Today we will begin presenting our Credos. This is an awesome day for me because I will fully commit students to memory because I will learn their story--or a part of it at least--and find out who they are in a really meaningful way. However.
I woke up with that "something isn't right" feeling, and it turns out I haven't considered one aspect of flexible seating. What do I do with students who are the audience? I usually say, "Let's sit up in our seats. Put away everything. Let's give our speaker the attention." With our new seating, it isn't quite that simple. I can't decide yet if this is a problem or not. To be honest, it is more like the question mark at the end of the equation: flexible seating + presentations = ?
Public speaking is a HUGE part of my class. I think it is the one skill that I can teach that is actually transferrable to any other subject, and it is useful on any path that students may find themselves on.
What's the plan? I'm not entirely sure. I'm going to rearrange the seating so that it is all facing forward. I'm still going to emphasize full attention. But, in a sense, this is an experiment. If the whole point of flexible seating--or at least a big part of it--is to lower the anxiety level, then this might prove to be beneficial.
I'll keep you posted. For once, I think I'm as nervous as the students for today! The picture below is the biggest speech I've given yet, and I hope to channel that enthusiasm for my students.
