As the summer winds to a close, once again I regret that, unlike when I was a child, I will not be able to get away for a family vacation. I hope the students that go away realize how fortunate they are. And, how much better if the experiences can actually help with school work?
Now is the time for students who are enjoying vacation to think about topics they might want to use for a speech. While students claim to like the fact they have complete flexibility to pick their speech topics, the truth is a number of them get frustrated because the range is so broad. This is actually a point made by the author of the textbook that we use.
I always tell students to use things they enjoy talking about. Certainly someone who is on vacation usually enjoys what they did. For instance, a student who went to a fine art gallery in Los Angeles, perhaps saw works by Dino Rosin, could use the museum, the specific pieces of work or anything else s/he learned while at the museum for a speech.
Hopefully as students are enjoying their summer, while they spend the majority of time just enjoying, they do take a little time to consider how their adventures work into various classes they will be taking. Public Speaking is, obviously, a great class to discuss various adventures.
Teaching as an adjunct can be a lot of fun. It is also challenging. As I have encountered a number of situations, I realize such a blog can be helpful, both to me and to others.