Further Oral Activity Reflection

I think that my Further Oral Activity went pretty well, considering the fact that it was the first time I have ever talked for thirteen minutes straight. I now understand why this is an assessment for the IB program. Only a student who is very familiar with both the text and their process of creating their adaptation could have been successful. One of the main reasons why I felt somewhat confident was because I rehearsed the FOA twice before the actual thing. I noticed that even though the practice orals were different, it helped me work through the order of how I wanted to present my points. The specific things that I said for each one was different every time, but I knew that after I talked about how our adaptation was different from the original text, I had to move on to the changes in Josephine’s character. One thing that I found somewhat difficult at first was what to write in the notes section. I didn’t know what to write and how detailed I had to be in notes for me to be able to present it the way I wanted. As I was practiced, I found that once I got the details of the story and background straight, it was much easier for me to analyze our choices, how they related to the original text and their effect on the audience. Therefore, the majority of the notes were focused on the plot of the story, told in the order I preferred. One thing I think I could have improved was the way I spoke. Listening back to the recording, I thought that I did not sound sure of myself in the entire time. Also, there were multiple times when I couldn’t find the right words to describe what I was trying to say. These moments when I am stuttering and stumbling is where I think it starts to get a little confusing as a listener. Sometimes, I think because I have such a specific way that I want to express my thoughts, it is hard for me to get it out in the way I want. Overall, my FOA turned out a lot better than I expected because of (what I thought was) a lack of notes and the different presentation every time. I think that for the final, I was able to really forget about the recording and really focus on the content and connections I wanted to share.