9th grade students’ reflections on the Open Day
As you know, the annual Autumn Open Day took place on November 20th. On this day, the middle and high school students presented their achievements to everyone present. By this day, the Year 9th students had completed the first Unit of their science and math program. They presented their results in the form of live presentations and master classes. All the students in this class completed their assignments very well.
At the end of the event, they were asked to answer several questions. Below you can read some of the students’ answers.
- What new things did you learn about yourself while preparing for and during the presentation?
– I learned that I am better at simply stating facts and information about what I have to talk about than talking about it with another person.
– I learned that I am a good presenter, and by doing more projects that require me to speak in front of a larger audience, I can develop this skill even more. On the other hand, I also learned that I need to study harder in the future.
– I learned that when there are few people, I am less stressed, and when I sit on a chair, I think better and speak better.
– Until today, I thought that I don’t feel stressed when I give a speech. But before the presentation, I was scared. I also learned that I enjoy biology and that it is quite easy.
– That I can communicate better with people and improvise things that I was not 100% sure of.
– I learned that if I really want to do something (teach someone, borrow something), I can do it. So if I communicate more, I can do it better. And I see that I learn much better when I share something over and over again. For me, this is a more effective way to learn something.
– I learned that I can improvise and get into it. After a while, I thought that I would be so stressed that I would forget everything and start to panic, and would just read, but fortunately, this did not happen.
– I explain better than I thought.
– I can make a difficult situation comfortable for myself.
– I surprised myself when we were performing, because I was really scared and nervous. But I also surprised myself that I can explain the topic in English and Slovak. And I wasn’t afraid to approach people when I asked them to cut a chicken heart.
– I can do more than I thought.
– Today I learned that my nervousness has become much better, and I can speak confidently. I can improvise quite well, even when I don’t know something, I usually talk it out.
- What would you do differently if you were in charge of the Open Day?
Timo: Firstly, I would use more space so that everyone wouldn’t be so crowded. I would also invite other schools so that we could show how much better our school is than the others.
Martin: Make it longer.
Alex: I would probably do the presentations earlier because most of the parents left before them. I would also push the presentations forward so that more people would come.
Emmy: If I were organising the Open Day, I would do sections by subject. I would also create a game for each station to make it more fun and the person who wins the most games could win something. I would also give people sweets at the entrance to make them happy. I would also make the Open Day a whole day so that people would have more time to look at our work.
Viktoria: Organise quizzes for people to try to do it themselves.
Richard K: I would invite other schools.
Elly: I would make different stations for different subjects. Each station would be divided by class level. I like that there were presentations in the canteen, so I would keep them there. Also in the science room between presentations there would be science experiments.
Tadeas: I would give the students more time to present so that they are not stressed or rushed unnecessarily. I don’t want them to ruin their reputation in front of their parents, friends and classmates.
Lexin: Maybe we will have more space and more decorations. Let it be nicer and less messy, maybe some dessert and food. Maybe the projects will be like a museum and more fun activities.
Nikita: Maybe do more experiments, show people that science is so interesting. To add more of our work to the hall.
Arthur: I would invite other schools to see the students’ work and potentially inspire other schools. I would also make the Open Day longer so I can fit more activities into the schedule.
Anna: Bigger teams; more space for tables with experiments; more time to prepare.
Milana: Put the tables with the experiments near the lobby so that no one is standing in the back and can be seen. Set different times for master classes and presentations. (Example: 9:00 – 10:00 – Presentations in the canteen. 10:00 – 10:15 – Break. 10:15-12:00 – master classes). This will keep things more organized.
Adam: I would take all people to the canteen first and tell them what is going on today and show them the schedule and a map of the school so that everyone knows where and what is happening.
Norbert: Make a clear schedule of everything. Advertise the presentations more to the public. Designate a room for each subject. Make it longer.
Richard M: Make it all day long. Advertise it more. If you finish the master class, you will be rewarded. Also add a reward after watching each presentation.
The Spring Open House is in a few months. We have time to consider the students’ recommendations.
