4/29/2014 April 29We have been working on our Genius Hour projects off and on during the course of this year. Now it is time for students to share what they have learned with their classmates. They were offered the opportunity to present their project via slides or video. The majority have chosen slides, and we have been reviewing what was already discussed at the beginning of the year regarding PowerPoint best practices. The research document that was a work in progress all year has received a score based on the requirements listed here. As usual some students skipped whole sections such as writing up a conclusion or even telling which presentation format they had chosen. Scores for that will be entered in PowerSchool this week but the scores are on a curve. I explained that I did expect them to follow directions, however being able to research a topic using current and reliable sources and put the research in a coherent presentation is really a skill that needs developing and lots of practice over time. I hope they are a little further along that learning path as a result of this activity. Presentations begin on Tuesday, May 6, and will continue throughout May. Students have everything they need to polish the presentation from home, but they are welcome to come to the lab for extra help at recess. I offered the opportunity for students to volunteer to go first with a bonus added, and several students took that offer. The other first day students were drawn at random. All first day presenters will receive a 20 percent bonus, generous but appropriate considering the concept of Genius Hour is based on Google's 20 Percent Time. At the beginning of the year when this was proposed and explained, I had even suggested students think about tangible results such as baking, building, designing. But I think our students are not used to having such a wide open assignment, and also, technology class is a "minor subject" and often doesn't get much attention from them in their academic outlook.So we ended up with mainly slide presentations, and that will be okay, especially since quite a few are still not getting the concept that you do not fill a slide with text and then read the text to your audience. Could we at least graduate from 8th grade with that basic understanding? I certainly hope so! Presentation rubrics are found on the yellow tile on the webmix and should be reviewed before the date of presentation. The time has come to show what has been learned in the 20 percent of each quarter that has been devoted to their topic of choice. Comments are closed.
|