What do the following items have in common: fidgeting, ums, staring at the floor, and mumbling. They are all characteristics of poor orators. My students need to learn how to overcome these habits so they can be effective speakers in the future.
My students are 10th through 12th graders who take Speech and Debate as an elective course.
Therefore, I try to make the course as exciting as I can by using visual technology whenever possible. My school is not a high poverty school, but we do not have money for resources that have been deemed nonessential. I sometimes have trouble engaging all of my students because the elective is unleveled and many students defer to the "higher-level" students when completing projects. The hands-on approach to education is always the best way to engage lower-level students, and the video camera will help me pique their interest in public speaking.
My Project
I am requesting a video camera so the students can tape themselves delivering speeches. The students will be able to evaluate their own speaking skills, as well as those of their classmates. This will help foster discussions about what makes a good and bad public speaker, and how they can improve their skills so they can be effective orators. I often have 25 students in my elective, and it is difficult to identify the positive and negative aspects of their speeches right when they deliver them because I have so many other students who need my attention. The benefits of taping the speeches are that I can watch the footage with the students the day after they deliver their speeches, and I can closely analyze their delivery with them and provide them with solid feedback. Students learn best with a hands-on approach to learning, and the video camera will allow me to do that.
This project will have a broad impact on my students because public speaking is a skill that my students need to hone so that they can be effective citizens in the future.
You would be hard pressed to find a career or job where public speaking is not required. The public speaking units are my students' favorite units, and I want them to remember the skills I taught them long after they move on from my classroom and high school. My students are amazing, and they deserve nothing but the best.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Walls and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.