The Power of a Target

Reading strategies, presentation skills, and slideware best practice--I wanted to reinforce all of these in 4

 periods with 10th graders who had just finished reading Cry, the Beloved Country. Oh, yes, and the second of the periods was a 25-minute sliver of a crazy half-day filled with school bazaar doings. Was it possible? I decided to see what would happen if I focused on a limited target, communicated it clearly, and provided an environment conducive to making it happen.

Goals:

1. Explore information that would be helpful background or interesting extension for the reading of Cry, the Beloved Country.
2. Practice basic verbal and non-verbal presentation skills.
3. Create 1 slide that is error-free, easy to read, and memorably reinforces your presentation.

Format: A 1-minute presentation with 1 slide.

Question: How will you use the 25 minutes of today’s bizarre schedule to help yourself and your neighbor be ready to present on Tuesday?

Actual interactions:

Student: “So can I use 4 slides?”

Me: “What do the directions say? You wouldn’t want to show more than a slide a minute anyway! Words are what you’re already giving they from your mouth. How can 1 slide illuminate and make memorable your words?”

Student: “Can I use a picture?”

*******

“Is it enough of a presentation if I just teach them how to say some Zulu words?”

*******

“I just searched ‘crime in Johannesburg’ and there have been 2 news stories in the last hour, 12 in the last 24!”

*******

Student: “Is this good information?”

Me: “Your classmates will be hearing this and 25 other presentations in the course of 1 period. Will they remember this when they walk out of the room?”

*******

“Is Desmond Tutu still alive? My friend met him.”

*******

Student: “So if I picked ‘mines in South Africa’ do you want me to do like back in the time of the novel, or now?”

Me: “As long as you can connect it to the book--historical would explain the setting of the novel, and current would show to what extent Paton’s hopes and fears have come true. That’s what ‘background’ and ‘extension’ mean.”

Student: “Ooooooohhh!”

An assessment does not always need to involve huge amounts of time and effort to provoke learning and target achievement--that's what I'm learning. What is needed: know the target, communicate the target, and provide the environment for students to focus on the target.