Class Title: Presentation and Assignment 4 Preparation
For this class period, the main goal was to discuss audience roles during presentations, preplan for presentations, and peer-review their assignment 4 papers.
- Welcome & Agenda. PowerPoint to show students what was due today, what we will do in class, and what the homework will be.
- Discuss the audience’s role during presentations including how they should all behave in general and specific instructions on asking questions and writing a peer-evaluation (each student would be required to ask a question and write an evaluation for two presenters, which would be assigned randomly).
- Students will share outlines created the previous class and brainstorm ideas for the PowerPoints
- Students put their introduction and outline together and have time to start filling in the outline with appropriate information or work on their PowerPoints if they have a completed rough draft.
- Students conduct peer-reviews of their rough drafts with two different partners
My impressions of the class:
Overall, the class went really well. Students were paying attention and working when they were supposed to. This class was meant to be a work day, so there was less of me instructing. Students seemed willing to ask questions when they had them and even volunteered answers to the discussions held in class. Most students worked well in the peer-reviews, while some students did not want to switch partners after the first round. A couple students turned into a large group instead of finding a new partner, but I felt that they were still working appropriately and some members were new. I allowed the group to stay, but I did have to ask one pair to switch partners when they attempted to stay in the same together instead of switching.
I think that allowing students to have an option on what they worked on was really nice. Most students did not have completed rough-drafts done but some did. Allowing students to work on their rough-drafts first or their PowerPoints helped make sure that everyone had something to work on. I saw less people doing nothing or playing on their phone which often happens when they have completed a task faster than others students. It also ensured that everyone would be ready to participate in a peer-review.
Reactions to comments:
I was happy to know that I had made improvements on my transitions between activities. It was something mentioned in my first observation and I really tried to create smoother transitions and make sure that students understand everything before moving on. I find myself asking if they have questions after every activity I do, which creates a natural pause and a wrapping up feeling for the activity. It also helps me know if students are confused about anything.
I agreed that I need to improve on engaging the students in the discussions. I have struggled this semester with getting students to participate in discussions and speak up in class. They seem to do really well in pairs or groups, they stay on topic of discussions and share great ideas. I need to find a way to transition this into whole class discussions. I think trying to have them get in small groups first and then requiring each group to share what they discussed might help with this.
Another improvement I need to make is quieting the class when I need to make announcements. I think it was especially bad this class since it was a work day and they had spent most of the time talking in pairs or groups. I usually just talk over them and they will quiet down, but it did not work well this time. I need to make sure that I tell everyone to quiet and wait for them before I start giving the announcements. If it got to a point where this was working, I could raise my hand to signal everyone to quiet down and not speak until everyone has noticed and stopped talking.
Another comment was about the jig-saw activity. I had also noticed that this did not go as smooth as I had planned. Limiting the number of key points, they were supposed to find and then share will help with this. I also liked the suggestion of having extra things for students to work on if they finish before other groups. This could be as simple as having a discussion question to pose to them, or just asking them to talk about how they might use their section to help with their own essay.
I also agreed that I need to be careful about allowing too much time in class for them to work. It can be really helpful but I do not want them doing all of their work in class. I think limiting class work time to 20 minutes would be a good way to help with this. It allows students to start work and think of any questions they have, but is not enough time for them to finish something. This will help give students the time they asked for and help them ask questions without eliminating the need for outside work.
This observation/discussion was, once again, very helpful. I need to improve on controlling the class volume when I need to speak and engaging the students in discussions more. I should continue to work on listening to my students needs without compromising on the work that needs to be done. I was happy to see that I had made some improvements, but there is always room for more.