Spiro’s Sight

Thanks to Alfie Kohn for tweeting this one.

I was lucky to travel west to present at the largest educational technology conference (west of the Mississippi) in Palm Springs. It's called CUE (Computer-Using Educators). While I had rehearsed and near-obsessively sweated the details of my session room, it was affirming to see that I was not the only one who put in such thought into presenting in front of others. Mark Standley, an author and Alaskan educator, gave a remarkable talk entitled "The Art of Digital Presentations", in which he skillfully measured and then responded to the energy level of his audience in real-time. It was fun but a little unnerving to observe the "meta" aspect of delivering a presentation about what makes a great presentation.

Standley correctly stated the danger of (mis-)using PowerPoint: "Too often the technology becomes the presentation and the speaker's voice, message, and ideas are secondary." Though many of his ideas were deceptively simple and seemingly subtle, I would argue that these small pieces of advice (selection featured below) add up to a much more engaging and enriching experience for both presenter and audience.

• Provide handouts. Because half of your audience will be uncomfortable without them.
• Remember that adults like to talk to each other. Provide opportunities for that to happen.
• The average "wait-time" is about 4 seconds. But the average wait-time should be 11 seconds.
• Choose two "anchor-points" on the floor when speaking in front of an audience. Avoid mimicking the "caged tiger" on a stage and don't hesitate to join your audience physically as a fellow learner.

There were many other ideas offered which you can see on his website, but I found the most surprising part of his talk was about credibility: according to Standley, the most believed piece of information is from an overheard conversation. If that's true, it might explain why so many commercials feature "hidden camera" testimonials!

From The New York Times (via Joan):

Building a Better Teacher

There are more than three million teachers in the United States, and Doug Lemov is trying to prove that he can teach them to be better.

http://s.nyt.com/u/9ot

It's great to have you all back for our 3rd session, "Knowing Self As Teacher". Please use the following links to participate:

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Assessment
• Cognitive Style Inventory: use this afterwards to confirm the results of the MBTI (scroll down after visiting)
• The 16 Types: detailed descriptions of each personality type. Or read this "type table" (scroll down).
• Are you an introvert? If so, find some relief here ("Caring for Your Introvert") and here ("Why Introverts Can Make The Best Leaders")

Here are the links for our collaborative online discussion and creation:

• "What Makes a Great Teacher?" (original article from The Atlantic Monthly)
• "The Four Faces of Good Teaching" (videos)
• VoiceThread: you will need to register to join if you have never used this website before (just use your NTHS email as a login, and your normal password as your password)