Day: January 30, 2023

Hello Everyone,

After you have chosen a person who has done something to change the world and solve problems, you will make a PowerPoint presentation about them, and about how you are inspired to make change or solve problems of your own because of what you learned!

Here are the steps for the project:

• Choose a person using the previous blog post of articles. Please let Ms. D know who you are doing.
• Do research on the person, recording notes in your journal.
• Create the slideshow per the instructions below, then present it to the class.
• You may want to make index card notes for your presentation, because you can’t read off of the slides.
• You must have a script for your presentation, and you need to practice before presenting.

Here are the slideshow requirements:

• Slide One:  Title of your presentation, your name, the date, a picture of the person.
• Slide Two-Three:  Introduction to your person. Where were they born, their education, their interests, job, birthdate, or any personal details you can find.
• Slide Four:  What problem they solved and why? Why were they interested in this problem? How is it related to the UN Global Goals?
• Slide Five:  What did they do to solve it? Did they invent something, innovate, or campaign to make change?
• Slide Six:  How do you feel about what they did? What problem are you inspired to solve now as a result of the action they took?
• Slide Seven:  What is your plan to solve the problem you have identified as something you want to take care of? (Your action plan)
• Limit text on each slide and try to use pictures to illustrate your point. You will be talking to present it, so you do not need too much text.
• Please do not use fonts that are smaller than size 12 font, and avoid scripty, cursive, capital letters (which indicate shouting), and microscopic, hard-to-read fonts.
• Use one of the themes on PowerPoint for colours of backgrounds and format, rather than creating your own. You want to avoid using colours that make it hard to read what you have on the screen (such as white on black, yellow on red, etc.)
• If you use a picture, do not put text directly on top of it, because it is hard to read. You can make a coloured box on top of a picture, such as a white, rectangle box, and then put text on top of that, if you want to create captions for your pictures.

This project will be due no later than February 8th, and then we will do presentations February 8th – 10th.

Today we had a great conversation about how to collaborate successfully!

While we have improved as a group with our collaboration and communication skills, we are still practicing strategies for ensuring our group finishes on time, and that everyone has a positive experience as they work together.

Here are some tips we talked about. Review these at home, too!

1. ALWAYS talk in I STATEMENTS instead of YOU STATEMENTS, because then you aren’t being bossy of someone else, you are expressing your feelings, opinions, and thoughts to the group.
2.  Listen to others’ ideas! GROUP THINK is stronger than SOLO think, with more creativity!
3.  Remember to PLAY YOUR ROLE. For example, we had a chairperson who kept track of whose turn it was to speak, and we split up our recent project into parts, so you wouldn’t have to do the whole thing yourself!
4.  You have the RIGHT to ask anyone in your group for HELP! It is okay not to know something, and it is okay to ask for assistance when something is new for you. There will always be something you don’t know out there!
5.  You have the DUTY to assist anyone who asks for HELP! We’ve all needed help before, right? A stronger group is one where everyone knows what is going on and feels supported.
6.  Helping is NOT the same as giving answers. Don’t give it all away or tell someone how to do something. Give them some pointers to get started, or show them a quick example of how you did something in the past. They need to learn by doing it on their own, so they have the skill for next time.
7.  Pay attention to what other group members need. Use personal awareness. If you see someone struggling or standing alone, find ways to help them or to include them in what you are doing!
8.  No one is done until everyone is done. The group requires everyone to understand what is going on, otherwise the project or task becomes a solo one. Make sure everyone is successful, and then YOU are successful.
9.  Give reasons for your suggestions. Rather than telling someone to just DO something, say, “I think this might work because……”
10.  Explain by telling how. Instead of giving orders to DO something, give your idea, explain why, and then give the first step. How do we get started with your idea?
11.  Make a PLAN.  Have a written plan at the beginning of the project, so everyone can refer to it when they are confused. Lay out the steps for the project. This way everyone knows what the bigger TASK is as a group!
12.  TAKE TURNS.  Make sure you aren’t the one doing all the talking. Have a chairperson who recognizes whose turn it is to speak. Give everyone their moment to give ideas!
13.  Disagree with IDEAS not PEOPLE. Say, “I think we could change this idea so the audience can understand what we are saying more clearly.” Don’t say, “Bob, I think your idea is ridiculous and I don’t like what you are saying.” (Again, I statements help!)
14.  Confusion is part of learning.  Remember to breathe as when you work in a group, sometimes it takes time to sort things out. Be patient. Understand things may take a bit of time to work out! It is okay to be confused and to need help from other group members, too. Learning means not everything is perfect, because there will be mistakes and messiness!
15. No talking outside of your group.  Don’t wander around the classroom talking to other friends. Stay with your group. If you find yourself wandering, read your body, maybe you need a physical or outdoor break so you can be more focused.
16. Say your “BECAUSES” and give reasons for your ideas. Your ideas are more likely to be accepted if you have a reason, data, or evidence behind them.

 

Again, great discussion today. Keep up your efforts to collaborate well!  GROUP THINK vs SOLO THINK!

 

Ms. D