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That was offered as an option. The student refused.
Their are two purposes to the spoken part of the assignment:
1) Let me hear them speak in German so I can assess pronunciation and correct use of tense. This objective could be accomplished by the student speaking with me.
2) The other students learn something about cities in Germany. This has to be done in front of the class. Sure, I could show a bunch of videos, but this isn't as interactive as students presenting.
But here's what I think is going on. This student has severe anxiety. During a test, he constantly asks if he is doing something correctly. He becomes frustrated easily and will give up. He also has a slight speech issue (mostly mumbling and speaking too quietly). He was in speech therapy when he was younger, but I think the parents took him out.
Is he physically capable of presenting? Yes. Does he have an IEP/504? No.
Part of being successful in a foreign language is stepping outside of your comfort zone. I've made a fool of myself many times in other countries. But you learn from your mistakes and stepping outside of comfort areas.
The other students learning something about German cities cannot be an objective of your course. Whether you are in high school or college, your course must have objectives - typically, if the course is well-designed, the objective will list things that a student will be able to do. If "give an oral presentation in German in front of a class" is one of the objectives, and the objectives were stated at the beginning of the course and have been given in writing (like a syllabus), then you are within the boundaries of good teaching practice to lower the student's final grade for not presenting.
I would seriously question how such a single objective, unable to be fulfilled any other way besides in front of the class, could reasonably be worth 25% of the grade. This seems arbitrary and possibly unsound.
If your objectives do not include such, then your assessment is not aligned with your objectives, and the presentation grade should definitely not count for so much to begin with (or anything) , much less be a reason to potentially fail (or significantly lower the grade of) a student.
Do you know the objectives of your course? Have you checked to make sure your assessments are aligned with them? Having all that clear from the beginning will help alleviate these situations.
The other students learning something about German cities cannot be an objective of your course. Whether you are in high school or college, your course must have objectives - typically, if the course is well-designed, the objective will list things that a student will be able to do. If "give an oral presentation in German in front of a class" is one of the objectives, and the objectives were stated at the beginning of the course and have been given in writing (like a syllabus), then you are within the boundaries of good teaching practice to lower the student's final grade for not presenting.
I would seriously question how such a single objective, unable to be fulfilled any other way besides in front of the class, could reasonably be worth 25% of the grade. This seems arbitrary and possibly unsound.
If your objectives do not include such, then your assessment is not aligned with your objectives, and the presentation grade should definitely not count for so much to begin with (or anything) , much less be a reason to potentially fail (or significantly lower the grade of) a student.
Do you know the objectives of your course? Have you checked to make sure your assessments are aligned with them? Having all that clear from the beginning will help alleviate these situations.
I have 35 objectives for German II which I designed myself and were approved by the school.
Here's number 30: Identify and be able to discuss major mountain ranges, rivers, cities, bordering countries and bodies of water in Germany.
But this project meets many more objectives than just that one. This project is written as if students were telling a story. They pretended they visited the city and are sharing the information with the class. The purpose is to use their knowledge of the past tense, but also cultural information they discovered during research. Students who are observing write one or two things they learned about each city.
Sure, I could show a video on cities in Germany and have students answer boring worksheets. But this project has always been a success. I've never had any issues with it, except for some lazy students not being prepared on time.
Students receive 75 points total for the project. 25 for the oral presentation, 25 for the physical presentation, and 25 for an outline which has all of their research. A normal test is around 100.
My German II students are presenting on a city in Germany, mostly in English. One student has completed his presentation, but refuses to present to the class. The class has 8 students in it. He says he gets nervous in front of groups of people.
He does seem to have anxiety problems. But sometimes in life you have to do things which are uncomfortable. I told him that if he does not present, he will receive a zero on that portion of the project (the oral presentation is worth 25%).
Does this seem fair? He has no IEP or 504, so I really don't have to take any excuses. I thought about letting him present it just to me, but that kind of defeats the point of the project. The other students in the class are supposed to learn more about German cities.
Why can't he submit handouts for the class on the city he researched?
Fear of public speaking is a real thing. When I was in high school, we had to take a class specifically on public speaking with a presentation at the end. The subject was up to us, but watching students shake and mumble benefited no one.
I would test his verbal skills one-on-one outside of class time, and require him to put together something about the city he studied for the rest of the class.
Just as a comment, since he does not have an IEP/etc, what you offer to him as an alternate you need to offer to all students in the class. Otherwise it's not fair to everyone.
Why can't he submit handouts for the class on the city he researched?
Fear of public speaking is a real thing. When I was in high school, we had to take a class specifically on public speaking with a presentation at the end. The subject was up to us, but watching students shake and mumble benefited no one.
I would test his verbal skills one-on-one outside of class time, and require him to put together something about the city he studied for the rest of the class.
I guess I'm not seeing the issue here. This is a class of 8 students. I don't really find that "public" at all. He has no problems interrupting class with chitchat, so I assumed he'd have no problems presenting.
I was that student many years ago. I would have rather died than speak in front of the class. I received a zero for the speaking part of the assignment and almost 100 on the written presentation which came out to a "C". I was happy with that and have survived all these years.
Here's my thoughts. In a class of 8, what about a round-circle type of oral presentation? The notion of traditional public speaking can cause crippling anxiety in some. With only 8, you could create a situation where is not front-centre stage. I am also a languages teacher, and have found this to be a much gentler way of encouraging speech. Our students would never be expected to stand on a stage and speak to an audience at work in L2 until they were moderately fluent (and even then). It's hard enough in L1. The anxiety will inhibit your ability to grade language. It's also a reasonable option for any other nervous kids,
What does your post have to do with anything? The oral presentation is only 25% of the project, it is not like the student is going to fail solely due to this.
The oral presentation has nothing to do with the learning ability of the student, it is a mental issue, and anxiety issue, no different than being afraid to fly, sky dive, swim, spiders, enclosed spaces, etc. Some people have it very severe where they break out in hives and have a mental break down, others just have the typical high anxiety of sweating, shaking, and relief after the task is complete.
The student is probably over estimating the anxiety of doing the oral presentation. The class is only eight people, it is not the same as presenting to thousands of people.
I knew someone would throw in the "this generation is horrible" BS.
The oral presentation is 25% of the project grade, I fail to see how you equate this with getting a zero if not done.
Some people have way more severe anxiety than you have, but nice of you to think everyone is the same as you.
I thought it was previous obvious that I meant a zero on that part of the assignment. Also, you have absolutely no idea how crippling my anxiety is. Yes, some people have it worse than I do, but I'm going to doubt that's the issue with the kid in question here.
One of the biggest difficulties with learning to speak a foreign language is actually being able to speak it. Since part of it is in that language, this is absolutely related to the class subject and not unfair at all.
Why would he get special treatment? Presenting is part of the class, so you present or don't get the points. Regardless of whether the exercise is valid or not (that's a separate discussion) the fact is you have to grade everyone on the same scale or it's meaningless. Letting one person off on part of the exercise because he doesn't like it is wrong. What if someone else doesn't like writing or reading? Where does it stop?
Here's my thoughts. In a class of 8, what about a round-circle type of oral presentation? The notion of traditional public speaking can cause crippling anxiety in some. With only 8, you could create a situation where is not front-centre stage. I am also a languages teacher, and have found this to be a much gentler way of encouraging speech. Our students would never be expected to stand on a stage and speak to an audience at work in L2 until they were moderately fluent (and even then). It's hard enough in L1. The anxiety will inhibit your ability to grade language. It's also a reasonable option for any other nervous kids,
I love that idea!
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