TEACHER: Johnnie, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
JOHNNIE: A teacher.
I admit it, I giggled. I'm still giggling when I think about it. It's a silly little joke, and it's really not THAT funny. But there's something about it. Something honest...
Out of the mouths of babes, I believe the saying is.
Last month I wrote an entry reflecting on the Power of Talk in our classrooms. But I'm worried some people misunderstand me when I say things like that. It's not that TALK is powerful..it's that the CONVERSATION is.
If it's not a two way street than Little Johnnie has it exactly right - teacher just talk a lot, they don't care if their audience (students) are listening.
The sad thing is - I think Johnnie may already have it right...how many of us have sat through other teacher's presentations at meetings and tuned out because they just kept talking...argh. Honestly, people, it is okay to pause and give me time to think.
One of the things that really erks me when working with other teachers is their attitude towards PowerPoint. Now, don't get me wrong, I ADORE PP, it definitely has a place in my classroom. But other teachers don't like using the slideshows I put together...especially not after I worked through these presentations hosted at Slideshare.net:
Since then I've tried to make my presentations as visual as possible. Afterall, I am getting paid to teach, not have my students read the textbook off the screen and copy notes.
This is a sample of one I've done up today - there's still some tweaking to be done, but it's nearly there.
Themes in Romeo and Juliet
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.
I hope to use each slide as a discussion starter - to try and engage my students in a real conversation, a two way street - not just me lecturing at them well past their point of caring.
Any feedback or suggestions?
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