When we return after our well deserved October break, there will be only 9 weeks until the end of the academic year. That nicely avoids the 'C' word I think!
Below is how I intend to roll out the classes on our return. I have been mightily impressed with how the class has operated since we first met, especially in the way you work in the spoken form and your research skills. Because of this, I have decided to keep the momentum going and move onto the second speaking assessment next. This is an individual oral presentation and I like to assess that by splitting the class into three groups (8, 8 and 9 in our case). We can discuss that on the first Thursday back. It is also a good idea to piggyback on the work you are doing with Alan in IT and I will e mail him to see whether there are any opportunities for you to do some preparatory work in his class. I will need to check this of course and make no assumptions there.
So, here is how I intend to roll out the next nine weeks. I am a great believer in schedules and sticking to them, so there should be no problems if we follow this recipe for success.
25th October - reflecting on the discussion assessment, teaching what makes an effective and ineffective presentation delivery. In this session we will share experiences in presentation delivery and I will fill in with some commentary from my experience teaching this area of communication. As you would imagine, I have many a story! This will set the scene for what things you should be thinking about when delivering an individual talk. The assessment is 5 minutes plus additional time for questions. The feedback sessions for the assessed talks have been very warmly received in the last four years that I have been teaching SWAP at Motherwell. More about that nearer assessment time though.
1st November - looking at PowerPoint use, examples and critique of previous student work (PowerPoint slides), presentation titles from previous SWAP Access to Nursing classes, and watching a presentation. Not a TED talk this time, but one of my favourites which we can analyse together.
8th November - everybody should have a topic for their presentation by this time. This session, as well as the 15th and 22nd November will be time for you to work on your presentations. Please bring laptops / tablets etc. to these classes and I can book some PCs in the library for some members of the class if I know the numbers in advance.
29th November, 6th December and 13th December - assessment delivery.
20th December - this will be used if anybody has been unable to deliver their talk on the allocated time as agreed as above.
I wish every one of you a great break, you have earned it, and I will mostly be drinking Pinot Grigio, relaxing and wearing silly golf trousers. A selection of which can be seen below! Och you have to have a laugh, right?
See you all on Thursday 25th October.
Mark
