... and that includes things like doing recorded presentations that make you squirm and feel a bit dorky!
The "interview" above was done as a model for students to consider before trying their own recorded presentations on the topic of Top Tools of Your Trade. By talking about 'teaching tools' I was able to speak genuinely but also avoid giving any of our particular trade groups an unfair advantage over the others. For example, if I'd done this interview with one of our carpentry teachers, the plumbing and electrical students would have cried foul (as the model would have basically given the carpentry group something to copy not just in terms of organisation and delivery but also actual content).
I also quite deliberately did some things a little poorly in this talk, to give students the chance to discover/notice both positives and negatives in the example given. There's no clear indication at the start of the talk in terms of specific topic, focus and purpose. Three main topics would have been better than four, for example, given that I managed to talk at length about all of them. I repeat myself a little too much. There's no 'wrap up' conclusion to help the listener to walk away with a clear reminder of what I covered. The volume could have been better. You get the drift...
However, I would like to offer thanks to my talented and infinitely patient (if not particularly energetic) interviewer: the handle of the second draw on the filing cabinet across from my desk. I had to make it look like an interview, after all, and there wasn't anybody about in the staff room!
Getting back to the title of this post, I do think it is really important to put ourselves through the same sorts of tasks that we ask learners to try. Doing this interview with the filing cabinet reminded me of a lot of the discomfort of doing a formal presentation of some sort (and a recorded one at that); that gives me valuable insights into the learners' potential feelings about this task and what I might be able to do to help them through it.
Like bringing that filing cabinet along to class to help with the interview questions, for instance...
:D
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