School Presentations

Even though the holidays were upon us and our minds wanted to desperately switch over to vacation mode, Bri had two big presentations due in December. 

The first presentation was a superhero project for her Venture class. She had to come up with a superhero based on a periodic element. She came up with Titanium girl...

She had to research her element, write a superhero story, come up with a 3D model and then present her hero to the class as a puppet show ~ with props (parents were invited to watch). Lots of steps involved.

I tried to help her practice her presentation. She had index cards to read off of, but even during practice, she spoke very, very fast because she was nervous. I tried to give her advice on how to slow down. When Bri talks too fast, it is hard to understand her sometimes. 

When I arrived in the classroom on presentation day, her teacher said the kids had been practicing. She mentioned that Bri was talking pretty fast during rehearsal. Sigh - she was so nervous.

Here she is looking over her presentation...

At the last minute (the morning of), the teachers were able to borrow a professional looking puppet theater from another school. That's great, right? Well, the kids hadn't practiced with it. And because they were behind it, they needed a microphone so everyone could hear them. It was kind of hard to juggle everything they needed plus a microphone behind that theater (they started bringing other classmates up to help hold props). In a way, I wish they hadn't gotten it. It complicated things a bit ~ at least for Bri...

B's teacher knew how nervous she was, yet she still called her up 2nd to last (grumble). The longer the wait, the more the nerves.

Bri asked her friend Allison to come help her hold props. With all the practicing, Bri still spoke a bit too quickly. A school bell dinged during her presentation. And when B held up her superhero doll, she held it backwards. For about 1/3 of the presentation, Titanium girl had her back to us. Her teacher finally had to turn her around because Bri had no idea. (I didn't think that part needed to be rehearsed - heh). It did make for a giggle during the presentation. Bri got another chuckle when she played the song "Titanium" on her iPad at the end of the presentation.

All in all, I think Bri did a fantastic job. All the kids did. They really had some amazing ideas...

Once Bri's superhero project was over, it was time to focus on her book report/presentation for English class. She picked the topic of red foxes.

She needed to read a book, create a visual aid (she did a poster), write a book report and then "teach" the class about her topic. Again ~ lots of steps.

Her poster turned out really cute...

 Bri and I worked on practicing her presentation again. I wasn't invited to watch this presentation, but I watched her rehearse with her index cards over and over. She slowed down and each time she rehearsed it, she got better and better and better. She had it down pat.

Luckily this time, she was picked to go early (second or third I believe). She was happy to get it over with (presentations lasted over a few days). She said she felt it went really well. I wish I could have been there to see it.

Once the projects were over, I could sense a huge sigh of relief on Bri's part. She was super tense and kind of short with me the couple of weeks she worked on all of this stuff. It's a lot to ask of a 9 year old ~ especially during the Christmas season. I did assist her some because she had so much on her plate. I hated seeing her stressed like that.

After the presentations, I got my "old" happy Bri back. And that was nice.