Pecha Kucha - Chit Chat for Learning

Pecha Kucha - Chit Chat for Learning

1. Pecha Kucha
2. PechaKucha or Pecha Kucha (Japanese: ペチャクチャ, IPA: [petɕa ku͍̥tɕa], chit-chat) is a presentation style in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each (6 minutes and 40 seconds in total). The format, which keeps presentations concise and fast-paced, powers multiple-speaker events called PechaKucha Nights (PKNs).

As a means of presenting information the Pecha Kucha (chit chat) format provides an opportunity for students to combine images and words to present their ideas in a new way incorporating technology. 

The Pecha Kucha format is based upon a 20 x 20 design of 20 images for 20 seconds. Students narrate their Pecha Kucha following the format made popular by PechaKucha Nights (PKN) all over the world. 

This format provides an opportunity to authentically present an idea in a way that encourages them to incorporate imagery to coincide with their own words. Twenty seconds can pass in the blink of an eye or can seem like an eternity. Students need to evaluate what they want to say and how they want to say it in a meaningful manner while incorporating the meaning of an  image.  Five seconds of silence stands out like a sore thumb while rushing to fit an words into a 2-0 second window can diminish the effective ness of the message.  The 20 x 20 format comes out to a total of 6 minutes and 40 seconds which when planned and executed properly can brilliantly share the students passion for a particular topic, theme or idea. 

Pecha Kucha Formats
Mindfulness in Education
TLT Pecha Kucha in the Classroom
Pecha Kucha Tips, Resources and Examples - Catherine Cronin 
A Pecha Kucha about Pecha Kucha

My Environmental Science students created their own Pecha Kucha presentations to share information about Trash and Recycling. 

Limiting Trash by Recycling
Ocean Trash
Dangers of Plastics
Damaging Oceans and Beaches

Oh  and by the way,  we used each of the 6 C's in the process as well, Critical Thinking - development of a theme, Communication - digital and verbal, Collaboration - working in a group, Culture - effects on society, Creativity - blending images and words, Connectivity - uploading to YouTube. 

STUDENT SELF-ASSESSMENT

STUDENT SELF-ASSESSMENT

In a time of mindless escape I found myself watching an episode of "The Middle"  the other night and had deja vu moments as Mike Heck sat at the school athletic banquet and questions, "Does everyone get a trophy?"  And then he cringed as his daughter received her X-Country MVP trophy "Most Valuable in Punctuality".  

I have referred to this in the past as the "AYSO Syndrome". 
The idea that everyone plays, everyone wins and everyone gets a trophy.  The reality of dealing with defeat or realizing that you may not always be the best has diluted our ability to evaluate ourselves and assess our own abilities or lack thereof.  

As an educator and a former coach I still cringe, a la Mike Heck, at parents who proudly proclaim, "my child is an All Star".  When the real proclamation should come from the parents who can claim "my child was not an All Star".  Between,  area all-stars, regional all-stars, sectional all-stars and district all-star teams, it is a wonder that there are enough players in each league to fill the 
"All Stars".

Do we as educators spend enough time helping our students to authentically assess their talents, abilities and the work they produce?  

Fortunately, I came across a set of reflection questions on Edutopia to guide students through both introspection and reflection as a means to self-assess the work they produce in class. Primarily in the area of Project Based Learning (PBL).

The question set is organized in four categories: 

• Backward-Looking  Where did they start?
• Inward-Looking       What did they learn?
• Outward-Looking    How do they compare?
• Forward-Looking    Where can they go?

http://bit.ly/1sogh1m - Link to PDF from Edutopia

The 40 Reflection Questions

Backward-Looking:

1. How much did you know about the subject before we started?

2. What process did you go through to produce this piece?

3. Have you done a similar kind of work in the past (earlier in the year or in a previous grade; in school or out of school)?

4. In what ways have you gotten better at this kind of work?

5. In what ways do you think you need to improve?

6. What problems did you encounter while you were working on this piece? How did you solve them?

7. What resources did you use while working on this piece? Which ones were especially helpful? Which ones would you use again?

8. Does this work tell a story?

Inward-Looking:

9. How do you feel about this piece of work? What parts of it do you particularly like? Dislike? Why? What did/do you enjoy about this piece or work?

10. What was especially satisfying to you about either the process or the finished product?

11. What did/do you find frustrating about it?

12. What were your standards for this piece of work?

13. Did you meet your standards?

14. What were your goals for meeting this piece of work? Did your goals change as you worked on it? Did you meet your goals?

15. What does this piece reveal about you as a learner?

16. What did you learn about yourself as you worked on this piece?

17. Have you changed any ideas you used to have on this subject?

18. Find another piece of work that you did at the beginning of the year to compare and contrast with this what changes can you see?

19. How did those changes come about?

20. What does that tell you about yourself and how you learn?

Outward-Looking:

21. Did you do your work the way other people did theirs?

22. In what ways did you do it differently?

23. In what ways was your work or process similar?

24. If you were the teacher, what comments would you make about this piece?

25. What grade would you give it? Why?

26. What the one thing you particularly want people to notice when they look at your work?

27. What do your classmates particularly notice about your piece when they look at it?

28. In what ways did your work meet the standards for this assignment?

29. In what ways did it not meet those standards?

30. If someone else were looking at the piece, what might they learn about who you are?

Forward-Looking:

31. One thing I would like to improve upon is ...

32. What would you change if you had a chance to do this piece over again?

33. What will you change in the next revision of this piece?

34. What's the one thing that you have seen in your classmates' work or process that you would like to try in your next piece?

35. As you look at this piece, what's one thing that you would like to try to improve upon?

36. What's one goal you would like to set for yourself for next time?

37. What would you like to spend more time on in school?

38. What might you want next year's teacher to know about you (what things you're good at)?

39. What things you might want more help with?

40. What work would you show her to help her understand those things?

PBL - Left Brain Teacher vs. Right Brain Student

PBL

Left Brain Teacher vs. Right Brain Student

Too often as educators we design assignments that meet 
our ease and comfort. 
We schedule due dates and create format details that meet "our" needs for "our"curriculum.  
But, do we look at the students needs? 

Uses for iMovie in the Classroom

Uses for iMovie in the Classroom

iMovie for the iPad is a basic movie production studio which allows teachers and students to put together video footage, photos, voice recordings or audio files to create movies quickly and easily.

Possible Uses for iMovie in the classroom

·      Documentation

·      Peer Feedback

·      Answer Posts

·      Self Reflection

·      Interviews

·      Creating Movies

·      Create Pecha-Kucha Presentations (20x20, 10x10)

·      Story Telling

·      Photo Essay

·      Microscopy

·      Field Trips

·      Creating Instructional Videos

·      Slow Motion Analysis  

·      Create Animated Films

·      Professional Growth

Back to the Classroom – Taking It Beyond the Content

Okay so now you have library of digital resources to provide 

content for your students. 

Now What???

You have all of the support mechanisms in line to make sure every student has access to the tools necessary to watch those resources.  The administrators have been pacified, parents have been appeased and the students know what’s happening.

Now it hits you, what happens next in your classroom?  What do you do with all this class time since you don’t need to lecture anymore?  You have all these short demonstrations that you have squeezed into lecture time. Your labs have all been cut down to 30 minutes to fit them in with all the content you had to cover.  And on top of that you have to begin adopting the new standards format set forth by the Next Generation Science Standards. What happens after the video?

There is no one model for the flipped classroom.  Each educator must choose the model that best suits the environment of their classroom, the needs of their students and the, outcomes expected from their specific class, course, department, school and district.

In order to maximize the learning potential of the students, the classroom must be an environment that safe and comfortable for both the educator and the student.

The nature of your classroom model is only limited by your imagination and energy.

While no one model is best, most teachers find that adopting parts of several of the classroom teaching models work best depending upon the nature of the course, subject, topic and learning goals associated with that classroom

  

Four basic models of the flipped classroom include:

·      Traditional Flipped Model

·      Inquiry Based Approach

·      The Flipped Mastery Approach

·      Project Based Learning

Traditional Flipped Model

This is a good place to begin for most teachers. 

Educators provide access to learning resources in the class and take the role of “Guide on the Side” as students work in peer groups to apply, teach, learn, unlearn and relearn.

Students are encouraged to take an active role in their own learning process.

Inquiry Based Approach

Students learn to take ownership of their own learning by searching for answers about their own questions.  Students can work independently or in groups to conduct the inquiry process.  Students are encouraged to follow the steps of the scientific method in this approach: 

·      State the Problem

·      Research the Concept

·      Form a Hypothesis

·      Test the Hypothesis,

·      Gather and Process Data

·      Form Conclusions

·      Present the Work

Flipped Mastery Approach

This model allows the educator to truly become the “Guide on the Side” as this is a self-directed learning model where students work at their own pace to gain mastery of a concept before moving on to the next topic.  Students can work independently or in peer group teams.  Educators monitor student progress and encourage students to maximize their potential. 

This model provides the best opportunity for differentiation in the classroom.  The accelerated learner can move through the material quickly and provide opportunities to explore content beyond the framework objectives.  Students who process at varying levels can achieve the framework objectives at their own pace and using a variety of digital content and assessment modes.  Students who find passion in specific topics can spend extra time and dig deeper into the content material in order to satisfy intellectual curiosity.  

Project Based Learning

Using real-world problems to inspire students to apply content to the solution, students use critical thinking and problem solving to create solutions.  Learning objectives go beyond the understanding of the content but are dependent upon the application of the knowledge in some concrete demonstration.  Students are encouraged to create self- assessment and feedback loops to monitor their progress and the ultimate success of their project outcome. This model encourages students to develop the 21^st century skills necessary to enter the job market of their future.