Reflection - 1st semester

When I saw the aligned computers, placed on each desk, I was excited about the technology itself. For the past year, my eyes have only seen paper so much, that this sight was a refresher. I thought that this class would be an English class, with better technology. However, it seemed much more than that, and I was glad I went through this journey of enlightenment. I was able to understand what it means to present, and the importance of not only using the tool great but the how as well. When I see professors and teachers present in real life, I was always in fond of how they are able to persuade me in which I feel the credibility, but through lessons and teamwork, I was also able to gain a basic idea of the reasons. I started off with questions and hesitance, but I did end up with the answers, in which I would want to implement in the future.

English class is not only just understanding English concepts. Through this semester, I was able to gain knowledge about the effects that can change what people think. For example, by having nothing between the speaker and the audience, it would feel more open, and we as an audience would feel invited to connect with whoever’s talking, which will then, encourage us to hear in. Another is when Mr. Paterson talked about the effects of humor in a presentation, and how the matching of the delivery gives the best experience. Even if someone created a funny video, if that person showcased the movie with no gestures and no facial expression at all, the audience will misunderstand that video as something depressing. It would create a difficult environment for people to let out laughs. On the other hand, if we introduce it without becoming tense, it would also ease the tension between the audience’ s focus and therefore be much more effective. These techniques may not be consistent, since presenting doesn’t always mean to memorize a script, but it still helped with the final group project.

When we were assigned to the final project and got into group work, we were at first unsure of where to start. We knew the tips and tricks that would guide us when making the presentations, but that didn’t help with us collaborating, because human behavior can’t be predicted by telling rules. However, we were able to assemble ourselves and was able to work on it. However, we were lost when it came to time. I was always told to plan things out, but when in a situation that requires all team members to cooperate, I wouldn’t want to waste precious time. Most of my teammates have after school activities that allow little to no free time, so it would have been difficult to figure out a plan. However, it didn’t work out so well, because we wanted to double-check our place, we moved at a slower pace. This leads us to finish the google slides in under 2~3 lessons and obviously meant that we wouldn’t have had the time to practice. I can’t blame everything on activities, because we should have finished the slides way before the context and the searching. From this, I would like to improve from the mistakes I made in terms of time management.

I wasn’t really sure what this class was when I first came in, because we learned how to search the internet quickly, and create blogs. However, I was able to realize that this is LE after all, and I was able to enjoy learning, which made it very memorable. Perhaps it was why I was able to write a blog of this length. Knowledge, whether it isn’t as important as others, would someday take a toll on my future life. Presenting is very important, and it is a skill that is needed no matter what age we are. I would like to implement these techniques in next semester.