Each week, we chat with you - and get to hear about all the ways you're listening and encouraging your students to listen their way to literacy. In this week's post, we're sharing some of those daily ideas. With the holiday break quickly approaching, many of you are planning campaigns to encourage listening at home, amongst families, and as a way to help keep students on track while they're out of school. 

Getting Started

For those of you who are new subscribers, this is a great time to get started! You've given your students the gift of an entire library of titles in their pocket. Let's start with a few ways to make sure their initial introduction to audio is a great one. 

First, schedule a couple calls with our team to help you get everything set up. You'll get emails from our team to first get the technology sorted out, then we'll schedule a screen to show you the ropes. Both the desktop and mobile players are simple to use, but we have some tips and tricks that make it easier to introduce to your staff and students. These quick calls ensure that we're able to tailor your subscription and access to best fit your school and students' needs.

Be sure to test the various ways your students can log in. Access will vary with each school and is sometimes different if you're logging in from school or at home. Feel free to contact us with any questions that might come up.

Once you've gotten all the tech sorted, you're ready to spark some initial interest!

Brainstorm 

You know your school community best, and likely already have some ideas about how your staff and students will be using your subscription. But in case you're looking for some inspiration, here are some ideas other schools have implemented.

• Host a faculty coffee - Invite staff to come "taste" some tales - coffee and cocoa pair well with stories and you'll give everyone a warm introduction to listening. 
• Create a LibGuide - Bonnie Barnes of Memphis University School created the fantastic page below to share information with everyone on how to get started with Tales2go.
  
• Engage subject area teachers outside of ELA, Language Arts, and English - check out the History, Historical Fiction, and Science & Nature sections!

Implement

A frequent question we get from new subscribers is, "what are some things other schools are doing that have really worked?"

• Get everyone involved - and we mean everyone - teachers, staff, students, and families too. Audiobooks aren't just for English class - there are stories to delight and entertain as much as there are titles that teach. Host a faculty coffee and give everyone a taste by playing clips of stories and hand out some cards with title suggestions for your various subject area colleagues.
• Remind everyone how listening is already part of their teaching standards and curricula. Many state tests include listening comprehension components - students can build their stamina for attending to audio by first listening to titles on subjects they enjoy and moving towards unfamiliar or more challenging topics. 
• Encourage home listening - staff and students who listen at home are much more likely to keep listening even when it's not assigned. Once students find their first favorite story, they'll go back and find the next one, and the next one. Soon enough, listening to stories will fall in place as a go-to option for downtime, commuting time, and family time.