Power Point

so the theme of this weeks class is effective powerpoint with some twists. this is a topic near and dear to my heart on many levels.

First i have a fine motorskills deficiency and am mildly dyslexic, so my handwriting is beyond atrocious, if i were to write on the board regularly my students would be unable to read almost anything i would write. so Powerpoint for me is not just a tool to be used it is a necessity of directed instruction.

now as to the usefulness of directed instruction, this may be an unpopular opinion but i believe that balancing the appropriate amount of lecture into instruction at the secondary level is an important part of education. See i think as we focus on the way people learn and how to best make learning happen in the classroom, we have lost sight of the fact that we have a responsibility, at least at the secondary level to prepare these students to be lifetime learners, and that involves teaching them skills like taking notes, focusing during lecture etc... because those are skills that are applicable in college, and in the work place, and if we spend all our time focusing on the learning of the concept we are neglecting the fact that we much teach them the skills, within the context of every subject.

don't get me wrong, i don't lecture more then 20 minutes a period, certianly don't lecture every day, and work hard to diversify the learning in my class room, but i feel that part of that learning is allowing them to practice skills that will be necesasry at the enxt educational level and beyond in the context of a functional clasroom.

as for powerpoint. for any who aren't aware i am not only a certified biology teacher, i am a certified theater and speech teacher. I also have a background dating all the way to my high school days in speech and debate, so i work hard to not only use those skills in the classroom, but also to get my students to use those skills as well. In fact i have my students do anywhere from 1-4 presentations a year. i try to teach them most of the skills that were presented in the video we watched this week, and in fact while i watched it was pleased that i in fact did focus on most of those things.

unfortunately i am in a show starting this thursday so i have been rehearsing almost every night this week, and have been working during the mornings running a theater workshop at school, and i just moved this saturday. so with my microphone being packed away my time being short and my internet being intermittent, i will have to post my presentation and screen capture this week, but in the meantime i will offer you a few things

this is a presentation i give my students after they do their first presentation, to help them understand how to present to a group in general.


This is an article i read just after i had taught my students presentation techniques, and is of great concern to us i believe

Powerpoint animations

also if you check out my webpage under the presentations link ont he sidebar, you can find many an example of my style of presentations (typos are the one thing i do have issues with, the motor skills deficiency isn't limited to just writing, but my time for editing unfortunately is)

Mr albright's Classroom