Chapter 10 - Telling Stories

Last weekend, I sat through a great program about the life of free Blacks during slavery. There were four presenters that presented information to the group, and it was a case study for how to give presentations. The presenters shall be nameless to protect the innocent. The first presenter elaborated on the material life of slaves and free blacks antebellum. Her style was very scholarly and dry, which was difficult to listen to. It just made me think of youngsters being presented great information but being disconnected because of the delivery style. I am glad that as an adult that I can concentrate through the delivery of such a style, which is a true skill. The last presenter was an actress that played the role of a great educator in our county and she interacted with the crowd through call and response and other techniques. We were on the edge of our seats listening the great story of Ms. Virginia Randolph. The information was great from both presenters, but the art of storytelling is hard to beat. Sometimes being too scholarly is a deficit if you don't reach the target audience. References Burmark, L. (2011), They Snooze You Lose: The Educator's Guide To Successful Presentations

Chapter 11 - Engaging Senses

The last few chapters in the text threw me a curve ball. I was just trying to see how I was going to implement the strategies beyond the original scope of the assignment. The themes that I chose in the presentation were very artistic in nature and I can see how it could engage the senses more deeply in an art class where the student learners were being taught by an upcoming artist and had the opportunity to smell the paint, feel the textures of the ingredients as they learned how to mix them into the paint. Can your hear the bold sounds of the music in the background as the painter broadly strokes the medium? If I would have developed a big picture of the initial presentation and how it could be incorporated in a workshop that the learners had access to manipulatives and other tools would have been wonderful. In the next chapter, when we put it all together then I will rearrange to the scope and breadth of the work to make learning about copyrights memorable instead of just informational. References Burmark, L. (2011), They Snooze You Lose: The Educator's Guide To Successful Presentations

Basquiat 5 - Modifications 8 and 9

In this iteration of changes, I added music to slides 3,4,9,10,11,and 12. At the end of this project, I plan to convert to camtasia to lay an audio track below all the slides with my narration above for emphasis.

Copyright snapshot5

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Chapter 9 - Tapping Emotion

A picture says 1000 words! After I graded from college, I had the opportunity to temp for the Christian Childrens Fund in Richmond, Virginia. While I was working on some mundane administrative task, I never really looked at the marketing materials. Mom and dad used to say to eat all of your food, because some children do not have anything to eat at all. Back then as a kid, you just ate your peas without questioning the deeper question. Why? Why are children hungry around the world? There are many theories on that subject. The picture is compelling and taps into your emotions whether pro or con of contributing. The images of the child workers was stirring and made me think about the industrial revolution. They tell a story in their faces by not really knowing that they were being exploited. The price of Capitalism in a lost youth working to help the family make ends meet. As educators, we may be addressing the remnants of this age and its affects on the work ethic and family structure. For example, in the 1950s the tracking system was implemented to determine who would be the professionals and workers to continue in the realm of mindless repetitive tasks. I guess much hasn't changed because someone has to work at the mall and some in the tall buildings. Either way Americans are working more to make ends meet! References Burmark, L. (2011), They Snooze You Lose: The Educator's Guide To Successful Presentations

Chapter 8 - Playing Music

Well, we are in the final few days of Black History Month! It is amazing the new facts that I learn every year about the journey of African-Americans. As an information buff, I enjoy watching informative documentaries and I had the opportunity to see one about Virgnia Union University, which is the institution that my father teaches french. The beginning of the documentary started with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. One of the integral members of the institution and its founding was captured in Massachusetts and brought to Richmond and jailed. The documentary used a combination of old pictures with music to set the stage to the narration about the story. The music was not overwhelming where it would distract from learning about the material. It is a skill in choosing the appropriate music for any presentation that it would be included. As I had suggested before with regard to humor, music should not be handled by the novice, because it is a fine line to set the mood with music verses being a distraction. In the development of future workshops, I think that music could definitely be used for transition to break the monotony and rev up the crowds emotions. Sing along songs from period music is always a winner, especially if I am singing partial words off tune to make a point on active listening. References Burmark, L. (2011), They Snooze You Lose: The Educator's Guide To Successful Presentations

Enigma Murder

Enigma murder

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Basquiat 4 - Modifications 5,6, and 7

In this revision, I changed the text of the slides to dark blue and increased the graphic sizes as appropriate. In the previous revisions, I tried to choose images that were abstract and stood out. Added the Bobby Seale image from the Chicago 7 trial to the What is a copyright slide, and an image of the Brown Hornet on the Resources are Plentiful slide.

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Chapter 6 - Humor

When I started to read this chapter, I went back in time to my early days in the "corporate" world where we wore suits and casual Friday was business casual and a treat. Back then, I thought most of my colleagues would be were austere and models of professionalism. Instead there was profanity and sometimes profane humor. In retrospect, I don't think that I learned more about any subject through the correlation of humor, but when you represent a numerical minority the expectations are just not the same. For as many of the "dirty" jokes that I had heard through the years, if I would have been the author of any, I definitely feel that I would have been held accountable and that is with the men. A perceived improper joke around a female leads to HR and a harassment claim. Can you really retain meaningful information through humor? The text suggests that if you have the proper ingredients for humor, then the student learner has an opportunity to learn and retain the information. In this section of the text, I tend to disagree with the author on the utilization of humor. In the workforce, humor can get you reprimanded, suspended, or fired. Most recently, Roland Martin, a political pundit on CNN was suspended for tweeting comments about an underwear advertisement with soccer star David Beckham. The LGBT community thought his tweets were offensive. The 140 character universe of twitter has been highly destructive on careers in the attempts of humor. In our presentations, we may feel that the humor we want to use is okay, but you never know the prior experiences of the crowd and if you are pushing the wrong button. For example, what if I attended a diversity conference and the first slide was that of a Sambo with exaggerated features intended to denigrate. I would definitely not see the humor in it, but the instructor may have had a legitimate reason to frame the discussion. On the other hand, I would think that humor could be better utilized for kids, but you always have to cognizant if you are laughing together or is someone being laughed at. I don't know how many times I laughed at Wile Coyote and the Roadrunner on the cartoons and Tom and Jerry. It was usually at bad behavior. I think we may want to leave well placed humor for the professionals, because folks are paying to see their routine and they usually have an understanding of what will an will not be said. References Burmark, L. (2011), They Snooze You Lose: The Educator's Guide To Successful Presentations

Chapter 7 - Images

After moving on beyond the chapter of humor, I was glad that we had the opportunity to learn about the power of images and its utilization in our presentations. The proper image can set the tone for learning. In the PowerPoint world, we have made the mistake of reading slides instead of having a conversation. As presenters, we could always present endless test and bore the audience into oblivion, but research has shown that we retain information better through our visual channel. Most of us have been exposed to the exercise of telling a brief story and passing it on through the room and to see how it varies in the end. Unfortunately, most of us do not practice active listening which is why there is something missing in translation and hence retention. Several of the techniques presented expands the learner beyond the template and bullet points. Setting the stage is important by providing the proper background and accentuating the main focus or content. This past week, I watched a presentation on PBS Slavery By Another Name, which was a documentary on the criminalization of African-American men in the South through the Black Codes and Pig Laws. One black and white picture that stood out to me in the documentary was that of teenagers in Louisiana that were leased out through the convict leasing system for profit. Faces of the oppressed. The voiceless. Imagery can evoke passion and emotions that would lead to retention. The text did show the difference between text,clipart, black and white pictures, and color pictures. Most importantly, how color can be utilized to stand out and represent meaning in that which is displayed. Color pictures are the standard that we would like to work on if available to us for our presentations. References Burmark, L. (2011), They Snooze You Lose: The Educator's Guide To Successful Presentations

Chapter 5 - Making Connections

Our job as educators is to make the connection of the subject matter with the student learner. This seems like a simple thing to do, but many of us fail to make the connection. Sometimes this is the result of experience, cultural differences, and prior knowledge of the student learners. As educators, we are not great in all things and we have multiple intelligences as well, so how do we leverage our intelligence with the student learner to make connections, particularly with abstract concepts to a group of learners with vastly different prior experiences. We adapt and push beyond the limits of mediocrity, especially when the proposed concept is foundational in nature. This month, we are in Black History Month and there are events and celebrations throughout the month, particularly in the African-American community. Today, I attended my father's church and their was a ceremony for two trailblazers in politics. He happened to be one of the honorees. On my way home, I wondered how do you teach the concepts Jim Crow and institutional racism to youth. They seem like abstract concepts to folks that have never experienced it directly, especially when that era seems like it was far off in the past. For example, I thought that the Poll Tax was something used after Reconstruction until Brown vs. Board of Education. In recent years, I asked my dad which presidential election did he first vote in, and he told me Kennedy verses Nixon. He had to pay a poll tax in Richmond, Virginia. Before that question and discussion, the poll tax was just another concept without any foundation or background. Could you imagine that the segregationalist philosophy was so strong to deny education to African-Americans that a county school system was shutdown in order to evade the Brown vs. Board of Education decision? Compare and contrast the education conditions in school districts today that have inadequate facilities, books, and staff that are not making the connection with many youth in dropout factories. Would kids be as apathetic to learning if they had the prior knowledge of the struggle legally and socially to achieve parity in education? I follow the philosophy of he who does not know his history is doomed to repeat it. Many of the struggles for social justice did not come without a price, some paid the ultimate price of death so others would have a better life. References Burmark, L. (2011), They Snooze You Lose: The Educator's Guide To Successful Presentations

Basquiat 3 - Modifications Chapters 3 and 4

During these revisions, I tried to keep in mind the audience and how I would include a few of the 10 tips by Steve Jobs. So, I decided to change how I would direct the presentation through more graphics and less text. During the presentation, I would narrate and add audio clips as necessary to hook the audience to promote knowledge acquisition and retention. Leveraging the audio and visual channels is best so the learner will not be overloaded. For some of the graphics, I chose abstract images to jar the senses of the audience. My goal during the actual presentation would be to appeal to humor and pragmatism in the utilization of copyright materials emphasizing the Fair Use and TEACH Act. Deleted slides about the copyright laws and timeline. Added slides about specific types of works, such as art, music, and books. I plan to grow this area to map to the Works Protected slide. Added slides Enforcement, See You in Court, and Works that are not Copyrighted

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Chapter 3 - Celebrating Presenters

This weekend, I spent time watching two movies that I believe are excellent teaching tools for pre-service teachers. The first film was Stand and Deliver and the second was Lean on Me. In Stand and Deliver, a former technology professional, Mr. Escalante left his high paying position to teach in the East Los Angeles Garfield High School. As a master teacher and presenter, he was able to motivate and hone the skills of students from basic math, Algebra, to Calculus. Towards the end of Stand and Deliver, the students were accused of cheating on an AP Calculus Test by the Educational Testing Service. As a result, the students were encouraged to take the test again or they would be considered cheaters. They were given one day to prepare for the retest. During the preparation, Mr. Escalante stated to them that they are number one and the champions because they have the ganas (desire). He inspired his students to be the best and built their confidence to believe in themselves. Education became meaningful. I think that educators that enter the ranks from non-traditional routes that have "real world" experience is valuable to the students. As an educational advocate and future founder of a learning institution, I thought about my opportunities to present my message to supporters, stakeholders, and opponents about my ideas on closing the educational gap and dramatically reducing the dropout rate for African-American males. In the past, I have facilitated meetings and provided technology presentations to small steering committees and leadership groups. During that period, I would rate myself as competent presenter but not passionate. It is hard to be passionate about computers, software, and network infrastructure, except when you don't have them. The tips of presenting by Steve Jobs was fascinating. The first tip was have fun and the last one was present what you love. Are we having fun as educators? Are we passionate about our subject matter area? Or have we become cynical like the burnt out Social Worker because of the negativity of the job or environment? Is it possible for an educator to implement tips 1 and 10 if they don't love and respect the children? Children know if you are phony. I believe that tips 2 through 9 can be implemented by anyone, but 1 and 10 may just be out of bounds for many folks. Smile. How often are you greeted with a smile for normal outings? Unfortunately, many people are just not happy in their vocation, which makes the implementation of the tips very difficult. Some skills can be taught and learned. Loving what you do and having fun doing it is not common, so I believe that most people can benefit from tip 2 through 9. It is a process and it would take time to master them all, but you would definitely have to love what you do and feel a since of purpose as well to have fun. References Burmark, L. (2011), They Snooze You Lose: The Educator's Guide To Successful Presentations Menendez, R. (1988), Stand and Deliver Schiffer, M. (1989), Lean on Me

Chapter 4 - Ringing Chimes

Please, let's give a hand clap of admiration for Father Guido's representation of the 5 Minute University. It made me think about education and its relevance in transitioning to the real world or workforce, particularly retention of information. What is the value of Social Studies and History if you don't vote? Is it true that you should know your history or you may be doomed to repeat it? Does American Constitutional Law prepare you for dealing with a traffic stop? Yes. If you are unduly searched and not afforded your Miranda rights. Years ago after school, my sister and I would come home and at the dinner table our parents would ask us what did we learn today. We usually answered in simple sentences that it was okay or give an occasional fact. I would pose the question a little differently now and ask my kids what did you learn meaningful today. What are the kids learning that is meaningful? Are the Standards of Learning even necessary? We need revolution and the debate continues. Getting the attention of the audience is important if you want the possibility of retention. The lecturing style of the past reminds me of the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the teacher calling the names of the students in the severe monotone voice. Now, he wasn't presenting at the time, but you could infer that his style would not differ very much from roll call. In the text, a presenter came out with a wig and pink feather boa. Just enough creativity to make you ask your neighbor if you are seeing the right thing. Capturing the attention and imagination of the audience is a delicate art. The presenter has to know the boundaries of their limits, how to hook the crowd. I had heard about the phenomenon of Susan Boyle and her rise to celebrity through reality television. This chapter afforded me the opportunity to see her first performance. Although, I was aware of her story she was a walking and singing advertisement about you can't judge the book by the cover. She had to be the plainest woman I have seen in quite some time, but she was confident and had a little gumption in her pre-performance chat with the judges. Her choice of song was apropos in her journey to reach her dreams. She absolutely moved the audience and captured their hearts. She is lucky that she was on a reality television show in England and not competing to sing the Chinese National Anthem for the Olympics, because they had a child sing the song only to be lip synced by a beautiful little girl to make the best outward impression. Much ado about flowers and grids. The last point of emphasis was the utilization of the Flower Exercise, which is a grid based on presentation techniques, such as humor, images, music, emotion, stories, and senses. What techniques do you think are best for you? As for me, I would rather tell a story and tie it to an important event that would resonate in the future. These techniques are a guide to help you hook the audience so that they may remember the messaging that you were promoting at that point in time. References Burmark, L. (2011), They Snooze You Lose: The Educator's Guide To Successful Presentations Hughes, J. (1986), Ferris Bueller's Day Off Michaels, L. (1975), Saturday Night Live: Father Guido Sarducci's, 5 Minute University

Chapter 1 - Tweaking Presentations

In the book, They Snooze You Lose, the principles espoused in the first chapter reminded me of conversations with a friend that is the owner of a small advertising agency. He stated that PowerPoint was an ineffective tool in its delivery of presentations because of the constraints of the application and limited vision of presenters, the template generation. Many of the preconceived templates with their varieties of fonts, colors, and backgrounds distract from the intended message. Neophytes consistently choose ill conceived templates that are bland, distracting, or just plain bad. I have done it as well. In addition, he would remind me that most folks think that they are great writers but they fail to communicate in language that is easily understandable by diverse professionals. For example, why use a GRE or SAT analogy word when a simpler one will do the job. In our efforts to impress with our haughty use of language quite often we fly over the heads of the audience. How often do you hear the word haughty in conversation? Precisely. When that happens, no person in the audience is going to raise their hand that they did not understand. Colors, colors, colors! The text did a good job of expressing the value of color and its impact with text. Quite often, we stick with the standard black text on the white screen, which has become the defacto standard. Unfortunately, it does not evoke any passion or reconnect the audience with the presentation after the fact. Keenly placing the appropriate color on the best background can evoke emotions and memory recall. I thought the reference to Monet was quite clever to depict how color can be utilized. References Burmark, L. (2011), They Snooze You Lose: The Educator's Guide To Successful Presentations

Chapter 2 - Creating Slides and Handouts

The author stated that boredom and learning are mutually exclusive, which leads me to talk about my experience today observing middle school kids in a Saturday program that is intended to provide them with skills for success on the Virginia 8th grade writing assessment. Most of us know that the middle school years are tough for the instructors and students for a variety of reasons. Today, I observed the equivalent of Chinese water torture as these students tuned out the teacher that produced PowerPoint slides prepared with Clip Art. I know we have not got to that part of the book yet, but the kids endured the path to boredom through clipart. In our efforts to utilize sanctioned materials, the Clip Art has to go especially for tweens and teenagers. While the teacher used cartoon like Clip Art, which I believe could have been more useful for youngsters, she did keep the text limited on the slides with the bullet point format. Did you know what an Okapi was before reading this chapter? It reminded me of an animal that I had learned about years ago, which is the Tapir. I read a book to kids Happy as a Tapir and I did not know what that animal was or what part of the world it was from. The useful tip of showing an image first and following up with text brought home the point on how we learn. We take in information through the auditory and visual channels. It is imperative that they are not overloaded, so that information can be captured and transitioned from short-term memory to long-term memory. Last, the tips on how to present the information to the audience, particularly the handouts was useful. The parameters for the two-side handout for the audience was recommended. These strategies can be helpful in producing better presentations. References Burmark, L. (2011), They Snooze You Lose: The Educator's Guide To Successful Presentations

Basquiat 2 - Modifications Chapter 1 and 2

In the revision activity for the copyright presentation, I modified the background to a cleaner look that is less distracting. In the slides, I organized and adjusted the text, which shifted in some cases after the background change. Also, I added a slide for the Time-line and added the copyright image for the definition of copyright. These slight modifications improved the look and feel of the presentation, but I should note that a great presentation is created before the slides are developed to capture the imagination of the audience. When this initial assignment was produced, it was simply to inform verses creating a feeling passion to move the information from short-term to long-term memory.

Copyright snapshot2 modified with revisions

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Basquiat

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The experience of learning.

The old adage of that you learn something new everyday applied to my copyright lesson. Although, I was taught to respect the works of others and to give them credit if you incorporate them in your work, I also learned that the works copyrights apply to was more extensive than I had been exposed, particularly with the rules of time of the protection. For my PowerPoint presentation, I modified my content to include art from Jean-Michel Basquiat. He was an abstract artist that took graffiti from a public nuisance to a celebrated art form that was praised by the likes of Andy Warhol, which made me wonder about the protection of works that are not formally registered with the Library of Congress. Graffiti artists "tag" their work so others in the genre know who created the work as an informal tool of recognition. Should their work be considered protected? On the other hand, some artists work in obscurity and are not known of until their deaths. In these scenarios, how is the work protected? If I found an original manuscript of poetry that was written by my grandfather, then what rights should be afforded to his works and estate if published? In these types of cases, it is best to hire legal counsel that specializes in copyright protections. I do wonder what would the world of copyrights look like without the capitalistic component. Would intellectual works or property be simply entered into the knowledge domain of mankind? The copyright system has evolved to provide generational wealth for the heirs of the creator of the original work, especially with the rule change of 14 year renewals to the 70 year standard after the death of the creator.