Blimey! One per post per month
That's not much of a reflective batting average. I really need to make a point of dedicating some time each week to the blog. It's one thing allowing a certain amount of time to pass while you form your reflections. Quite another to have to trawl your memory banks for them.
Anyway, the major event of the last couple of weeks has been the completion of my observations.
Logistics and the distance between Stockport and Blackpool dictated we do the remaining two observed lessons on the same day - one in the morning, one in the afternoon. It saves Margaret having to make that arduous trip twice, and it gets round the problem I'm facing of rapidly diminishing class sizes.
Given a couple of weeks more, I don't think I would have had a requisite amount of students to stage a lesson adequate for observation anyway, even if I combined the two groups. As it was, I had to 'borrow' a couple of bodies to make up the numbers
The problem is they're all going off on their industrial placements, meaning I can't start any serious projects - certainly none that contribute to their year mark - because three quarters of them will be missing at any given time.
It's frustrating, but college rules dictate they have to complete ALL their modules, including work experience, within the given term dates. Much better the way we used to have it, when placements went on over the summer...
Anyway, I was being observed in the delivery of radio advertising project, during which I was hoping to open students' eyes and ears to the power of the 'Theatre of the Mind.'
I like this project. It's a challenge for me as well as them, but when they 'get it' - the idea that you can create visual images in an audio medium, that is - it's really rewarding to see them exploring the possibilities.
It's also a good one to be observed on, because it involves a lot of different resources including audio examples, group work and plenty of learning checks.
In addition, it's an opportunity for me to be observed at the other end of the scale from my previous observation , in as much as I was back in the classroom teaching and interacting with a small group rather than delivering a lecture to roomful of 60 or 70 people. A chance then to practice a different 'voice'.
I was a little worried about being observed delivering the same lesson twice - once in the morning, once in the afternoon - but I was assured this wasn't against the rules. And anyway, whether by accident or design, my lessons seldom unfold the same way twice over!
In the event, having two observed sessions so close together put me in a position of some advantage. How so? Normally, you have to wait at least a week or two to act on feedback you receive from an observation. Inevitably, some of that feedback is forgotten and some of the momentum from the first session lost. But this time, I was able to deliver a lesson in the morning, sit down and discuss it with a trained observer, form my own reflections and then incorporate improvements for that afternoon's session.
I felt like a real difference too; simply by rejigging the running order to 'topload' the lesson with most interesting content, students became more involved and animated and, I hope, got more out of their two hours.
Certainly the feedback following the second lesson bore that out. Margaret remarked I had 'worked a lot harder' and I have to admit I did feel washed out afterwards, but not in an unpleasant way.
The only major downside was the 'Sod's Law' presence of a group of third years at the back of the room. As it's a utlity room I teach in, I'm happy enough to have students working on the computers while I take a lesson, as long as they're quiet. Which they normally are.
But this lot - whether they'd been to the pub or had too much sugar at lunchtime - were making a real racket. I had to tell them a couple of times to keep it down, which worked for a minute or two before the noise level rose again.
In the end, and on top of the pressure at being observed, it began to get to me. What should I do? I hadn't planned for it and I wasn't sure whether technically it counted as a problem in my lesson anyway. On the other hand, at its worse the din was preventing me form being heard.
Thankfully, the worst culprits dispersed and left us in peace, but on reflection it's something I should have taken them to task over promptly and decisively.
And the overall feedback form the observations? Generally good. I was pleased with the comments I received in the tutorial a couple of weeks later and, by and large, fairly happy with how I've managed to act on what I've learned after each observed session to improve the next.
Which, at the end of the day, is the whole point of the exercise...
Tuesday 20 April 2010
Thursday 11 March 2010
Scores on the doors...
2010 hasn't been a year in which I've flexed my reflective muscles so far. Time for a catch up then....
Where were we? Ah, yes. Business week reached its conclusion, with students presenting back to the 'client' (a ragbag group of art school tutors!) with their strategies and ideas.
Some were good. Some were disappointing. One or two were downright brilliant and definitely fell into the 'I wish I'd thought of that' category'.
It was rewarding to see how professionally many had embraced the project. I hope it stands them in good stead when they fly the comfy nest of college and meet the business world head on. And I hope in part it might have been a consequence of the inspired briefing they received (cough,cough...)
And so back the following week into the much more personable surrounds of the classroom.
It's been a recurring theme in the blog how I've been working hard to try and crack the nut of facilitating group discussions and activities. I'm a great believer in their value - more so now having dipped into Eric Sotto's 'When Teaching Becomes Learning' for our latest assignment - and I feel like I'm slowly getting better at making it happen.
With the deadline for their latest 'large' project fast approaching (The Student Roses: A yearly competition, with briefs set by 'real' agencies), I was keen to make sure everybody got a go at standing up and presenting their work and making constructive criticisms about others'.
So I stressed at the beginning of the session how this was going to be THEIR lesson, with THEIR input leading things; how even I'd become sick of the sound of my own voice and wanted to hear what they had to say (to which I received a heartfelt 'Well shurrup then!)
Anyway, present they did, with some enthusiasm. And when I pulled out my 'Come Dine With Me' score cards and suggest we take a vote, things got really interesting! Full and frank exchanges of views; constructive - and not so constructive - criticism. Even the odd outbreak of tactical voting.
It was, at last, a full blown group critique and real proof of what can happen when you give learners a chance to 'own' their lesson.
Where were we? Ah, yes. Business week reached its conclusion, with students presenting back to the 'client' (a ragbag group of art school tutors!) with their strategies and ideas.
Some were good. Some were disappointing. One or two were downright brilliant and definitely fell into the 'I wish I'd thought of that' category'.
It was rewarding to see how professionally many had embraced the project. I hope it stands them in good stead when they fly the comfy nest of college and meet the business world head on. And I hope in part it might have been a consequence of the inspired briefing they received (cough,cough...)
And so back the following week into the much more personable surrounds of the classroom.
It's been a recurring theme in the blog how I've been working hard to try and crack the nut of facilitating group discussions and activities. I'm a great believer in their value - more so now having dipped into Eric Sotto's 'When Teaching Becomes Learning' for our latest assignment - and I feel like I'm slowly getting better at making it happen.
With the deadline for their latest 'large' project fast approaching (The Student Roses: A yearly competition, with briefs set by 'real' agencies), I was keen to make sure everybody got a go at standing up and presenting their work and making constructive criticisms about others'.
So I stressed at the beginning of the session how this was going to be THEIR lesson, with THEIR input leading things; how even I'd become sick of the sound of my own voice and wanted to hear what they had to say (to which I received a heartfelt 'Well shurrup then!)
Anyway, present they did, with some enthusiasm. And when I pulled out my 'Come Dine With Me' score cards and suggest we take a vote, things got really interesting! Full and frank exchanges of views; constructive - and not so constructive - criticism. Even the odd outbreak of tactical voting.
It was, at last, a full blown group critique and real proof of what can happen when you give learners a chance to 'own' their lesson.
Wednesday 3 February 2010
You are being observed...
Into term 2, and it's all about observing and reflecting, with my first observation on Tuesday 26th January up the 'pool (Black, not Liver).
I'd gone out onto something of a limb for this, my first 'officially' observed lesson. Instead of my usual morning and afternoon 'family groups' of about a dozen, it was the beginning of 'Business Week'. (Which runs for three weeks: Don't ask!)
This is a collaborative group project involving the entire Graphics, Photography, Fine Art and Wildlife Illustration second year cohorts. Over 70 students in all. All waiting for me to brief them in a slightly-too-warm-to-be-comfortable lecture theatre.
Butterflies? You bet!
Still, I'd prepared the backside off it during the previous week and I felt pretty sure once I got going, things would be OK. Which proved to be the case.
The basic gist of the exercise was to get students used to the idea of a making a rational 'business case' for their flighty, whacky ideas. A lesson in the hard realities of the commercial world if you like.
I tried to make the resources a varied as I could, so there were videos of well known commercials to illustrate key points; a bit of humour in a viral video for Marmite featuring a projectile vomiting baby (you had to be there); an unavoidable but hopefully not too boring Powerpoint presentation; some handouts; and, in a nod to modernity, extra reference and resources posted onto Moodle.
I felt it went quite well and Margaret, who was observing, concurred. The one 'weak link' was at the end (if that's not a contradiction):
Rather than drawing what was essentially an old fashioned lecture to a definite finish, I wrapped things up with an 'any questions'... and then remembered something I'd left out, and started up again!
That compounded another mistake I made a minute or two earlier in having one of the other tutors present pass out some of the handouts I'd referred to.
The net effect was confusion. They didn't know whether they should be listening me, reading the handouts or thinking of questions to ask and the buzz of conversation and distraction soon became quite loud.
Any other time, I would probably have drawn proceedings to a close, but as the 'restate your aims and objectives' box still had to be ticked, I ended up ploughing on and having to raise my voice to quite a level before I could once again get everyone 'eyes front!'. A lesson learned, as they say.
Discussing things afterwards, it rally brought home the need for different teaching styles and methods of delivery for different contexts. What Margaret referred to as finding the right 'voice' for the occasion.
Going back to the 'teaching as performance' analogy, it's almost like the lecture theatre is just that - a theatre - where gestures have to be expansive, voices projecting and where there needs to be a definite 'curtain' at the end.
A smaller group in the classroom, on the other hand, is a bit like acting for the camera, allowing smaller gestures, facial expressions and subtleties of meaning to be communicated iby the more intimate 'close up' shot.
you see: I'm just a frustrated old 'Luvvie' really.
I'd gone out onto something of a limb for this, my first 'officially' observed lesson. Instead of my usual morning and afternoon 'family groups' of about a dozen, it was the beginning of 'Business Week'. (Which runs for three weeks: Don't ask!)
This is a collaborative group project involving the entire Graphics, Photography, Fine Art and Wildlife Illustration second year cohorts. Over 70 students in all. All waiting for me to brief them in a slightly-too-warm-to-be-comfortable lecture theatre.
Butterflies? You bet!
Still, I'd prepared the backside off it during the previous week and I felt pretty sure once I got going, things would be OK. Which proved to be the case.
The basic gist of the exercise was to get students used to the idea of a making a rational 'business case' for their flighty, whacky ideas. A lesson in the hard realities of the commercial world if you like.
I tried to make the resources a varied as I could, so there were videos of well known commercials to illustrate key points; a bit of humour in a viral video for Marmite featuring a projectile vomiting baby (you had to be there); an unavoidable but hopefully not too boring Powerpoint presentation; some handouts; and, in a nod to modernity, extra reference and resources posted onto Moodle.
I felt it went quite well and Margaret, who was observing, concurred. The one 'weak link' was at the end (if that's not a contradiction):
Rather than drawing what was essentially an old fashioned lecture to a definite finish, I wrapped things up with an 'any questions'... and then remembered something I'd left out, and started up again!
That compounded another mistake I made a minute or two earlier in having one of the other tutors present pass out some of the handouts I'd referred to.
The net effect was confusion. They didn't know whether they should be listening me, reading the handouts or thinking of questions to ask and the buzz of conversation and distraction soon became quite loud.
Any other time, I would probably have drawn proceedings to a close, but as the 'restate your aims and objectives' box still had to be ticked, I ended up ploughing on and having to raise my voice to quite a level before I could once again get everyone 'eyes front!'. A lesson learned, as they say.
Discussing things afterwards, it rally brought home the need for different teaching styles and methods of delivery for different contexts. What Margaret referred to as finding the right 'voice' for the occasion.
Going back to the 'teaching as performance' analogy, it's almost like the lecture theatre is just that - a theatre - where gestures have to be expansive, voices projecting and where there needs to be a definite 'curtain' at the end.
A smaller group in the classroom, on the other hand, is a bit like acting for the camera, allowing smaller gestures, facial expressions and subtleties of meaning to be communicated iby the more intimate 'close up' shot.
you see: I'm just a frustrated old 'Luvvie' really.
Thursday 3 December 2009
It's a mini adventure...
...well, two mini adventures, actually; our two, twenty minute 'mini teaches' under the watchful eye of an assessor.
Building on the experience of the micro teaches, it's a chance for us to expand on what we've already practiced, again in front of a friendly 'home crowd' of fellow learners.
The preparation was a little more structured, with timed lesson plans and a rationale to be submitted before each session. We were also allowed to make use of additional presentation formats.
I put a powerpoint presentation together for my first teach; a session on the interaction of visuals and text in advertising communication.
Unfortunately, it decided it wasn't playing half way through.
In retrospect, that was a good thing. It forced me to improvise. And taught me a valuable lesson: when you're relying on technology, always have a back up!
Gratifyingly, the feedback was that I had coped very well. Again, the advantage of knowing your subject and being prepared.
Only downside? Time management. I overran by six minutes on on the first session, two minutes on the second. (Although, the second session felt like it flew by. I was convinced it was a quarter of an hour and no more. What is they say time does when you're having fun?)
It was good to see how other students approached their subjects. And as the groups had been shaken up since the micro teaches, we had a broad cross section of styles, subjects and approaches to learn from.
As an exercise, it's been invaluable. I feel, as does everyone else, we've progressed a lot as a result of these sessions.
And just as importantly, they've given me invaluable confidence and additional professional technique to bring to my 'real life' teaching.
Building on the experience of the micro teaches, it's a chance for us to expand on what we've already practiced, again in front of a friendly 'home crowd' of fellow learners.
The preparation was a little more structured, with timed lesson plans and a rationale to be submitted before each session. We were also allowed to make use of additional presentation formats.
I put a powerpoint presentation together for my first teach; a session on the interaction of visuals and text in advertising communication.
Unfortunately, it decided it wasn't playing half way through.
In retrospect, that was a good thing. It forced me to improvise. And taught me a valuable lesson: when you're relying on technology, always have a back up!
Gratifyingly, the feedback was that I had coped very well. Again, the advantage of knowing your subject and being prepared.
Only downside? Time management. I overran by six minutes on on the first session, two minutes on the second. (Although, the second session felt like it flew by. I was convinced it was a quarter of an hour and no more. What is they say time does when you're having fun?)
It was good to see how other students approached their subjects. And as the groups had been shaken up since the micro teaches, we had a broad cross section of styles, subjects and approaches to learn from.
As an exercise, it's been invaluable. I feel, as does everyone else, we've progressed a lot as a result of these sessions.
And just as importantly, they've given me invaluable confidence and additional professional technique to bring to my 'real life' teaching.
Swapsies
Tried a new trick a week or two ago with a view to bringing it home how tutors, clever as we are, can't read minds.
Bit of background: I've stressed the importance of 'Scamps' from the word go this year.
Scamps are the quick, cartoon like layouts that Art Directors do to get their ideas down on paper. They're quick and simple to draw, but at the same time they give everyone a clear notion of the thinking behind the the work. The important thing is that they can be 'read' by anyone with a bit of imagination...
For the first couple of weeks, the whole group scamped away dutifully. After that, the scratchy, postage stamp sized doodles made a comeback and we were back to them explaining to me what it was I was actually looking at.
So I told them at the end of a lesson we'd be starting off next time with a show and tell session of their ideas. Only they weren't going to be presenting their own work. They were going to present one another's. And they wouldn't know until the day who they were swapping with so they couldn't brief them beforehand. 'SO NICE BIG NEAT SCAMPS PLEASE..'
Come the day, and half the group had taken heed, half hadn't. Seeing the half that hadn't squirming with embarrassment as their 'other half' tried in vain to explain what the hell they were holding up was, I think, a great way of driving home the lesson:
When you're not there to explain it, your work has to speak for itself. So keep it neat, keep it clear and keep it simple.
Bit of background: I've stressed the importance of 'Scamps' from the word go this year.
Scamps are the quick, cartoon like layouts that Art Directors do to get their ideas down on paper. They're quick and simple to draw, but at the same time they give everyone a clear notion of the thinking behind the the work. The important thing is that they can be 'read' by anyone with a bit of imagination...
For the first couple of weeks, the whole group scamped away dutifully. After that, the scratchy, postage stamp sized doodles made a comeback and we were back to them explaining to me what it was I was actually looking at.
So I told them at the end of a lesson we'd be starting off next time with a show and tell session of their ideas. Only they weren't going to be presenting their own work. They were going to present one another's. And they wouldn't know until the day who they were swapping with so they couldn't brief them beforehand. 'SO NICE BIG NEAT SCAMPS PLEASE..'
Come the day, and half the group had taken heed, half hadn't. Seeing the half that hadn't squirming with embarrassment as their 'other half' tried in vain to explain what the hell they were holding up was, I think, a great way of driving home the lesson:
When you're not there to explain it, your work has to speak for itself. So keep it neat, keep it clear and keep it simple.
Friday 30 October 2009
Talking points.
Something significant happened today; it wasn't me doing all the talking.
I'm not entirely sure what I did that was different. I exhorted the students to chip in with their own comments on one another's work as usual... and this time they did.
Perhaps I've said it so often they're getting the idea I actually mean it.
Or, and this has just occurred to me as I write, perhaps it was the fact I removed myself front of the class while they made their presentations in groups...mainly, it has to be said, to get a clear view of the work myself.
I think this served to take the attention off me and somehow opened up the floor to everyone. Perching on a desk three quarters of the way back clearly makes me look like I've shut up and it's someone elses' turn.
Whatever the reason, there was some good, lively debate and opinion flying about the place, so from that point of view... a result!
I'm not entirely sure what I did that was different. I exhorted the students to chip in with their own comments on one another's work as usual... and this time they did.
Perhaps I've said it so often they're getting the idea I actually mean it.
Or, and this has just occurred to me as I write, perhaps it was the fact I removed myself front of the class while they made their presentations in groups...mainly, it has to be said, to get a clear view of the work myself.
I think this served to take the attention off me and somehow opened up the floor to everyone. Perching on a desk three quarters of the way back clearly makes me look like I've shut up and it's someone elses' turn.
Whatever the reason, there was some good, lively debate and opinion flying about the place, so from that point of view... a result!
Under the microscope x2
Second 'micro' session and back on home ground with a crash course on the creative brief and an 'audience participation' exercise in spotting the proposition by working back from a number of ads.
Tried to broaden the teaching methods as much as possible, so made use of the board, the handouts and three juggling balls! (specially purchased to illustrate the 'throw three propositions, catch none' principle of simplicity in advertising)
Everybody seemed genuinely interested in the subject - and even more interested in the chili chocolate that was the subject of the example brief.
They may only be ten minutes each, but I feel these sessions have been really helpful. Not just for the experience of planning and delivering my own lesson, but in seeing how others approach it and by learning form one another.
Happy half term... back soon.
Tried to broaden the teaching methods as much as possible, so made use of the board, the handouts and three juggling balls! (specially purchased to illustrate the 'throw three propositions, catch none' principle of simplicity in advertising)
Everybody seemed genuinely interested in the subject - and even more interested in the chili chocolate that was the subject of the example brief.
They may only be ten minutes each, but I feel these sessions have been really helpful. Not just for the experience of planning and delivering my own lesson, but in seeing how others approach it and by learning form one another.
Happy half term... back soon.
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