Presenting: the lost art

The one constant with every PBL unit you do with your kids is the final product presentation. Considering that many of us did not grow up in a time where presenting was a norm for us, it might be difficult to teach the finer details of what makes the connection between presenter and audience. I ran across this video that I thought might help: 5 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People

5 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People from Weinschenk on Vimeo.

Inquiry begins with the right question(s)

There are lots of ways to teach questioning strategies, but to find an engaging method to practice those skills is a little more of a challenge. Sure, they can practice with the kids in their class, but at some point, that becomes monotonous. Why not use the technology you have on any device and reach outside to a global audience willing to help you with those skills? Mystery Skype is one way to do that. Check out the video below of how some elementary kids practice their questioning skills. This can be adjusted to all ages, and I am always ready to help connect you with someone around the world to get you started with your first experience with this. For this and other ideas on using Skype with your kids, check out Skype in Education.

Touch Them All

Photo Credit: Ant1_G via Compfight cc

While not specifically a PBL/inquiry project, I found this article on Edutopia’s site about middle school students to be very uplifting. It makes me wonder what other types of things our kids can do to uplift each other. When you consider a good number of our students never hear a positive thing from their peers, it seems like taking a little time out of test prep to enhance the lives of others is well worth it. Enjoy:

How Two Middle Schoolers Spread Holiday Cheer with 800 Sticky Notes