Seth Godin has a great blog post on Nine steps to PowerPoint Magic that I think can help us use PowerPoint more effectively in our teaching and help us reach "PPT Nirvana (this is funny...and no, I am not a Buddhist)" as we communicate to students and parents. Three of his nine points stood out to me on the first read...
First, "Don't use PowerPoint at all. PowerPoint distracts you from what you really need to do... look people in the eye, tell a story, tell the truth. Do it in your own words, without artifice and with clarity. There are times PowerPoint is helpful, but choose them carefully." - What are the helpful ways PPT can be used in our teaching? Should we use it at all? One way I think we can it can be more useful is to put up an image instead of the word(s).
Second, "words belong in memos. PowerPoint is for ideas." - We need to take the time to find the right image to help our students engage with the Word of God.
Third, "Short! Do you really need an hour for the presentation? Twenty minutes? Most of the time, the right answer is, "ten." Ten minutes of breathtaking big ideas with big pictures and big type and few words and scary thoughts and startling insights. And then, and then, spend the rest of your time just talking to me. Interacting. Answering questions. Leading a discussion." - This one has really caused me to stop and think hard about my 30-40 minute teaching times with our students. UGH! For example, this week I am teaching on the minor prophet Jonah. Could I have a 10 minute "presentation" and then a 20 minute "Q&A?"
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
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3 comments:
I loved that post, too. I like the one about using images, but I have to be careful to use images that will stick in students minds and hearts and communicate the truth. Otherwise, I stick with #1, no powerpoint. I want students to engage the story and think, not read off a screen and have their thoughts dictated to them. And technology is overly distracting to me as a speaker and I lose the all-important eye contact.
Jesse, bro, great to hear from you. What about the short one? How do you process that thought? Also, any chance you can get down here for a two - day training Monday and Tuesday with Matt Wilks? If you can get down here for the Shaping a Missional Community I'll pay for your entrance fee! Let me know.
the short one I live by. I try to always be under 15 minutes teaching and then break into some sort of small group or experience time for 20-30 minutes to finish up. I like the idea of short teaching times because I want students to remember one big idea (or maybe two) and the longer I teach, the more ideas I will introduce and the less clear my main idea may become to them. I want to come to the training something fierce, but monday is our annual vision/planning retreat for staff and elders, so i should probably go to that!
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