My mom, Amanda Fritz, giving a speech after she was elected to Portland City Council in 2008. Photo taken by my dad!
Hi everyone,
Today was our last day of preparation for the Rwanda speech in front of the United Nations! Lots of tips and stuff to talk about. Here's what happened in class today:
Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 20: I can identify the critical components of imperialism.
Communication LT 1: I can communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
Soundtrack: "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson. Selected because you get to "make that change" with your speech, and also, practicing in front of a mirror is a good strategy to prepare for a speech. Lyrics here.
AGENDA 12/14/15:
News Brief - Ashleigh
Brainstorm Public Speaking
Rwanda Video
Speech Work Time
Homework: Read the blog. The United Nations group speech in front of an administrator is next class! Practice! Dress up (if possible)! Be ready to go with your group! Also, if you haven't turned in your revised/final individual speech, please do so ASAP. Next news brief: Tiffany.
News Brief: Ashleigh had the news brief today and selected an article about this story: CNN.com - French teacher made up story of ISIS attack, official says. We found France in our world maps again, and talked about why this might have happened, and irrational fear based on religion. Thanks, Ashleigh.
We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):
Brainstorm: Public Speaking: We talked in class about some tips for giving a good speech. I used two video clips for this:
The 2014 National Champion of Original Oratory, Andrea Ambam.
I only showed the first two minutes or so of this in class, but the point was hopefully made clear. She does a great job of knowing her material, standing straight, using hand gestures to be engaging, making eye contact, and varying her tone of voice.
As a class, we thought of good public speaking tips. Here's what we came up with:
- Hand gestures when appropriate
- Speaking with confidence
- Dramatic pauses
- Use metaphors to relate to audience
- Watch your facial expression (you know something the audience doesn’t)
- Get feedback from others to improve
- Memorization is helpful, try not to pause for umm, or like, or verbal tics
- Don’t just look at one place
- It’s okay if you don’t go word for word (the audience won’t know)
- Make sure your voice is clear and able to be heard
- Be formal with your communication
- Try to keep your inflection the same throughout
- Speak slowly and deliberate
Next, I showed this five minute video from Toastmasters (an organization devoted to helping people with public speaking):
I hope that all of this made everyone feel better, or at least, provide some tips on how to feel better about the speech!
Rwanda Video: Finally, before work time the rest of class, I showed half of this video that an American media company made for Rwanda's tourism department. I wanted to show this to highlight some of the beautiful aspects of Rwanda, as another counter story to what people may typically think.
Rwanda Video: Finally, before work time the rest of class, I showed half of this video that an American media company made for Rwanda's tourism department. I wanted to show this to highlight some of the beautiful aspects of Rwanda, as another counter story to what people may typically think.
Group Speech Work Time: The rest of the class was devoted to working on the speech in groups - getting the order down, practicing, and refining. The groups are (some may have six, which means that the group will have four middle speakers on speech day):
Group 1: Samson W, Olivia Q, Hitesh V (absent), John N, Byron D, Josh B
*Group 2*: Mathew M, Tiffany C, Alaina E, Ethan W, Manya J
Group 3: Baylie C, Lisanna S, Kai E, Marquis R, Meher C, Mandy C,
Group 4: Blake H, Alex G, Alex K, Noah B, Britney G, Ashleigh N,
Group 5: Medha P, Ellie H, Edo M, Anthonette M, Natalie R, Queena W,
*Group 6*: Mark K, Juwon E, Malini G, Sim L, Emily T
Group 1: Samson W, Olivia Q, Hitesh V (absent), John N, Byron D, Josh B
*Group 2*: Mathew M, Tiffany C, Alaina E, Ethan W, Manya J
Group 3: Baylie C, Lisanna S, Kai E, Marquis R, Meher C, Mandy C,
Group 4: Blake H, Alex G, Alex K, Noah B, Britney G, Ashleigh N,
Group 5: Medha P, Ellie H, Edo M, Anthonette M, Natalie R, Queena W,
*Group 6*: Mark K, Juwon E, Malini G, Sim L, Emily T
Here's the assignment sheet again, if you are needing it to find the rubrics to turn in with your revised paper:
Please make sure to bring a revised final copy of your speech (if you have not turned it in already), for me to grade, next class! Be prepared and confident in your speech - I know you will all be great! Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help!
I just came back from Blazers' game and they won.(I heard that they were bad so I was pretty amazed when they won)
ReplyDeleteThe Blazers are okay! They aren't super terrible, or anything. Just not great this season. It was a good win for them!
DeleteWould your grade go down if you don't dress up?
ReplyDeletewill are grade go down if we don't dress up
ReplyDeleteHi there,
DeleteSorry for the late reply! I was out for dinner this evening. The answer, of course, is that no, your grade will not go down if you don't dress up. We grade on proficiency at Westview. I assure you that there is no learning target that states a need to dress professionally or formally. That said, it does add some gravity to the class, it's usually fun for just the day to look good, and often gives students more confidence.