Over the summer break I planned, read books and articles for research, learned how to use Twitter and other tools, planned some more, researched some more, discussed it lots and then went back to work and got slam-diddly-ammed, culminating in last night's parent information evening. Nothing like the beginning of the school year to smack you right back into reality.
After all my excitement and the thought and planning I put into my presentation for parents last night, I really don't feel great about how it went. There is a combination of factors that contributed to it, not all of them within my control.
But, focusing on what I CAN control, it really is all about the polish:
Next time I will get enough sleep in the week before, do a proper dress-rehearsal (running through what you will say in your head doesn't work, even if you do it several times over), spend more time trying to second-guess the kinds of questions parents might ask (brainstorming session, anyone?). This last one is a little bit like fortune-telling, of course, but the longer I'm the business the better I will get at it, I hope.
To be completely honest, I am just really glad it's over so I can focus on teaching and learning now. The preparation was exhausting and stressful and the hour of presentation and discussion was possibly the hardest work I've ever done. I am glad that I took the risk in trying a new format and I know that I achieved my aim to help parents get a better understanding of how learning happens in my classroom. I hope that they left feeling positive about the work I do with their kids.
Hopefully they're more interested in that than the polish.
About Me
- Louise Kemp
- I'm a dedicated Australian educator living and working in Austria. I love to innovate - technology integration and children's literature are my two current passions! @LouMKemp
Showing posts with label presentations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label presentations. Show all posts
Friday, 6 September 2013
Thursday, 8 August 2013
Parent Information Prezi
At the beginning of the school year at my school, parents are invited into the classroom for an information evening with the class teacher. Generally, turnout is pretty high and (I hope like many other teachers) it can be a bit nerve-wracking. Ask me to speak in front of a group of children and I'm fine; put me in front of parents and I'm a knock-kneed, trembly-voiced wreck. So I like to be prepared.
This last week I've spent many of my spare moments (read: while my toddler is napping) recreating my parent presentation.
Last school year, my Prezi for parents included lots of specific details about school routines and procedures as well as more general information about curriculum and learning in Grade 4. So, for much of the time we were together, I talked about timetabling, who to contact when and how, procedures for discipline, absences etc etc etc - all those institutional necessities. I also talked about general goals for language and maths (spelling program, goals for writing and reading, consolidation and some extension of basic facts, problem-solving) and our Units of Inquiry. And of course, I talked a bit about my own background with a few lame attempts at humour here and there. All in all, it wasn't a terrible presentation. Except that parents left that night without really knowing what learning was going to look like in my classroom.
At the time, it made sense to structure it like this: I was just coming back to teaching after two years out of the classroom and quite a bit of professional development so I didn't feel ready to give specific details about what learning would look like in my class. I was working in a new grade level with a new team and I wasn't sure how all of this 'newness' would pan out. Too many variables.
However, this year I'm going out on a limb and making quite a change.
First up, all the time spent outlining routines and procedures will be significantly reduced. I am putting together a handout for parents with all that information in bullet points. I'm not going to go through each point on the handout, just say 'It's all there, if you want to talk about it, we can, but I'd much rather take the time to talk about learning.'. I feel a bit nervous about this; after all, if I hammer the point home that all children must be at school by 0830, then no child ever has an excuse to be late, right? Even so, I've decided I'm going to give these 4th grade parents a break - I'm guessing they know the drill by now.
Second, I'm going to use a bunch of photos from last year's class. See, parents? This is what Maths class looks like, and this and this and this. Here we are taking photos and video, this is us learning about how search engines work and here we are looking stuff up in books and writing stories longhand. And here's reading and writing and discussion and all the other great stuff that we do.
Third, and this is the one I'm feeling good about: we're going to have the laptops in class with us for the presentation. Parents are going to have a turn with the online homework, I'm going to run them through the Maths revision video (my class is not flipped, but that's for another post), the Google form for Maths problems and the games. If they want, they can even see how the Maths grading works, and I'd really like to give them a few minutes to write some comments on the class blog.
Anyway, here's a look at my Prezi so far. It's clearly a work in progress and you can't see my photos for privacy reasons, but you get the idea, I hope.
Next on the Back to School agenda: organising excellent activities to get to know my students, refamiliarising myself with my first Unit of Inquiry and beginning of year Maths. Oh, and continuing to LOVE my holidays :).
This last week I've spent many of my spare moments (read: while my toddler is napping) recreating my parent presentation.
Last school year, my Prezi for parents included lots of specific details about school routines and procedures as well as more general information about curriculum and learning in Grade 4. So, for much of the time we were together, I talked about timetabling, who to contact when and how, procedures for discipline, absences etc etc etc - all those institutional necessities. I also talked about general goals for language and maths (spelling program, goals for writing and reading, consolidation and some extension of basic facts, problem-solving) and our Units of Inquiry. And of course, I talked a bit about my own background with a few lame attempts at humour here and there. All in all, it wasn't a terrible presentation. Except that parents left that night without really knowing what learning was going to look like in my classroom.
At the time, it made sense to structure it like this: I was just coming back to teaching after two years out of the classroom and quite a bit of professional development so I didn't feel ready to give specific details about what learning would look like in my class. I was working in a new grade level with a new team and I wasn't sure how all of this 'newness' would pan out. Too many variables.
However, this year I'm going out on a limb and making quite a change.
First up, all the time spent outlining routines and procedures will be significantly reduced. I am putting together a handout for parents with all that information in bullet points. I'm not going to go through each point on the handout, just say 'It's all there, if you want to talk about it, we can, but I'd much rather take the time to talk about learning.'. I feel a bit nervous about this; after all, if I hammer the point home that all children must be at school by 0830, then no child ever has an excuse to be late, right? Even so, I've decided I'm going to give these 4th grade parents a break - I'm guessing they know the drill by now.
Second, I'm going to use a bunch of photos from last year's class. See, parents? This is what Maths class looks like, and this and this and this. Here we are taking photos and video, this is us learning about how search engines work and here we are looking stuff up in books and writing stories longhand. And here's reading and writing and discussion and all the other great stuff that we do.
Third, and this is the one I'm feeling good about: we're going to have the laptops in class with us for the presentation. Parents are going to have a turn with the online homework, I'm going to run them through the Maths revision video (my class is not flipped, but that's for another post), the Google form for Maths problems and the games. If they want, they can even see how the Maths grading works, and I'd really like to give them a few minutes to write some comments on the class blog.
Anyway, here's a look at my Prezi so far. It's clearly a work in progress and you can't see my photos for privacy reasons, but you get the idea, I hope.
Next on the Back to School agenda: organising excellent activities to get to know my students, refamiliarising myself with my first Unit of Inquiry and beginning of year Maths. Oh, and continuing to LOVE my holidays :).
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