Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Project Redux

So my fun projects/presentations are almost all in and on the whole they are: alright. I thought about classifying them as "not bad", but that sounded too good. I thought about classifying them as shockingly medicore, but I realize now I should not be shocked. Though I tried, I did not do a good job of giving feedback and guidance along the way. So in the end I think that each student group in their own earnest way did really work hard to learn about the things that I had asked them to learn, but what they didn't do was learn it well enough to explain it to others. There explanations were on the whole subpar. I found myself sitting there wondering if this is what they experience everyday from me. I think I will delude myself with some of my student evaluations from previous years to stop that thought. As usual my students failed in planning their presentations to think about one important thing: the audience. Most talked directly to me the whole time, or to the board. They expected me to say things like "right", "wrong", "yes", and, "I see". I ended up saying some of that stuff, oh well.

So how do I feel about the experiment. I think that I have to do it again. It can be better, and they can do a better job of communicating their thoughts. If they can't they desperately need the practice. What was also interesting was how the students went about using technology. Some eschewed it completely. That didn't necessarily help their presentations. They argued while they gave a team presentation, they said "I don't really understand this". They didn't rehearse. All in all there was room for improvement. But I did help one group make a mathcast of an argument to show that the square encloses the largest area of any rectangle of a certain perimeter. And after we were done the student was so excited to see what they had made. It was pretty dry mathematics, but they were excited to see what they had done with it. Sort of made the whole thing worthwhile.

2 comments:

Rebecca Segall said...

Interesting -- I wish that when I was in school I had math teachers who were as reflective, caring and... qualified as you. Also, I think, in general, most middle school kids are still developing an awareness of the world outside of themselves... i wouldn't blame yourself (too much :-)) for their neglect of the audience's concerns...

Dr. Bad Ass said...

I'm a first-time commenter on your blog (which I've now subscribed to in my reader!)I'm Currently a teacher educator, formerly a high school English teacher; I'm also now taking math/science courses out of interest for the first time ever!
Presentations are tough for students. When I taught high school, my students occasionally did the kind of thing you're talking about -- they looked only at me as they did their presentations, which drove me insane! My college students even do this occasionally.
I think it's about teaching them how to do presentations, how to stand in front of a class, etc. Just as we have to teach middle school kids how to participate in a discussion, how to write for an audience, etc.

Looking forward to reading more on your blog . . .