HUMS staff blog update, September 15, 2019

ITEMS:

1.  September Meeting Reminder:

September 17 - Dept Meeting (we will meet as a
HUMS staff with a focus on our 3 C teams -
Agenda will be ready on Tuesday morning)

September 19 - LT/DH Meeting (Thurs)

September 24 - Faculty/LC
(Brigid Nease will address the staff for this meeting in the library)

2. John Halligan presentation schedule:

1.  September 19, 2019 

High School Assembly	9:50-10:50
High School Post presentation	10:50-11:20
Middle school Pre-Assembly	12:30 - 1:00
Middle School Assembly	1:00 - 2:00
Middle School Post Assembly	2:00 - 2:47
Parent Evening	6:00 - 7:30

Information for pre/post activities will be sent out soon.

3. Reminder about goals - link for goal template is located in the blog link cloud,

4. HU leadership team update - see link here: https://harwoodlt.blogspot.com

4. Jennifer Gonzalez on Improving Classroom Slide Presentations

            In this Cult of Pedagogy article, Jennifer Gonzalez says that in her visits to classrooms around the country, she sees some “very fixable problems” with the way PowerPoints and other slideshow presentations are being used. Her suggestions:

            • Use presentation mode. Surprisingly, some teachers scroll through slides while still in the editing mode, which means students see much smaller slides and a lot of clutter around the edges. Hit the button for presentations, Gonzalez exhorts: “Doing this gives the audience a rich, full-screen experience with each slide, one at a time, which is much more pleasing than looking at the back end of it all.” 

            • Cut way back on your text. “Slides are meant to supplement and enhance your presentation,” she says, “to provide visual interest and add new dimensions to your message. If your presentation is going to be memorable, the audience should get something from both you AND the slides.” If you just read the slides, students’ minds will be far away. What this means: (a) limit yourself to short bullet points on each slide, with detailed information in the notes panel or a paper cheat sheet; (b) spread out information over more slides, with less on each one; and (c) create a handout with just the main points.

            • Update artwork and fonts. “The clip art that so many of us used in the past is really starting to look out of date,” says Gonzalez. There’s lots of free material online that’s much better – see https://pixabay.com,https://unsplash.com, or the clip library in PowerPoint and Google Slides. And there are plenty of appealing fonts available.

            • Create previews and signposts. It’s very helpful for students (or colleagues) to know the organization of a presentation, the main points, and about how long it will last. An outline slide that you return to as the presentation unfolds accomplishes all these goals.Red Hen

            • Don’t overdo animations. The various gimmicks (zooming in, checkboard fade, exploding bullets) get old pretty fast, says Gonzalez. You want people focused on the content, not the jazzy way it’s presented. It’s helpful, however, to “build” slides with several elements, discussing and revealing them one at a time. 

            • Keep things consistent. Presentations look more professional and keep viewers better focused if you use the same font, layout, color scheme, and other design elements throughout. Click the link below and go to page 15 to see numerous slide templates. 

            • Proofread – out loud. Gonzalez has found that she’s much more likely to find typos, spelling mistakes, and incorrect punctuation if she reads a presentation aloud. This is not the same as rehearsing for a presentation, when the focus is on content and transitions. 

“Let’s Make Better Slideshows” by Jennifer Gonzalez in The Cult of Pedagogy, September 3, 2019, https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/slideshows/