We do a lot of reading. That said, there are some folks’ ideas and blog updates that regularly push the boundaries on my thinking. Chalk up another one for Darren Kuropatwa, Clarence Fisher and friends…
The smart folks at ManACE gathered a lineup of eight presentations (offered by Darren, Clarence and others who I haven’t met but actively read), asking them to talk for 5 minutes using 20 slides (each for 15 seconds). The prompt – “Awakening Possibilities: Five Minutes to Make a Difference.” I’ve been watching the archived ustream of these talks – struck by the impact that an innovator can have in a brief, packed period of time – and inspired by the potential that this same prompt/task/frame could have in teacher education.
So, a bit of a risk (one that will either play out nicely – or which will crash and burn) – preservice teachers who are closing out their field experiences this month (observation/mirror teaching this term with student teaching next semester) typically write a paper reflecting on the “take-aways” from the semester and forecasting how those ideas will inform their practice in the spring. The new plan? Recast (and perhaps disrupt?) the task along the lines of the five minute frame… We’ll include these along with other work in our site within the VT site in iTunesU. I’m curious about how this will impact breadth and depth of thinking, and how/if students leverage the multimodal writing to communicate/amplify their ideas… And, in the spirit of modeling the practice that I expect them to carry into the field, I’m compiling one as well.
I’m finding it to be a ridiculously challenging task – in part because I’m never good with a time limit – and because the brevity creates a new issue — meaningfully communicate without becoming a sound-byte. Luckily, I’m relying on images to do some of the narrative work – but that will only get you so far…
How would you use your five minutes?
Real Reasons to Write 
I think this is a wonderful idea to get student teachers to reflect meaningfully on their practical experience. I have to tell you though, the five minute time frame is a good one but very challenging. Essentially, you need 20 different points you want make very concisely. I can’t tell you the number of hours I put into these five minutes. While I hope the final product shared something meaningful the real ‘juice’ for me was the process of creating it. Actually, that’s not entirely true. I rehearsed it a number of times. I never said the same thing twice. Something really clicked in my head when I found myself before a live audience. Maybe you could have your students Ustream their presentations too. I’d love to be in the Ustream for that. 😉
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