On March 18 I started a class in public communications. My first assignment was to take (or make up) a situation from work and address it. When I initially looked at it I had decided to speak on connecting parental support to the child’s behavior – but I had misread the point of the assignment. Fortunately I decided to wait until Wednesday (the day of the lecture) before I started.
A teacher’s aide, for the most part, rotates among different classes. The particular schedule I had followed on that day was 30 minutes each with kindergarten to 3rd grade, most of the time with kindergarten. Also, that particular position required me to monitor the 4th grade during recess and their lunch. I was with the kindergarten class when the fire alarm went off on Monday for a fire drill.
By Wednesday I had changed my topic from behavior to the fire drill as the alarm went off a few hours before I returned home to watch the recorded lecture for the week. The fire drill had been on Monday and there was a real emergency evacuation on Wednesday. I was with the fourth graders whom I had never lined up with before.
I found it interesting to compare the fire drill on Monday to the results that took place on Wednesday. Only my first assignment was supposed to be addressing a co-worker or someone I manage one-on-one. My topic of conversation was not one that I would choose for just one individual but was able to make it work by pulling out a specific. There have been so many times when I have not had a walkie-talkie with me (mostly because I haven’t made it a habit) but did have on Wednesday but not on Monday. The assignment I turned in was on the importance of having the radio device with me at all times and not just at lunch. I imagined the conversation from my manager’s point of view. That is what I handed in.
The following week’s assignment was to write a speech that I would give in public. I was required to give the audience three things to talk about. I incorporated that we practice fire drills to ensure safety, we are more focused when we are prepared, and when we are focused and calm it is easier to make adjustments – such as evacuating to an area that we had never practiced before.
I have always been under the impression that the more excuses a person uses to convince another of something, the less believable it is. My throat had been dry since the class had started, and seemed to dry at more as the class progressed. The week I was to record my speech was not a good week for me. I hadn’t practiced my speech orally because of my dry throat and the rain fell heavily and was louder than I was I tried recording. I compared my situation to Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day as mentioned here.
I ended up with a 107 out of 120. Not bad. I wouldn’t have scored myself that high. I couldn’t even watch it as my voice didn’t even move in sync to my lips. That really bothers me. Now I am waiting for the grades for this last week. Tomorrow I start a new class.
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