Audience and Purpose

Shout out thank you to everyone who assisted with presentations. The feedback has been very positive. Some groups didn’t get through everybody so next time we meet it’s first item on the agenda. If you did present Monday, don’t forget to write that blog post reflecting on the experience, what you’ve learned and what you may do differently next time.
Here’s something I came across a couple of days ago. I would encourage you to watch the whole thing but if you fast forward to 4:26 you will see other students presenting their project findings just like you.

Today is the day people.
A theme for us has been effective feedback. Not wishy-washy, “Aww! Wasn’t that nice! You’re just awesome!” feedback.
That’s rubbish.
We’re talking real feedback. Timely, specific comments aimed at helping people learn and grow.
So here’s the deal

1. Your research team splits up so each person is a “representative” in a larger presentation group and head off to separate areas.
2. For each presentation you view, you are required to fill out the student presentation feedback form (click here to view). Fill it out as accurately as possible (spelling of names etc). I am putting a ban on the word “good”. Learning to give good feedback is as important as learning how to receive it.
3. At the end of all presentations start a blog post reflecting on your experience. What was it like to present? Which presentation interested you the most and why? How did you feel about giving feedback to the other presenters? As always feel free to use the sentence starters to you know, get you started.

There’s a bit to get through so we have to be as efficient and effective as possible. Stay focused. Enjoy.

Consultations are complete. Most groups will have comments on their documents, everyone will have spoken with me about their evaluation and presentation.

If you haven’t shared all of you project documents via Google Docs you need to get that sorted out immediately.

The next question your group is called to answer is “What will you do with the advice?” Check your documents, review the previous blog post with “Death by PowerPoint”, make the necessary adjustments and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. You have only one more scheduled lesson before you must present so use the time wisely.

Is a very slow death indeed. Show some mercy!

This presentation is quite instructive and has useful tips on how you can improve the quality of your presentations.

Death by PowerPoint

Presentations for BB will be Tuesday 17-November.

Presentations for CBE will be Monday 9-November.

It may seem like a long way off but there is much work to be done compiling better research and polishing presentations for maximum effectiveness. Check your progress against the assessment rubrics on the Resources page. Be aware Cup weekend (and some other things?) may rob you of some lessons.

Both classes will be presenting to some “big wigs” in the organisation so make it a PB! (personal best)

The consultations have started. If you haven’t had a consultation yet here are some things your group should check/work on before you get there.

1. Fill out the document templates – You can’t collaborate if all the stuff is written in one person’s book. Get it into the shared document.
2. Ask better questions – The quality of your questions directly affect the quality of your answers. Better questions better answers! Ask for help if you’re struggling
3. Consult the assessment rubrics – They’re the goal posts. They can be found on the Resources page.

I still think some groups are taking the project a bit lightly. You have to create an informative high quality presentation and that stuff doesn’t happen by itself. It takes time, effort and cooperation. A true test of of character and self discipline. Get organised and get working.

To assist with the research and presentation planning stuff (like what’s on the list above) everyone should complete the following tutorials on Atomic Learning. Each section takes about 20 minutes and is well worth the time investment. Don’t forget to plug in those headphones.

Bit of a focus on blog tricks and techniques. Remember the mantra,
“Audience and purpose, audience and purpose!”
I fully appreciate everyone wanting to make their sites look super colourful and attractive but sometimes less is more. And you should never “bling” your site at the expense of core functions like followers and comments. It’s a blog. Purpose! Remember?
I have said all I am going to say about hot pink text on black backgrounds and the like…
Now if you need help with your blog posts I feel your pain. If you’re not used to using a muscle it can take a while to build your strength but in the meantime the workouts kill! Well help is at hand. Check out this earlier post with a link to some sentence starters. Pick one from each section, complete the sentence and bingo! Instant paragraph.
Don’t forget to fill out the online self assessment form mentioned in the previous post every so often and keep chipping away at those projects. Our Greenhouse Earth Project Launcher on Atomic Learning can help you out with the nitty gritty (we actually used it as sort of a template. Shh! Don’t tell!)

Every couple of weeks you should fill out the online self assessment form (you can also find the link on the Resources page under “for your accountability”). It will help you track your progress and the progress of your group. You may even think of something yo write on your blog in the process.
Here are some of my thoughts on collaboration. I have some termed them as “raise the bar” questions for you…

• When a group of people are collaborating what things might they be saying?
• What words would they be using?
• What would their voices sound like (what tone of voice)?

Coming up with some answers and focusing on these will help to build better relationships within your team. I’d also like to find out what you think about this…
Can you listen without ‘hearing’?
I think there is “listening for understanding” and “listening for when it’s MY turn to speak”.
What do you think? Is there a difference?

This continues with the theme from the last post. It’s by presentation ninja Garr Reynolds inspired by a book by Daniel Pink called Johnny Bunko.

I think this may have super relevance to the task you have just begun. Does it seem big and confusing at the moment? Of course it does. When you start out many things can appear overwhelming even insurmountable. Take Dory’s advice and, “keep on swimming”. Revisit the task pages as often as you need to and, “keep on swimming”. Work through the Our Greenhouse Earth project launcher on Atomic Learning and, “keep on swimming.”