We spent some time this summer going through this, but I need to re-open this can one more time for a presentation I’ve been invited to give to some pre-service teachers who are doing their practicum at our school.
It’s a neat program, really. The college undergrads are on our campus Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:30 until 11:30 during which time they spend one 90-minute block with a cooperating teacher and the rest of the time in class discussion.
So I’ve been invited to come to the class next Thursday for 90 minutes. The topic the professor would like me to address is, “Lecturing: Must we? Why or why not? How to involve students.”
Just so that I’m completely transparent, I’ll be borrowing liberally from Dan and Merlin and Garr and others. Standing on the shoulders of those who have done such a great job of articulating what it means to present well rather than build a slidedeck that serves as nothing more than enormous version of index cards that help the presenter and not the audience.
I’ll also be borrowing from this Washington Post article.
Now help me out because you never know whether some of these folks will leave Colorado and be looking for jobs in your school or district… What should new teachers know about lecturing?
I’ll happily share the results with you after my – ahem – lecture…
Fun. Good luck. You ever want eyes on anything you’re putting together, let me know.
Thanks, Dan. I’ll take you up on that.
Not sure about your experiences prepping for the classroom as an undergrad, but I’m sitting here trying to remember a single course I took — or even a single class session — that even made mention of how to present effectively.
So you’ve walked across the stage and accepted your bachelor’s degree, you’ve got a solid education, a teaching job, you’re idealistic and have a lot to share, but you lack the tools to do it effectively.
Presentation is one of those elements that–for better or worse–is left to the teacher to learn in their practicum experience. I say we clone Dan and turn him lose on our university system.
And since it’s still a skill most of us need a lot of work on, the odds of them being paired with a Dan Meyer for their practicum is decidedly low.
I’m working hard to sell them the fact that the extra work required to put together a GREAT lesson, complete with visual accompaniment, will pay dividends in terms of student engagement and interest in the content. And of course – by extension – behavior.
One of my master’s classes was about dealing with parents and suggested using the “your own child” method: if this were your child, would you want the teacher to contact you? When I construct presentations, I try to use the same philisophy in this way: “What would I want to see in a presentation? What would I take away from this presentation? It’s made me realize that I wouldn’t want to sit through some of the presentations I had originally designed. Think about it from the audience’s perspective, not your own. That’s what I think new teachers should know.
That’s a great test, Angie. I’ve got a long list of ideas started in a Google Doc and right before reading your comment I typed, “Would you want to watch you?”
Dan’s series on “How to Present Well” should be mandatory reading.
I almost always use the guiding question–Would I want that done for my child?This fits so many educational situations–lessons, activities, discipline, etc…
As far as the undergrad question goes–I do not remember a single lesson on presentations either.
What always seems to work for me is to mix up whatever I am lecturing on with something relevant to the audience; then bring in something completely random (or seemingly random) and tie it all together. I like to see the “A-HA” in the faces of my students when I have gotten finished speaking about my fish pond and waterfall growing a vegetable garden food safety Feng Shui Shinto and Buddhism Angels and Demons Eric Van Lustbader and James Clavell what I was originally lecturing on… The Closing of China and Japan in the early 1600′s. Of course, all of this is through questioning. Keeping the students (or audience members) involved in the conversation is crucial and is a very effective way of keeping them “tuned in”. Scott, listen to the most important resource you have… your GUT. You’re a good speaker who has a good sense of your audience…and something else you have, which always works…. a sense of humor.
Pingback: Do I Dare Disturb the Universe? - » Theater class improves presentation skills
Pingback: Do I Dare Disturb the Universe? - » Back to the classroom, Part 2