10th Age State Reports-A Comprehensive Project!

I had the great pleasure this afternoon of watching 10th Age state report presentations on Ohio and Utah. For the state report, the students have to research many facets of a state (population, size, industry, tourism, and history, to name a few), write a formal paper, prepare a PowerPoint, dress up in clothes fitting for their state, and then deliver an oral report of approximately five to seven minutes to their classmates while using the PowerPoint slides as a visual aid. In short, it is a comprehensive exercise in research, writing, organization, technology, and oral presentation. The girls this afternoon did beautifully. I was so impressed with the overall quality of their presentations, including their use of PowerPoint as an aid (and not simply reading from their slides). Moreover, one girl had to deal with my arrival about thirty seconds after she had begun and with some noisy boys in the hall (yes, even Calvert students are noisy sometimes!). She handled that adversity wonderfully, and I complimented her afterwards on her composure. Sometimes, as I explained to the girls, there will be a "curveball" during a presentation--a technical malfunction, a tough question from the audience, noise, disruption--and while those situations are difficult in the moment, they are great learning opportunities. I look forward to seeing more reports in the coming weeks!