Week 3 - Presentationzen Book - Presentation Reflection

After reading chapter 9 I feel that I am somewhat in the middle of where I can be as a presenter. I am not a presenter creating all the barriers as suggested in chapter 9. I do not use a lectern and until now I did not use a remote. In order to use the remote that came with my projector you have to be in front of the projector, which is also in the front of the room and the smartboard. So rather than being at my computer in front of the class, this year I bought an extension so that my computer could be in the back of the class. I am no longer forced to be between the class and the screen. Now, I can move around the room without blocking the projector. After reading Chapter 9 though, I realize that I should get an extension for the projector as well. This will make it easier to use the remote and give me the ability to better interact with my students and less with the technology.
As a science teacher I try to avoid turning the lights off while I am teaching. I definitely still have the image from Wonder Years of Ben Stine’s monologues of science that put everyone to sleep and made me as a viewer crack up. I try to avoid these science stereotypes at all costs. Usually I only shut the lights off if the students are watching a video clip, so that they can truly appreciate the visuals.
I think that the most important part that I learned and need to apply from chapter 9 is to remember the 80/20 rule and leave time at the end for the students to think about everything. I think in this test-driven age, I feel like I have to squeeze in every bit of information I can, or I will run out of time. If I focus on teaching the 80 percent that the students will learn more and then if I leave them wanting more, they will find the other 20 % or at least be looking for it the next day. When I try to squeeze in that other 20%, it is too much information and like being to full after dinner, it causes the students to be less satisfied and instead overwhelmed and tired.
Prior to this class I felt very nervous in front of the camera and would also avoid the camera more often than not. Now, I realize I am an actress and performer every day and even when there is not a camera, there is student audience that I need to be interacting with. I need to have fun with it, rehearse like an actress for the challenging roles (situations), and let down all my barriers, so that the students will too.
One of my favorite quotes is “Kids don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” I think this assignment was a great reminder for me to forget about trying to teach the students everything I can, and instead show them that I care about them, that I am present in each moment, enjoying what I do, and focused on their learning, and they will then find the answers to so many more questions than I could ever ask, or answer.

Science Before and After Google Earth - Technology Integration TMD

Also available on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB4XXo_glq0

Gates vs Jobs - TMD - Week 1 Discussion

I did watch several clips on both presenters. First, I chose to watch a presentation by Bill Gates on creating great teachers. I am very interested in the topic and I am very familiar with many of the topics that he mentioned such as KIPP schools and education. He was very knowledge about the topic and reasonably comfortable in front of the large audience. Gates had some visuals, gifts for the audience, and some humor that made the presentation more interesting. I also watched some others like when he let mosquitoes into the audience to “prove a point” that malaria should not be limited to poor people, which I found to be quite bold of him and as a presenter, quite memorable. I really enjoyed his Harvard graduation speech, which was humorous and full of stories that showed a great deal of his personality. Overall, I found him to be more interesting when not talking about his software, because during those presentations he was very dull and focused on facts and vocabulary that is not necessarily interesting to the average person. His personality and charisma seemed very limited when talking about his business and much stronger when talking about worldly problems. I, too, would be much more passionate about world problems rather than a new software.

Steve Jobs, on the other hand, seemed to be very charismatic whether he was talking about iPods, iTunes, or his recover from surgery. His presentations always had a beginning, middle and an end. He tended to capture my attention and use suspense to keep my attention. Even though he always mentioned what would be discussed next, he never gave away all of the details. He had catchy little phrases that were memorable to clearly show his purpose. He also had “zingers” towards PCs and other shots of humor throughout the presentation. He had many visuals and props to entertain the audience. Jobs also used facts, like Gates, but he tended to break them into more meaningful bits of information that made them more powerful. For example, he mentioned selling 5 million songs a day (5M) and then broke it down to 58 songs per second. Most people don’t understand 5 million of anything, but most can understand and be impressed by 58 songs per second.

Overall, I would compare Bill Gates to the “average” college professor (not a Full Sail professor), that is very knowledgeable of his topic, but is not a “teacher”, He is very informative and can be slightly entertaining, but mostly just lectures. I would say that Steve Jobs is more like a kindergarten teacher that is just as knowledgeable, but much more entertaining. A kindergarten teacher generally has lots of charisma, stimulating presentations with props, enthusiasm, and energy and speaks in simple terms, so that everyone can understand.

TMD Interview- Lillyanna

This video is an interview with my 6 week old daughter, Lillyanna, about her "movie" The Journey to Life. Enjoy!

TMD Survey Link

This is a Survey I created that I may be using for my Action Research module. It will be more specific once I create my module. I created it using google spreadsheet.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dDBQZmI5QlRUUl9Ca1Q1QW9kd1ZUdkE6MA