Blog #6 :)

Overall, I think that I did a good job on my PowerPoint 1 assignment. First of all, my grammar and spelling are correct, and I used punctuation appropriate for a bulleted presentation. The content of my Powerpoint is comprehensive; it provides main ideas with important details, and my speaker's notes complement the slides well. The presentation is organized and orderly, and it has a menu right after the title page. The Powerpoint has all of the pictures, animations, and other details listed in the directions. It is visually pleasing and has an organized yet interesting color scheme. The pictures included allow students to picture in their minds the topics that are being discussed.

There are lots of ways to use peripherals and non-computer audio-visual technologies in the classroom. For example, I once had a teacher play a recording of the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel in my history class because the song gives an overview of American history that we were studying. Tangible examples are helpful as well; for instance, if I were teaching a lesson on different types of rocks, I could pass around an example of each type of rock so that the students would be able to observe the rocks themselves and remember them.

In the past week, I've become a lot better at PowerPoint. I know that this will help me a lot in my future teaching career. I believe that PowerPoints can be much more effective than an old-fashioned chalk board or overhead. PowerPoints, first of all, can be more interactive; the animation, hyperlinks, and other assets are examples of this. In addition, the fonts, colors, and layouts that you can choose from make a Powerpoint more interesting than a chalkboard. On the flip side, PowerPoints can also be used as an assignment for students. For instance, I could give students a group assignment in which they much create and present a PowerPoint on a certain topic. This would be useful because it would force the students to think deeply about the topic, become familiar with the PowerPoint program, and practice their speaking skills.