Thoughts on Presentations and Portfolios

I often hear students say, “How am I going to talk for/fill up 2 hours?” when approaching their Senior Presentation of Learning. Well, if that’s how we approach it, no one will enjoy it. Not you, not your audience, not even the molecules of oxygen in the air…

When I think about the word “presentation,” for me, perhaps because I’m an etymology junkie, or an analytic freak, I think about deconstructing the word. So, I think about the word “present” like a gift or “present” like the here and now, or we have the words, “pre” and “sent” as in something that has been delivered before. Ok, yeah, big deal, right? Right, big deal…how are you approaching your senior presentation of learning as a gift to yourself as well as a gift to your audience? Are you thinking about giving yourself, risking something, but not so much that your audience feels unnerved? Are you thinking about how you will allow yourself to be present in the room and react honestly and authentically in the same way that you do when you find yourself in a trusting relationship? Are you thinking about delivering your message of yourself to the audience?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, hokey, but hey…it’s me…I asked you all to write your own vision statement, and if I had to write mine, perhaps it would be something like, “Always strive for authenticity, integrity, and solidarity. For if we are authentic with each other, then we have the opportunity to accept each other; if we act with integrity, we will likely avoid hostility; and if we seek solidarity with each other, we will yearn to understand and support each other…

Yeah, wordy….yeah, optimistic….yeah, idealistic…oh, yeah, and trusting…

Since my title includes “portfolios,” I’ll address it as I did “presentations.” I think of the word “portable” meaning I can carry this here or here, and I think of the word “folio,” which I feel like I know what it means, and at the same time, think, “uh, yeah, some Italian word that means leaves?” which I think comes from my context of having heard the word “folio” as in “Shakespeare’s First Folio” meaning his first published collection of works, so maybe folio means “collection?” So, looking this up online, I find I’m close… So, a portfolio is a bunch of papers or pictures that can be carried anywhere? I am very intrigued by the idea of 3-D portfolios, and I’ll likely post more on that another time.

At present, this entry is a bit wordy, and a bit long, but you’ll cope…And you may be wondering, what was the point in reading this? Ah, yes, what might have been the point? You tell me…whose responsibility is it to find the point in a student exercise? Or is this an exercise in teaching? Hmmmm…..