First contact with peer teaching

Panic!

Okay its over now. I read Doris's post and I thought that I should also reflect on my first presentation and share with everyone how I felt during the peer teaching session as well as some of the comments given.

Waking up at 7am in the morning today with little sleep the previous night proved to be a bad idea. Symptoms of running nose and teary eyes suggested that I have most likely caught a flu and I was actually contemplating on whether I should turn up for class.

But I can't leave my teammates in the lurch can I? After all, we had spent quite a lot of effort on this teaching session. Anyway, problems surfaced even before the session started and one of it was a classical case of communication breakdown. My group was told to print out the rubrics so that our fellow classmates can evaluate us. However, my group mistook the rubrics to be the lesson plan without clarifying. Thankfully, Miss Lim was really kind to provide us with some of the extra rubrics that she had. 

Before I go on to the problems with my team's presentation, I would like to share some of the comments that I had been given.

1. Troubles of visual aids disturbed my presentation
2. Slide backgrounds inappropriate 
3. Don't use red words on black background
4. Weird handover of presentation 
5. Show confidence and don't be too nervous
6. Uptight
7. Monotonous
8. Paused too long between sentences
9. Reduce the "errs" after each sentence
10. Try not to look too much at slides

Problem 1 - As one can see, our slides did not turn out to be as wonderful as we had planned and contributed significantly to the negative comments . The website which held our slides was slow, resulting in a long transition between the slides and the points. My advice to the rest of the groups out there is to use Microsoft Powerpoint. 

Problem 2 - Lack of "pre-audience". Although my team and I did practice presenting, we did not have an audience prior to the presentation to comment on us. We could have avoided situations like " red words on black background" and "inappropriate backgrounds" if we had our friends to take a look at our presentation. "Weird handover of presentation" happened because I had too many slides on my part and Doris had to help me out with some slide from somewhere. Maybe I should have insisted on finishing the whole section? ( Do comment on this)

Problem 3 *Major* - Me.

I felt that I did not do a good introduction and dragged the rest of the team down. I wanted to try doing a presentation without cue cards and I think it was a disaster. Observations 6 - 10 was probably due to me not being able to remember my lines. Lesson learnt: Don't try anything new unless you have experience. Use cue cards and review comments 1- 10 again before the next presentation. 

Looking on the brighter side of things, I do have some positive comments that I am proud of.

• Effective class activity ( I was worried that the activity might be too simple and boring)
• Helps out group member
• Useful handout (A lot of time and effort were actually spent on crafting the guides and tips)

Lastly, I would like to thank the class for the comments and support they had given. Every comment is an opportunity for me to improve and become better. I look forward to see everyone in class again!

Effective Communication Skills & Me

~To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others~

                                                                                -Anthony Robbins

Communication dates back to the time when life first started. Animals communicated with its own kind as well as other animals using visuals - the bright colors of a poison-dart frog , 

These frogs native to Central and South America display aposematic patterns to warn off potential predators. Their bright coloration is associated with their toxicity.

smell - the foul odors from a skunk,

and sound - plenty of examples

Even plants communicate as well http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081023113107.htm. We humans have evolved from the Great Apes and our communication was revolutionized with speech and writing. 

Speech is a very efficient form of communication and language in my opinion is one of the most powerful tools on Earth. It allows people to pass on information with speed and precision. I am sure many of us had come to face with language barriers and experienced the inconveniences as well as the embarrassments it had caused when we try to express ourselves using hand signs and body movements. A simple language dictionary would have saved the day. 

The need to understand one another is crucial in today's context. To me, this is why having effective communication skills is important. A writer writes not because he is educated. He writes because of his need to communicate, to share and to be understood. Writing is as powerful as speech. It offers people a way to preserve their thoughts and memories. It also gives one time to think before they "speak". We often tend to say things without going through some thinking and as a result, the words that come out of our lips rarely meant what we wanted to convey. We unintentionally hurt people's feelings and create misunderstandings. Undeniably, I am guilty of this and I am aware of its consequences ( such as decreased chance in securing a prospective job, unhappy marriage etc) so here I am, taking the first step to change myself for the better.

Like what Anthony Robbins an American self-help author had said, we must not neglect the fact that no two individuals are the same in the way they view things. Being able to speak well is only one aspect of good communication. Active listening is another. I was once known to my friends as someone with a domineering character. I used to enforce my ideas upon others but I soon realize (after an unpleasant confrontation) , that I need to listen to others and open myself up to new ideas. Not surprisingly, team dynamics quickly improved and so did interpersonal relationships. This is another reason why I feel having effective communication skill is important.

Communication is a two way process. See what other see, feel how others feel.

Its 2011!

Merry New Year to everyone!