Experiencing Group

First of all, I would like to start off my saying that I honestly enjoyed working with my group, all of us were constantly on the same page, we all had very creative ideas, we all worked well together, which resulted in a very successful presentation! (If I do say so myself, haha!)

Now, all of the other groups had great presentations....but in any project, there were certain things that I noticed some people needed to work on to enhance their presentation. 

(These are just my own personal thoughts and opinions)

1. Always speak to your audience! Not towards the wall, not towards your peers in the presentation, not the floor, and not just the teacher. Remember, opening your body up (ie: standing with good posture, facing the room) will enhance your speaking voice as well as aid you in "owning" the room.

2. Please, please please PRACTICE your presentation. Or at least make sure you KNOW the information that you are presenting. The better acquainted you are with the main objective of the presentation, the better informed your audience will be! 

3. This was mentioned in class, but make sure that your voice tone is appropriate for the presentation. Don't be so comfortable with your stage presence that you're speaking as if it were a normal conversation with a classmate. On the other hand, don't be so nervous that you can barely speak...it's OKAY, we all have to present!

4. These are just "no-no's"...

No gum.

No "umm".

No "you know?"

No fidgeting.

No looking aimlessly around/at the floor/etc.

No slacking (it's a group presentation, meaning, work WITH your group!)

All in all, I think our whole class did a really great job, and I personally thought it was a fun experience. I usually like to be in charge, I have A-type personality :) but it was honestly a fun time and I was very proud of our work! Thanks to all of my group members! And congratulations to the rest of the class!!

My Cloodle!!

PowerPoint (Terrific) !!

When the new assignment was given, I was completely against it from the start. I've always disliked PowerPoint presentations all throughout my school career, and in all honesty, I do not intend to use PowerPoint to teach any of my students in the future. Mr. Smith explained that we were in total control of our grade level, lesson plan, and objectives, as long as we followed the education curriculum. In some sense, I was excited, just because creating a PowerPoint can be very creative, and I was driven to make it as FUN as I possibly could.

Being an Early Childhood Education major, I chose Kindergarten for my grade level, and reading for the curriculum. Basically, I expected my students to previously know their alphabet, be able to sing the alphabet song, recognize the letters of the alphabet, and have slight knowledge on constructing the letters, as well. 

In my future classroom there are a few things that I already know I will be implementing on a daily basis, such as repetitive classroom goals. Each and every day, with each and every assignment, I will ask my students "What's our Focus?" and then guide them to understand what we will be covering.

 

I will also make sure the students know what materials will be needed for each classroom activity for each particular "focus." 

At the conclusion of an activity, my students will also be able to recognize the 'At-Home Checklist'. I plan on sending agenda's home with my students daily, for their parents to follow along and keep up with what their children are learning. I may write special notes to certain parents, or place reminders, etc. and then I expect my students to return the next day with the agenda signed and dated. They will also be asked to do five things concluding an assignment:

Practice 

Share 

Review 

Do 

Explore

I had a lot of fun while making my presentation, I was able to use a lot of clip art, 

animations, and colors! I used very little words, considering my age group, and presented the focus using large letters of the alphabet. We covered letters A-E (for that particular lesson plan). Then once the slide show was complete, the students had the chance to be active and enjoy a 'scavenger hunt' around the classroom of different items beginning with the letters A-E. Once every child had returned to their seat, we evaluated what we had found during the scavenger hunt, and then went on to the conclusion of the PowerPoint, which assigned everything that they needed to do for homework. If I were to do another PowerPoint presentation, I would possibly include games on the actual slide show, and let the children be interactive that way.

I'm very proud of my slide show, I think it shows my passion for teaching, and clearly shows my personality as an individual. I also think that if it were to be presented in an actual Kindergarten classroom, that the students would not only be able to follow along, but also understand and enjoy the lesson plan.

I enjoyed presenting to my peers, I really don't have a fear of presentations, so it was fun to show off my hard work! I also enjoyed watching my peers PowerPoints because of all the differences in ideas, set-up, and so on. All in all, I enjoyed this lesson and definitely learned a thing or two!!

Now for the after effects....

Will I ever use PowerPoint in my classroom?

Will I ever recommend using PowerPoint in a classroom?

The answer to both would be yes! As long as teachers stray away from the boring lecture type of presentations, and include more interactive games/activities, I think that PowerPoint can truly be an effective tool. I would recommend it for older grades, considering younger children cannot read as much, nor focus as long, but I would still occasionally implement a presentation or two in my own classroom regardless of age.