It is always difficult to know what ‘right’ looks like but I was doing everything I could to mitigate any confusion during the session. For my pervious class I had done a lot of preparation but didn’t have any slides, opting instead for a series of web links and a lesson plan. I had avoided slides believing them to be too linear however on reflection slides could give both the students and the me a structure that could bring a clarity that talking through a list of web links might not.
The session was observed by Jon and this post has been written prior to any feedback, however in my opinion everything went well. During the 2 hour session we recapped core information and I was clear that everyone fully understood what the topic – Online Intervention meant and what it looked like in regards a 24 week project. We looked at examples from the homework task and the peer feedback relating to this. Students worked in small groups to create project teams and used flipchart paper to record ideas. They then presented these ideas back to the class. Time keeping was perfect and although there were a couple of things I would have changed in the big picture it was all good. On leaving a couple of them thanked me and said they had enjoyed the session and felt motivated about their next steps.
What I got from this was that slides may be a very conventional approach to teaching but can help to bring clarity. I also made sure there was a slide for each task so that students always understood what it was they were supposed to achieve during the small group work.
I videoed the session and the student presentations just as I always do but this time positioned the camera at the back of the class to get as wide a shot as possible – I didn’t know how much I would move around and didn’t want to walk off camera. On reviewing the material, I realised that a number of people were enjoying a joke (at the back). Could it be that in getting it ‘right’ I had forgotten to relax and that my keenness looked almost comic book? There could be a million reasons for their smiling but my note to self is to replace ‘right’ with ‘inspiring’ and to see what follows.