Yesterday's class was such a hit! My good friend Anne Harvey came in to present information on the Abundant Community Neighborhood Project that she is heading in Edmonton. She was an enthusiastic presenter who really had the kids engaged from the moment she started speaking.
Before introducing her, I reminded the students of the quickly approaching deadline for project completion. Our January 25th Challenge Trade Fair is just around the corner and we have a lot of work yet to do, including advertising. Next week I will be sitting with each student to assess what help they need to ensure they are ready for the Trade Fair!
I also took a few minutes to go over the presentation rubric that we created before Christmas. This rubric includes the 3 important elements of presentation we chose to focus on, including Voice, Contact with the Audience, and Subject Knowledge. I let the students know that they would be using this rubric to "grade" Anne's presentation and then will add 3 presentation goals for when they showcase their Challenges at the Trade Fair.
The project that Anne is heading is incredible! One of its focuses is to create "Block Connectors" in as many of the 200 neighborhoods in Edmonton, who take on an active role to help citizens within the neighborhood interact with each other. Nowadays, in many communities, people have very little interaction with each other. They pull into their garage, shut the door, without much interaction with even the people living directly beside them. Anne's project aims to create a real sense of community, based on interaction, sharing of human assets (skills like helping shovel, community clean up), and enhancing the sense of both pride and safety within one's cul-de-sac or street.
Anne quickly got the ALC students talking about the communities they live in, the interaction they and their parents have with neighbors, and the skills that their families bring to the community. She had the students working with various partners, interviewing each other and then collecting all answers written on sticky notes, and adding them to poster paper for discussion afterwards. Circulating around, the students seemed to be really engaged and interested in what they were discussing.
Anne and I were discussing her presentation afterwards and the topic of human assets came up. In her project, the Block Connectors ask each neighbor what skills or assets they can add to the community. Perhaps they are very outdoorsy and would like to help maintain the skating rink and toboggan hill or maybe their kids are of babysitting age. Whatever skill they are able to bring to the neighborhood is greatly appreciated! We realized that the students in my ALC option are doing the very same thing within their project - they have chosen an "asset" or skill that they have passion about and are completing their Challenge on it.... Wow! What a connection to make!
Overall, this class was a huge success! I am so happy I decided to have an expert presenter come in to show students what a GREAT presentation looks like. Next class we will take time to reflect on Anne's presentation and use what we learned to help guide our upcoming presentation practice!
Enjoy the pics below!
