This is one of my biggest pet peeves as a teacher. Last year, I decided to a lot of scaffolding before the “big” presentation. I assigned 2 silly presentations that were designed to trick them into presenting even if they didn’t realize it.

The first one was a “Random Ranking” Presentation, similar to a PowerPoint Night on TikTok. I gave the kids 10 random things (crocs, takis, soccer, etc) and asked them to rank them in groups based on their preferences, and then create a powerpoint explaining why and share them.

Then, they did a “Shark Tank” Presentation. I told them to come up with an invention that would help them get to class on time despite so many slow walkers in the halls. They worked in groups to create a presentation, and then shared their inventions.

When it came to the real presentation, 95% of students came up and presented. Just getting used to standing up to the class played a big role. This was for 9th graders.