Blog Prompt #7

Though the presentations we gave for the grade nine classes may not have seemed ideal, I was actually quite surprised at how well they went. This past summer I worked at magic camp with kids of the same age group so I understand firsthand how difficult and uncooperative they can be. There were still many students who didn’t see the value or care about what we had to offer but I was surprised by the number of students who were actually interested and asked questions. The biggest challenge to overcome was making sure all the material was covered and still leaving for questions within such a small time frame. This was because each group and a different dynamic and therefore presentation had a different flow. Furthermore the rotation time between groups seemed to change making it more difficult to manage. Another challenge was that students sometimes asked questions about things other groups were talking about so when it was that groups turn to talk to them they’re material had already been covered.

I did enjoy telling students about some of the available resources that I find helpful because though the majority of them were not interested many of them did actually seem like they were excited about it. Teaching has been an interest of mine for a long time and I found this experience to the very valuable. It actually didn’t change how I see teach, rather it reinforced my opinion of how difficult it is to teach. I think grade nines are one of the hardest age groups to teach because not only is it difficult to explain things so that they understand them but many of them are uninterested and unwilling to try and learn. 

If I could do this project again I try and make sure that people had a clear idea of what they need to talk about as well as what the other groups are talking about. This would be to prevent overlap of topics. I would also try and find a way to make the presentation more engaging and interactive. Over all I found the presentation to be a success and a more enjoyable experience than I anticipated.