This week I learned…about the effectiveness of using presentation programs in the classroom. I must admit, it was an easy “sell,” because I already think that PowerPoint is the best teaching aid since the chalkboard. When I started teaching 8th grade Physical Science ten years ago, I had to start from scratch as far as presentation materials go. I laboriously hand-copied notes onto pages and pages of transparency sheets for all of the scientific topics in the book that we covered. Eventually I got more techno-savy and typed the notes in Microsoft Word and copied them onto the sheets, so they were easier to read, save, correct, or update. Still, I disliked having to say, “Okay, stop copying notes for a second and turn to page __ in the textbook to look at a picture of ____.” I knew there was a better way, but it wasn’t until my school purchased several LCD projectors that I realized exactly how much better it could get. A colleague, who knew how much I enjoyed “telling stories” while I lectured, suggested that I create a PowerPoint presentation where I could insert pictures of the things that I was asking students to “imagine.” It took off from there. You might say that I was obsessed. I spent every planning period from that moment on until I had created a multimedia PowerPoint presentation for every single topic that I covered in my class. I even created review PowerPoints to use at the end of the year to review material before the state standardized test. I spent many, many hours at school and at home adding video, sounds, and pictures to my presentations until they were educational, engaging, and entertaining.
I am especially proud of the presentation that I created for the chapter on chemical bonding. I found wonderful animations on the Internet that move to show exactly how the electrons move and come together during the different types of chemical bonding. I found video clips that show explosions (complete with sound) as energy is released during an exothermic reaction and ice forming on the outside of a beaker during an endothermic reaction. I also enjoyed making the PowerPoint for the Motion and “Force” unit. Being a self-proclaimed Star Wars geek, I squeezed in a few sound clips from the movie like Obi Wan saying, “May the FORCE be with you” as they copy the definition of “force.” At the end of the presentation, after I talk about Galileo and the rate of falling objects in a vacuum, I play a sound clip of astronauts from the Falcon space capsule testing his theory on the moon by dropping a Falcon feather and a rock hammer, which fall at the same rate without air resistance on the moon. Courtesy of the Internet!
The students like the presentations and are often caught off guard by the pictures and sounds that I find on the Internet and include in the show. It keeps them on their toes. I also created note-taking worksheets for the 6th graders. The worksheets have the same text as the presentation, but with key words missing for the students to fill in. I made them so that the students can easily find the missing word or words, but still be able to pay attention to the presentations and keep up.
I enjoy making the presentations so much that I have allowed students to have the opportunity to create their own presentations for several of our topics-volcanoes, elements, and scientific inventions of the future.
In the future, if I get a Flip video camera dedicated for use in my classroom, I would like to record my students doing laboratory experiments and include clips and instructions for students who were absent to use as a “virtual” lab make up.
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