Overall Impression: This was definitely probably either the best or one of the best presentations out off all the ones I was an audience member for.
Things that Went Well:
The roles-I thought the roles went extremely well, and I feel like they achieved the presenters objective. It was also very effective that the presenters stayed in their roles also. If they had not, I do not think that the roles would have been as effective.
The Powerpoint- It was very organized and had enough information on it to get across what was being said. It was also really nice to have a visual that was separate from the Wiki. I still enjoyed the Prezi, but the powerpoint brought in organization that the prezi did not have.
The Presenters- The presenters knew their information and seemed like they knew what they were talking about. There was one person out of the three that seemed much more confident than the other, and it helped in understanding the information. Overall, they did a good job and kept my attention majority of the time.
True/False activity- I really liked this. It tied in great with the presentation, and I ended up learning some stuff. Two thumbs up.
Things that Did not Go too Well:
I really can't think of anything.
Conclusion:
There's always two roads that can be taken when one presents last. They can either have an awesome presentation or an awful presentation. This group definitely took the former road. They did a good job incorporation things from other presentations and improving on them. I really enjoyed this one, and it was evident that they worked to make the presentation great.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Poverty Presentation
I'm going to do the same format as I did for my critique of my presentation
Overall Thought: Good presentation.
Things that Went Well:
The Presenters: All of the presenters knew their information and transitioned well. I had no trouble hearing, and they were able to keep my attention about 95% of the time.
The Prezi: I have actually never heard of a Prezi before, and I thought it was really cool. It really does beat the usual PowerPoint and helped the presentation along. Also, it felt like the presenters knew how to use it even though there were a few technical errors. Overall, good addition to the presentation.
The Roles: I liked that we all had different roles during the presentation. I liked how they were incorporated into the presentation. It kind of put things into perspective.
Things that Did not go too Well:
The information: The information for me seemed like a review of things I already knew at times. Granted, there was some information that I did not know, but most of it has been stuff that I have learned in the past. Because of all of this, there were times when my attention was lost and was never fully gained back.
The Roles: As I said above, I really liked the idea, but I feel like it wasn't used enough. I would have liked them to be more incorporated into the presentation. I had a lot of trouble answering the first ticket out question, and more inclusiveness could have helped me out. Overall, good idea, but somewhat bad execution.
Participation: I feel like there could have been a little more participation in this presentation. I just don't know how, but I do know that there were times when I lost my drive to pay attention. I just felt bogged down by the lecture and wanted something else to do. I think expanding the roles could have been something to help the situation.
I think that's about it. I enjoyed the presentation and am looking forward to the discussions that lie ahead.
Overall Thought: Good presentation.
Things that Went Well:
The Presenters: All of the presenters knew their information and transitioned well. I had no trouble hearing, and they were able to keep my attention about 95% of the time.
The Prezi: I have actually never heard of a Prezi before, and I thought it was really cool. It really does beat the usual PowerPoint and helped the presentation along. Also, it felt like the presenters knew how to use it even though there were a few technical errors. Overall, good addition to the presentation.
The Roles: I liked that we all had different roles during the presentation. I liked how they were incorporated into the presentation. It kind of put things into perspective.
Things that Did not go too Well:
The information: The information for me seemed like a review of things I already knew at times. Granted, there was some information that I did not know, but most of it has been stuff that I have learned in the past. Because of all of this, there were times when my attention was lost and was never fully gained back.
The Roles: As I said above, I really liked the idea, but I feel like it wasn't used enough. I would have liked them to be more incorporated into the presentation. I had a lot of trouble answering the first ticket out question, and more inclusiveness could have helped me out. Overall, good idea, but somewhat bad execution.
Participation: I feel like there could have been a little more participation in this presentation. I just don't know how, but I do know that there were times when I lost my drive to pay attention. I just felt bogged down by the lecture and wanted something else to do. I think expanding the roles could have been something to help the situation.
I think that's about it. I enjoyed the presentation and am looking forward to the discussions that lie ahead.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
GLBTQ Presentation Critique (A Presenter's View)
Note: This is structured a little differently than my last critique. I thought sections would help me express my feelings about my and my group members' presentation. I also wanted to apologize for eating during the presentation. Helon and I had some issues with Varsity.
Overall Impression:
I thought the presentation went ok. Things throughout were a bit uneven and not very well coordinated, but the information we did want to get across seemed like it did. I was extremely happy with the discussion and the thoughts of all the professors that were there. If we had to chance to go back in time and do it all over, I think we could make the presentation even better.
Things that were Good about the Presentation:
The Discussions: Truthfully, I thought that there would be little to no discussion during the major information section of our presentation. Yet, it was probably the best part of the whole thing. We have a very opinionated class, and I really enjoyed hearing every minute of it. Overall, it added a much needed spice to our presentation. Also, I think everyone benefited from all that was said by the audience.
The Reading: I really enjoyed the reading and thought it was a great overview of our presentation. The discussion questions attached to it were good and got the class talking. I feel like that helped break the ice a bit. In other words, everything attached to the reading was beneficial to the presentation.
The Guests: I thought that the professor from the Physical Therapy department was a good addition to the presentation. She really helped bring some of our ideas to light. She also helped us as presenters do a better job of doing justice to the material.
Things that did not go so Well:
The Discussions: As I said above, I thought there would be little to no talking during the informational part of the presentation, and because of that, I know I was not prepared for the amount of talking. I actually think none of us were prepared for the amount of participation that happened. Our lack of preparation was definitely evident in the fact that we went extremely over our time limit and had to rush through certain sections
The Video: The video in itself was a good idea on paper, and it was planned perfectly into the presentation. Yet, I think we could've scratched it or shortened it somehow. This would have allowed us to get to our comprehensive discussion that was planned at the end. I feel like things would not have been affected too much if the video was scratched or if only segments were shown.
Mary: I hate to call her out like this, but there were times when she did not help the presentation. I honestly felt like that she was upstaging me during my part of the presentation when she would constantly interrupt. Some of the things she said were valid and somewhat needed, but some of the other stuff could have been held until the discussion at the end. Also, I felt like we lost a lot of time and some attention when she did interrupt. Overall, a lot of the things she said did not help the presentation and hurt us in many other departments in the respect to time. On a side note, I am extremely upset that she interrupted Brenna to ask about when the video was going to be shown. That was extremely impolite and not needed.
Information: I do know that the law part of mine could have been more detailed. When I first started out with my information, I had everything after the choice debate organized into negatives and positives and use those to paint the overall picture. Yet, I ended up scratching that and putting everything into the sections that were presented. I also thought we did not have enough information on the meso part of our topic. I feel like this happened because there was so much focus on the video and not enough on the information. Yet, I really don't know since all of us had different sections, which probably also added to everything.
Talking: I will say that I know I had some issues with speaking during my presentation. Part of the reason was the fact that I am getting over being sick, and it has been messing with the volume of my voice. The other part is the fact that I was a tad nervous about the whole thing, which does effect my speaking level. It usually doesn't happen when it comes to math stuff. It's just a problem with other things.
The Guests: My only complaint concerns the other professor and her children. There was one child who was somewhat distracting and needed some control from the mother.
Preparation: As I have mentioned, we were definitely unprepared for a lot of things, and I know that it showed. It was definitely a combination of many factors both in our control and out of our control. For the things that were in our control (discussions, other presenters talking, etc), I know we could have done better to reign things in and move on. I know that I personally had a problem reigning in the discussion. The main reason for this was the fact that there was even
Issues before the Presentation:
Meetings: We only met once after the reading meeting to discuss this presentation. Understandably, fall break got in the way and schedules were somewhat difficult to find common time. Yet, I know we could have met at least twice. I did spearhead getting together the week after fall break, but apparently, Mary was not getting my emails while Brenna was. I don't know the truth behind Mary's claims, but she tends to make it a lot for things so it's hard for me to believe her.
I think that's about it for the critique. I really do think that this presentation went ok, but it could have been so much better. The good thing though is I will use my peers' critiques to learn from this experience.
Overall Impression:
I thought the presentation went ok. Things throughout were a bit uneven and not very well coordinated, but the information we did want to get across seemed like it did. I was extremely happy with the discussion and the thoughts of all the professors that were there. If we had to chance to go back in time and do it all over, I think we could make the presentation even better.
Things that were Good about the Presentation:
The Discussions: Truthfully, I thought that there would be little to no discussion during the major information section of our presentation. Yet, it was probably the best part of the whole thing. We have a very opinionated class, and I really enjoyed hearing every minute of it. Overall, it added a much needed spice to our presentation. Also, I think everyone benefited from all that was said by the audience.
The Reading: I really enjoyed the reading and thought it was a great overview of our presentation. The discussion questions attached to it were good and got the class talking. I feel like that helped break the ice a bit. In other words, everything attached to the reading was beneficial to the presentation.
The Guests: I thought that the professor from the Physical Therapy department was a good addition to the presentation. She really helped bring some of our ideas to light. She also helped us as presenters do a better job of doing justice to the material.
Things that did not go so Well:
The Discussions: As I said above, I thought there would be little to no talking during the informational part of the presentation, and because of that, I know I was not prepared for the amount of talking. I actually think none of us were prepared for the amount of participation that happened. Our lack of preparation was definitely evident in the fact that we went extremely over our time limit and had to rush through certain sections
The Video: The video in itself was a good idea on paper, and it was planned perfectly into the presentation. Yet, I think we could've scratched it or shortened it somehow. This would have allowed us to get to our comprehensive discussion that was planned at the end. I feel like things would not have been affected too much if the video was scratched or if only segments were shown.
Mary: I hate to call her out like this, but there were times when she did not help the presentation. I honestly felt like that she was upstaging me during my part of the presentation when she would constantly interrupt. Some of the things she said were valid and somewhat needed, but some of the other stuff could have been held until the discussion at the end. Also, I felt like we lost a lot of time and some attention when she did interrupt. Overall, a lot of the things she said did not help the presentation and hurt us in many other departments in the respect to time. On a side note, I am extremely upset that she interrupted Brenna to ask about when the video was going to be shown. That was extremely impolite and not needed.
Information: I do know that the law part of mine could have been more detailed. When I first started out with my information, I had everything after the choice debate organized into negatives and positives and use those to paint the overall picture. Yet, I ended up scratching that and putting everything into the sections that were presented. I also thought we did not have enough information on the meso part of our topic. I feel like this happened because there was so much focus on the video and not enough on the information. Yet, I really don't know since all of us had different sections, which probably also added to everything.
Talking: I will say that I know I had some issues with speaking during my presentation. Part of the reason was the fact that I am getting over being sick, and it has been messing with the volume of my voice. The other part is the fact that I was a tad nervous about the whole thing, which does effect my speaking level. It usually doesn't happen when it comes to math stuff. It's just a problem with other things.
The Guests: My only complaint concerns the other professor and her children. There was one child who was somewhat distracting and needed some control from the mother.
Preparation: As I have mentioned, we were definitely unprepared for a lot of things, and I know that it showed. It was definitely a combination of many factors both in our control and out of our control. For the things that were in our control (discussions, other presenters talking, etc), I know we could have done better to reign things in and move on. I know that I personally had a problem reigning in the discussion. The main reason for this was the fact that there was even
Issues before the Presentation:
Meetings: We only met once after the reading meeting to discuss this presentation. Understandably, fall break got in the way and schedules were somewhat difficult to find common time. Yet, I know we could have met at least twice. I did spearhead getting together the week after fall break, but apparently, Mary was not getting my emails while Brenna was. I don't know the truth behind Mary's claims, but she tends to make it a lot for things so it's hard for me to believe her.
I think that's about it for the critique. I really do think that this presentation went ok, but it could have been so much better. The good thing though is I will use my peers' critiques to learn from this experience.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Field Placement
At this current moment, I really don't know how I feel about this placement. The main reason for this is that I have just started actually being a presence in the classroom. During my first week, the teacher placed me in the back of the classroom, and I just observed. Last week, I was actually introduced to the students and have been able to help out. Overall, I'm just happy to be back in a math classroom that isn't at the college level.
As for my co-op teacher, I have mixed feelings about her. I think she is a really good teacher, and she does an excellent job integrating technology in the classroom. Yet, there have just been somethings that she has said that makes me a bit discouraged. For example, the other day we were talking about the success of the lesson that she had taught that day. She mentioned that she had to skip some stuff on the curriculum because it was apparently way too challenging for the class. She also said that she was going to teach the kids how to pass a multiple-choice test. I felt very discouraged and a bit disappointed. These kids need more, and those things she said are not it. I just felt like she was not looking past the fact these students are either repeaters, ELLs, or EC. So far that has been the only thing that has made me a bit discouraged. I have agreed on several other things that she has told me so that's why there are mixed feelings.
In the end, time will tell if this is going to either be another excellent practicum or a bust. I really hope it is the first.
As for my co-op teacher, I have mixed feelings about her. I think she is a really good teacher, and she does an excellent job integrating technology in the classroom. Yet, there have just been somethings that she has said that makes me a bit discouraged. For example, the other day we were talking about the success of the lesson that she had taught that day. She mentioned that she had to skip some stuff on the curriculum because it was apparently way too challenging for the class. She also said that she was going to teach the kids how to pass a multiple-choice test. I felt very discouraged and a bit disappointed. These kids need more, and those things she said are not it. I just felt like she was not looking past the fact these students are either repeaters, ELLs, or EC. So far that has been the only thing that has made me a bit discouraged. I have agreed on several other things that she has told me so that's why there are mixed feelings.
In the end, time will tell if this is going to either be another excellent practicum or a bust. I really hope it is the first.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Linguistic Diversity Presentation Response
Overall, I thought the presentation went pretty well. It was very well organized, and the information was very concise. The presenters seemed to know their information and did a very good job conveying it to the audience. Even though I did enjoy the presentation, there were a couple of things that I didn't like and thought could be improved. For me, the beginning could have been a little shorter. It was a great hook, and it did get my attention. The video was a fantastic, but it could've been shorter. There was a point where I just shut down and could not wait for it to be over with. I also thought that some of the material could have been conveyed in a more interesting way. There were times when the information was taught in a very cut and dry way, and I started to lose my interest. I felt somewhat disengaged. If the group had another chance, I would suggest them to be a little more engaging. It was really interesting information, but it was presented in a very uninteresting way. In the end, I did learn a lot even though there were some problems.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Foreign Language
Note: I did not realize that we had a blog until I went on Blackboard to find the information on the Case Study. I apologize for the lateness of this blog.
From about eighth grade to the fall semester of my freshmen year, I was constantly in some kind of Spanish class. In high school, I was pushed by my parents to exceed the 2 class requirement, and I ended up taking five classes. Until about Spanish 4, I had done really well learning the language. I did not really need to study, and I did pretty well on everything. The only problem was my shyness got in the way of actually speaking the language. I knew how to speak it, but I just never broke my comfort zone to actually speak it. When Spanish 4 started, things got a bit harder. My Spanish 4 and AP Spanish Language classes were a bit difficult. Spanish 4 was difficult because it involved reading in the language and answering questions. These two tasks were quite difficult for me because my years of not studying caused me to not know a lot of vocabulary. Spanish 5 was a bit easier, but we had to speak the language, which I was not comfortable with. Even with these set backs, I did pretty well overall in my high school Spanish career.
When I came to Elon, my success in Spanish kind of diminished. The biggest part of that was the speaking. There were points in the class where I either had to speak to the class or to the teacher. Luckily, the class part was not as bad since I was usually in a group. Yet, the face to face teacher ones were terrible. I realized towards the end of that class that I expressed myself better in written form than oral form. This drove me to do better on written assignments than my oral assignments. In the end, I got a B in the class.
Since that class my freshmen year, I have not been able to take another Spanish class. I really wish that I could because I really love the language, but my schedule does not allow for it. If I was to take a class now, I think I would do much better with the speaking part, which would help me in the long run. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to take a couple of classes and get back into the language.
From about eighth grade to the fall semester of my freshmen year, I was constantly in some kind of Spanish class. In high school, I was pushed by my parents to exceed the 2 class requirement, and I ended up taking five classes. Until about Spanish 4, I had done really well learning the language. I did not really need to study, and I did pretty well on everything. The only problem was my shyness got in the way of actually speaking the language. I knew how to speak it, but I just never broke my comfort zone to actually speak it. When Spanish 4 started, things got a bit harder. My Spanish 4 and AP Spanish Language classes were a bit difficult. Spanish 4 was difficult because it involved reading in the language and answering questions. These two tasks were quite difficult for me because my years of not studying caused me to not know a lot of vocabulary. Spanish 5 was a bit easier, but we had to speak the language, which I was not comfortable with. Even with these set backs, I did pretty well overall in my high school Spanish career.
When I came to Elon, my success in Spanish kind of diminished. The biggest part of that was the speaking. There were points in the class where I either had to speak to the class or to the teacher. Luckily, the class part was not as bad since I was usually in a group. Yet, the face to face teacher ones were terrible. I realized towards the end of that class that I expressed myself better in written form than oral form. This drove me to do better on written assignments than my oral assignments. In the end, I got a B in the class.
Since that class my freshmen year, I have not been able to take another Spanish class. I really wish that I could because I really love the language, but my schedule does not allow for it. If I was to take a class now, I think I would do much better with the speaking part, which would help me in the long run. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to take a couple of classes and get back into the language.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Peer Teaching Experience
Going into the peer teaching, I was extremely nervous. The main part of the nervousness came from the fact that I felt somewhat unprepared for the presentation. I like to be prepared as much as a situation allows, and I felt like I had not reached that potential for this presentation. For one, I had no idea what I needed to put on my slides for my part. I went with my gut and just put the basic information (what the disability was and the symptoms). I had realized that day that I had forgotten on how to accommodate for the disability. The combination of this just made me feel really uncomfortable with the presentation. The other part of the nervousness came from the fact I was doing in front of my peers. For some reason, I get really nervous about doing things I know how to do in front of people I know. I do not know the cause, but it is something that happens all the time. All in all, the experience was something that I was not looking forward to.
During the peer teaching, I was nervous at the start of it, but I started to become less nervous. Once I was in the swing of things, I was comfortable with what I was doing and started to wing it if that was needed. When we did the second teaching, I definitely felt more comfortable and a little more flexible. That allowed me to shorten my information and get the point across clearer and a bit faster. In the end, the second teaching was a lot better than the first.
After the whole experience, I definitely felt relieved. I was glad that it was over and ready to move on. Yet, I was also in a state of reflection. I reflected on the things that went well and the things that did not go well. I also started making a mental list of things that would help me out in my next peer teaching assignment. All in all, I felt good after the experience was over and am ready to do another one.
Looking back at this current moment, I am glad that we were able to do this experience. It definitely helped make things I have previously learned click a little bit better. Also, it allowed me to get an experience of what teachers actually do from lesson to lesson. It was really cool for me, and it is something that I can’t wait to do again. It definitely showed me that there are times when it is ok to change things that I have planned. In the end, it is something I am happy to do again.
During the peer teaching, I was nervous at the start of it, but I started to become less nervous. Once I was in the swing of things, I was comfortable with what I was doing and started to wing it if that was needed. When we did the second teaching, I definitely felt more comfortable and a little more flexible. That allowed me to shorten my information and get the point across clearer and a bit faster. In the end, the second teaching was a lot better than the first.
After the whole experience, I definitely felt relieved. I was glad that it was over and ready to move on. Yet, I was also in a state of reflection. I reflected on the things that went well and the things that did not go well. I also started making a mental list of things that would help me out in my next peer teaching assignment. All in all, I felt good after the experience was over and am ready to do another one.
Looking back at this current moment, I am glad that we were able to do this experience. It definitely helped make things I have previously learned click a little bit better. Also, it allowed me to get an experience of what teachers actually do from lesson to lesson. It was really cool for me, and it is something that I can’t wait to do again. It definitely showed me that there are times when it is ok to change things that I have planned. In the end, it is something I am happy to do again.
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