How To Lose An Audience With Just One PowerPoint

Bad PowerPoint Ideas 2:35 A presentation about how NOT to use the world’s most popular presentation software

Addie Is Two!

By the way – there is a YouTube video (pictures, video, and music) as well!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3O2q_NZMgs

Assessing Creativity

Pick a number between 01 and 09.  Got it?  Multiply the number you chose by 9.  (You may need a pencil or calculator for this…)  You should now have a two digit number.  Add these two numbers together.  Subtract 5.  Take this last number and correlate it to a letter of the alphabet.  (1=A, 2=B, etc).  Think of a country that begins that letter.  Now think about the 2^nd letter of the country’s name.  Think of an animal that begins with that letter.  Got one? 

You now have a problem.  There are no elephants in Denmark!  (Impressive, eh?)  So, approximately 94% of you came up with that answer.  The rest of you probably had an ostrich in the Dominican Republic, but it’s a crap shoot at that point. 

Do you think that attention getter is creative?  I do.  Audiences like it – if you can get them to participate.  The payoff is when they realize you “read their minds” and they try to deconstruct it.  But regardless of the math behind the trick, it’s a pretty creative way to get people invested in you as a speaker.

Creativity is a passion of mine.  I am a big believer that we do not teach, nor do we encourage creativity in our classrooms.  (Tell me you’ve watched Sir Ken Robison’s talk at TED on this subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY)  Yet, what talents do we read about in newspapers, magazines, and journals that are said to differentiate successful businesses, inventions, or even countries?  Innovation is often touted as what makes one business successful while another one fails.  Inspired design is often how inventions are described.  The United States likes to talk about our resourcefulness, imagination, and out of the box thinking that helps us stay ahead of other countries with regard to science, defense, and technology.  But if creativity is so revered, and if innovation is what will change our future, why don’t we build an infrastructure of creative thought for our students? 

I used to believe that educators were creative.  I thought you had to be innovative to find ways to inspire and motivate while teaching foundational principles.  But after 15 years in and around educators at all levels, I’m not convinced of that anymore.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some tremendously imaginative people out there teaching and assessing our students.  But, the percentage of creative people in education is probably the same as the percentages in industry, business, and the military.  (I’d guess that percentage is around 5%.)

Don’t get me wrong.  I think everyone has the propensity for creativity.  Or at least a majority.  But without those skills and attributes being nurtured by someone along the way, most people just do as their told and that creative inclination dissipates.  Think about it – you are in 2^nd grade and you’re asked to draw a picture of a farm.  You grab your crayons and a big piece of butcher paper and start to work.  A purple sun here, a blue barn there, a flying tractor that can transform into various vehicles – all in all a pretty imaginative farm!  But then your teacher comes over and asks what you’ve done.  They explain that our sun is yellow and that a typical barn is red.  “Why?” you ask.  No answer is given.  It should be red because it should be red apparently.  And of course tractors don’t fly.  That’s just silly.

The end.  Game over.  Your attempt at something fun, cool, interesting, and creative was squashed and you soon understand that in order to succeed, you need to do things the conventional way.  You need to follow the pack to show that you have learned.

Obviously, this is a super simplified example and I mean no offense to 2^nd grade teachers.  This could have been any level with any project.  And therein lies the problem. 

Think about what I call the triangle of teaching and learning.  You have two foundation points – the outcome and the assessment.  Then you have the tip of the triangle – the learning asset.  (I am growing tired of the bastardization of words like “learning object” which now mean so many multiple things to different people, we can’t have an effective conversation anymore.)  But let’s talk about each point.

The outcome: this is a constant.  It should not change unless it becomes out dated.  An outcome of students demonstrating writing skills or reading skills comes to mind.  (Of course, the level of specificity is an important conversation – but one for another day.) 

The assessment: this may change from term to term, class to class, or group to group, but essentially this stays the same for one instance of teaching.  In other words, you should assess all students in the same way to promote fairness.  (Ex: Don’t use a test for one student and a paper for another student.)

The learning asset: this is where teaching creatively can come into play!  How you get your students to the outcome can (read: should) vary within the same class / term and beyond!  The learning asset may be a lecture, a widget, an exercise, a powerpoint presentation, a video, etc.  (Creativity should be modeled!)

However, it’s the assessment that we’re talking about here.  While you don’t want to change requirements for assessment on a student by student basis, what about trying this.  Give your students the option to demonstrate understanding and application in their own way?!  If your assessment gives the freedom for students to explore their own creative ideas in terms of submission – and as long as the objectives for the assignment are met – imagine the culture of creativity AND assessment you would be creating!

For example, most instructors ask for a paper on bigger, complex items.  Why not ask for a presentation?  This may be a paper, but it might also be a video.  Students could use Zentation to combine a video with a powerpoint.  They might even create a model on Excel or using another software that demonstrates the objectives creatively.  

What about asking students from the start what ways they would like to promote themselves in terms of your outcomes and objectives?  Creating a democratic classroom in addition to a creative assessment culture is also powerful!  Students get to take more and more ownership of their learning and you get more and more ideas for future teaching modules!  

Why not start assessing students through gaming devices?  Games are powerful teaching and learning tools – and the assessment combines formative and summative effectively.  There are a number of games already created online or in books, but you can certainly make your own (demonstrating your own creativity!). 

There are ways to promote creativity.  There are things we should do to suggest to students that innovation, invention, and inspiration are both valued as well as something we can develop!  Think of the ramifications for our businesses, our culture, or our country around this powerful concept.  While we believe ourselves to be decent problem solvers, this may lead to a whole new generation of problem finders (which is typically considered much harder…).  Assessing creativity can happen.  It can make learning more engaging.  It can lead to stronger connections between content and application.  It can happen.  Good luck and good teaching.

Want to know more about creativity?  Want to inspire your team to think outside of the box?  Contact Jeff at jborden@jeffpresents.com for more information!

Addie

The blink of an eye.  I know it’s cliché and I know it’s probably overused, but I have no better way to describe it.  Don’t get me wrong – I’ve noticed the inevitable speeding up of time my whole life.  For almost 40 years, the patterns of existence seem to increase in velocity on an exponential basis. 

Every Fall I look forward to the fresh Colorado air, the leaves transforming into something Rockwellian, and the ability to play outside all day but still want hot soup for dinner.  Of course, Fall also represents the nearness of Thanksgiving and Christmas – my two favorite holidays.  And that pattern has existed for me since I was about 8 years old.  But each year, Christmas gets here faster.  Thanksgiving is gone seemingly before it began.  Then we’re into the dead of winter – those few months in January and February where it’s dark, cold, and the days are long.  Those months don’t seem to fly by quite as quickly, but they too are accelerating.

That brings me to today.  The day after something consequential…something monumental in my life and the life of my family.  It brings me to the day after my daughter turned two…

My little girl, who needed Keena and I to fulfill her every need just months ago is no longer a baby – she’s now a kid.  In the last 24 months, she’s been summoned and referred to by many names: Peanut, Sugar Plum Fairy, Monkey, Addie Girl, Ads, Addie Borden, Munchkin, Lovely, and Cutie – I’m sure there were more, but my memory is already fading (sigh).

I’m having a hard time remembering where these last two years have actually gone.  While I remember being in the hospital, having the doctor hand my daughter to me immediately after being born, and staying with her from that moment until two days later when I finally ventured out of the hospital for some much needed Qdoba for Kee and I, I can’t remember all of the little stuff that I want to.  

Addie walked super early – she was walking at 9 months – and she walked pretty well right from the start.  Luckily we got that on video!  But until I looked back at some of those video moments, I forgot how she liked to run back and forth between Keena and I, giggling the whole time.  This little girl who screamed her guts out at her first bath went on to meet milestone after milestone early and I want to remember them all.  But like a frosty window pane, I can focus on specific memories while others are just out of reach, lingering in my subconscious.  

Our SPF (Sugar Plum Fairy) started to use sign language early too.  She knew more and milk and water before we did.  And what was her first word?  Was it “Daddy” or “Mommy” or “kiss” like some kids?  Nope.  She said the word that fascinated her and captured her little attention right from the start.  “Jackson” – our Lab / Greyhound was what came out first.  Well…more like “Jacks” but we all knew what it meant.  That was over a year ago.  Now, it’s on to, “M&M Cake” (what she busted out that she wanted for her birthday party…).  Now she says things like, “Oh No Momma!” when there is a ladybug on the window.  Or one of my favorites – she’ll say, “Down Dad.”  This means she wants to go downstairs.  I’ll reply, “You want to go downstairs Addie?”  To which she’ll come back with, “Okay!” – as if to say, “What a grand idea!  I wish I’d thought of that!”

I want to remember the compliments.  I can’t describe how often complete strangers stop my wife and I to tell us how beautiful our little girl is.  Our kid photographers want to give us extra pictures and send her images in for product placements.  I mean, my little girl is over the top pretty.  (Don’t think I don’t know what that’s going to mean for my future…)

I pray I’ll never forget that tiny body running to me when she hasn’t seen me for 8 hours.  She puts that little head down and just starts trucking my way, putting her hands up about 5 feet away.  Then, it’s into my arms and she lays her head down on my shoulder, patting my back.  (I wish those moments could last for hours…)

And unless we capture it on film, audio clips, photos, or in journals – it just fades away.  Every day brings something new as we lose what was new yesterday.  Excitement for any ceiling fan was replaced by a love of airplanes and hec-ocs (helicopters).  Of course, hec-ocs was then replaced by the thrill of, “poo poo!”  Everywhere we go – “Dad!  Bird poo poo!” or “Oh No Daddy!  Jacks poo poo!”  And so on…

But through all of the memories, with all of the fascination and wonder, along side it all, the memory that actually improves is love.  I have no idea how it’s possible to love a being so much more today than yesterday, but it’s as if the memory just builds on itself – exponentially.  I want to protect her, help her, give her everything – I just want her to know that love that I can’t really express.  

There are a few songs out there from parents to kids.  They totally have new meaning for me now.  My wife and I particularly love, “Fix You” by Coldplay…ok, like doesn’t cut it for a song that makes me cry every time I hear it.  (Damn you Coldplay!)  But it’s not the song as much as the feelings I associate from that song with my little Addison.  I want her to always know that those lights will guide her home.  I yearn for her to have a home where she is safe forever – a home where she can go to ignite her bones.  

Even after 20, 30, or 50 years…after my eye has blinked just a few more times – I want my Addie girl to always know how much we love her.  Happy Birthday Addie Cakes. 

-Dad-