For some tips and information about using audiobooks in school visit the following sites:
An Educator’s Guide to Utilizing Audiobooks in the Classroom
http://www.randomhouse.com/highschool/RHI_magazine/pdf/serafini.pdf
Top Ten Educational Benefits of Audiobook Listening
http://school.booksontape.com/s_promo_pam_spencer.cfm
