Lessons Teach Lessons!

As I was saying in my last post, which was about my Digital Me project, we had to create a lesson that taught the class about ourselves.  The lesson using our technology needed to include some form of introduction, development, and closure since these are all components that are included in a lesson a teacher would teach. Although, the lessons we did present to our peers not only taught them about us, but it gave us the chance to learn more about how we present information.

As we stood in front of the class to speak we have to keep in mind all of the characteristics that someone should have when speaking in front of people.  The things that we were looking for as a class were speaking loud and clear, making good eye contact, not saying "um", having good posture, knowing how to use your device, engaging everyone in the class, and most importantly to Dr. Smirnova not saying "guys". These points laid a foundation of what the people in the class should look for when giving feedback and things that the presenter should keep in mind when they are teaching their lesson.

I went second for the presentations.  I could say that I was prepared for what I needed to do since I had practiced and I did this last semester for Science Methods.  However, this experience allows you to learn a lot about yourself.  As I was teaching everyone about myself I noticed that in my head I was trying to keep in mind that I need to project my voice, I was making sure to stay away from "um" as much as I could (sometimes it just slips out), and I was making sure to keep my peers engaged in my lesson.  As soon as I was done presenting I got to go sit down and read the feedback that everyone provided me as I was presenting.  Feedback is great because the people watching you get to actually see and hear everything that you are doing because some things may not be noticeable to you.  Hearing advice from other people allows you to make a mental note about a habit that came while you were presenting, and then you can work on doing it less/not at all the next time (in this case during fieldwork).

The feedback I received allowed me to learn a lot about myself and I noticed that I improved on a habit that I had from last semester.  The habit I believed I improved on during this presentation was not looking at the board too much.  Last semester, feedback told me that I had a tendency of doing that which I kept in mind.  For this presentation I worked hard on making that eye contact with my peers.  I also learned that I spoke using my "teacher voice", I used a good methods (thumbs up, thumbs down) to see if my peers have done the things I was talking about, my peers enjoyed the pictures I included, and how I used a different version of my technology.  My peers also helped me to learn how I can improve my presentation skills by working on not saying "um" in my presentation, showing how to actually make a 360 Thing Link, including more points about me, having more of a closure for my presentation, and stepping out from behind the computer.  All of the points my peers pointed out to me are helpful and I will keep them in mind during fieldwork and other presentations.

I did not only receive feedback, but I also had the chance to give it to my other classmates who presented their projects.  From my peers, I learned about so many different forms of technology which include nearpod, Kahoot, GoAnimate, Tiki Toki, Word Art, Prezi, Google Slides, Glogster, Google Forms, Voicethread, QR Codes, Voki, Telegami, and much more! These are all great pieces that I will be able to take into my classroom so that I can engage my students in lessons using technology.  These are also all great pieces of technology that students can use as well.

My peers all did  a great job presenting.  The feedback that I gave most to everyone was projecting their voice and not saying "um".  Otherwise, they all included wonderful facts about themselves and engaged the whole class.

The Digital Me projects were a great way to begin practicing speaking in front of a large group of people before fieldwork.  It helps us to see places of improvement and shows us the importance of not only not saying "um" or projecting your voice, but knowing what you are talking about.  When we teach out fifth graders we are going to need to have background knowledge of everything that we are teaching so that we can give the students the best learning experience possible.  I feel that if we are comfortable with the content you are teaching, then all the other important components of giving a presentation will come naturally.

Now on Thursday it is off to Bishop Dunn to meet our fifth grade students!