I had a training session to go to last Friday and all I could think of was I had conferences this week and when was I going to get everything done. It was 2:00 pm and they were bringing out a new speaker. My attitude was less than perfect, but he was introduced and started speaking about comprehension and how/what could help.
He let us know he was going to walk us through a vocabulary lesson. It was on the computer as a power point and it was excellent! At 2:15 I was wide awake and ready to listen to every word he was speaking.
He put the word up, then had the definition, then the suffix, and held much discussion about each piece. I do have to say the best was when he used two different pictures fitting to the words and it gave a view to what he was talking about. His presentation addressed the multiple intelligence theory well.
There were many lessons I left with. One being that at 2:00 pm on Friday I should be ready to give that person a chance to present. You never know what more you could learn. Plus, I do always try to keep in mind of what I would feel like if I was the one having to present at 2:00 pm on a Friday afternoon. I'm not sure there could be a whole lot worse when your audience is adults. On the way out we did think about what children must feel like on Fridays at 2:00 also.
Technology is all around us and I notice it more now then ever.
I think I would have been feeling the same way at 2:00 pm on Friday! It think it's also important to, like you said, think about how the speaker would be feeling. Wouldn't you feel awful looking out on an audience that is half asleep? I know it would break my heart. I should remember this example so that when it's 2:00 pm on a Friday my students will be actively involved in my lesson and not dying to get out of there. I'm glad you came out of this with such a positive attitude.
ReplyDeleteAh wow, 2 pm on a Friday is a killer. I feel really sorry for the students if they have to be in class on a Friday afternoon. However, we all did it right, we all had to attend classes on a Friday, but still. Somehow I came to think of Friday afternoon as being part of the weekend. I am glad that you got something positive from the experience.
ReplyDeleteI also love the fact that you mentioned multiple intelligence theory. I think that this is something that langugae teachers often forget, beacuse we teach a class (reading and writing) that is pretty much focussed on selected intelligences, such as linguistic intelligence, and only partly address or caters for the others (and then also in selected aspects. I therefore appreciate that the presenter ainmed to introduce vocabulary addressing several of the intelligences. I think this is still an aspect of teaching reading and writing that needs more attention, as we have students in our class with varying dominant intelligences.
I think I still know what it feels like to be a student at 2 p.m. on a Friday-ready to start the weekend! That would have been a little annoying at first, but I'm glad you ended up "getting something" out of the speaker instead of potentially going crazy.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you got everything all ready for conferences..at least you'll have this Friday free! :)
The dreaded Friday afternoon workshop! I find your description of the vocabulary development activity interesting. I have a PhD student who is working on a study using iPads and a Vocabulary App with high school students. What you described is very similar to how the App works and the goal is to build vocabulary knowledge. Anyway... some interesting connections!
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