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Schools' Feedback About Public Speaking Classes
"Hi Judith, the children are brilliant now, their confidence has grown so much... We will continue to teach them your lessons for years to come. Cheers"
Liesl Rosewall, Athol Road Primary School
"Hi Judith, thank you so much for today, you have excelled....Talking to the students after, they were on a high..some saying that they feel more confident to deliver, others feeling a sense of accomplishment which for some is an amazing feat. It teaches me again that to never underestimate those who you think might not be up to it, that all require an opportunity to shine! When it comes leadership, I think that would be great topic to get you back for again..."
Natasha Rae, Geelong Baptist College
"Dear Judith, Thank you very much for your always marvelous presentation, many students and several of the staff came up to me to say how good it was."
Urszula Horbacz, Balwyn High School STEP Leader Training Days 2010
"Hi Judith. The debaters have done well this year, we should find out soon if we are in the finals. Its great to see how much they have improved over the season. They have been particularly praised by adjudicators for their manner and method. Some of the older girls have also been doing alot of thematic rebuttal which has been great. The girls found your workshop very worthwhile and I can see that they have taken on board alot of what you have said. Thank you."
Claire Kortum, Siena College Debating
"Hi Judith. Thank you so much for the two sessions you presented to our Year 11s. You managed to hold the 'attention and learning neurones' of a tech-savvy class with soft toys and puppets! This was to such an extent that they remembered and applied your skills training a week later. You balanced the mix of theory and applied practice beautifully. So thanks, I sought an expert to present and inspire the class. You did so, shaping each student's early skills significantly and they now have a positive experience on which to build. Thanks, see you next year- probably a larger class! "
Cheryl Poustie, Secondary Teacher, Maranatha Christian School
"Hi Judith, The debaters have done well this year, we should find out soon if we are in the finals. Its great to see how much they have improved over the season. They have been particularly praised by adjudicators for their manner and method. Some of the older girls have also been doing a lot of thematic rebuttal which has been great. The girls found your workshop very worthwhile and I can see that they have taken on board a lot of what you have said. Thanks again"
Claire, Siena College Debating
"Dear Judith, Just wanted to say how much we all appreciated your workshop yesterday. A couple of comments I heard: one teacher said she had not felt so energised at the end of a meeting at the end of a day of work, and another teacher told me that he wished he had learnt this stuff twenty years ago. He is about to retire so you can imagine why he said that. So many little tips and tricks to use that will enhance our teaching. So once again thank you. Cheers."
Joanna McLeay, Mater Christi College.
"At Kilbreda, we decided to use your workshops as part of our enhancement/enrichment programme. The girls that attended your seminars were very strong English students who were confident with public speaking. The tips that you provided and the practical activities were invaluable in improving their public speaking techniques.
The students were so motivated by the seminar that we started a public speaking group and many of them are keen to participate in competitions in the future. Thank you so much Judith for your enthusiasm and expertise. We would definitely love to have you back "
Nicole Davis, Kilbreda College
"Thanks for all your hard work with our Year 7s - it's made an impact! Particularly the Literacy students who tend to struggle with English. It's also nice for the students to get a sheet on the things to keep in mind (your top 20 tips) I used a number of the activities which you gave to us about how to develop these skills in a fun way and they have worked!"
Ellen Sawyer, Mount Waverly Secondary College
"I learned heaps about how to speak, structure and plan speeches."
Glen, Malvern Central School
"We must have this lady back again."
Rabbi Jaffee, Yavneh Leibler College
"I was so aware of the eyes looking at me. Now I focus on what I am communicating to them,"
Michelle Prower, Head of English, Yavneh Leibler College
"Thank you once again for your adjudication. It was a great success and we received lots of positive feedback from our audience and teachers. Hopefully this will be an ongoing annual event."
Barbara Beed, Yeshivah Centre
"Very empowering! So many ideas in such a short time. All of them useful!"
Cathy O Brien, Dromana Secondary College
"I was reluctant to go for sports captain. Now I have the confidence."
Sharmalie, Melbourne Girls Grammar
"Thank you so much for the day. It was most beneficial. I found the leaders’ session particularly useful but I guess it’s always the way that smaller groups work better. There’s more time for everybody to do something."
David Kadbury, senior teacher, Geelong High
"I enjoyed the role play particularly. It gave me more confidence to speak in front of others."
Tori, Geelong High
"I felt the way you conducted yourself throughout the morning was great. You were extremely organised. You kept our interest because you engaged all of us and got our input. I will apply heaps from what you taught us."
Josh R, Geelong High.
"This is the third year I have been involved in Judith's public speaking workshop and have found it to be an extremely rewarding experience. The students' confidence just over 3 weeks grows enormously. And the skills they learn they carry with them and apply them in other areas. An example of the effects the public speak has had, was after our first group of grade 5s experienced the workshop. At the start of the next year, during house meetings, the grade 6s and year 8s had to prepare and say a speech about themselves if they wanted to be house captains. Because of the rich experience the grade 6s had had, all teachers present commented on the speeches the grade 6s delivered compared to the secondary students. I would highly recommend the public speaking workshops for all students- and teachers- as a teacher I still have lots to learn!
Carli Kawlasky, Malvern Central School.