In regards to PowerPoint, let me say that I am a very huge supporter of using this type of teaching style in the classroom. Whether or not it is appropriate to use all the time in a language teaching environment is another story. I personally use PowerPoint in the classroom almost every day, reason being that my students have always responded positively to this type of class. That’s not to say that I use it for the whole class period, though. Throughout the past two years or so I have tried varying my formats and including grammar exercises in my presentations because it gives students a chance to interact more with me and themselves and also keeps the classroom alive, whereas if I present a grammar topic all on PowerPoint and all they do is look up at the screen and write down answers, then everyone falls asleep on me, and that’s not too good for learning.
PowerPoint is also very useful in vocabulary lessons in my classrooms, because it lets the students practice their pronunciation when they identify an object on the screen, and I can also improvise conversation with different students when they see the different pictures based on the lesson that day. I also send my students the power points that we use at the end of the week, with additional exercises they can do at home to practice what we have gone over. Some students are actually dedicated enough to come in to office hours, but usually they all prefer to check them in the classroom as a whole.
PowerPoint has its setbacks, unfortunately. One of them is that the presentation tends to get boring if I don’t include exercises between them. My voice going on and on and the monotonous screen can be a bad combination that just leads to everyone falling asleep, which is why I decided to start doing exercises in the presentation along with on the board. Also, I have included different sounds and effects which students always seem to like. Another drawback I have found is that if the students know I’m going to send them the presentations, then some of them don’t pay attention in class and decide to look at all of it on their own, which is why I am now sending them all at the end, when we have covered everything.
In short, I have been a fan of using PowerPoint since I started teaching. It gives students a chance to look at and hear something else besides me, and vice versa. It also gives me the freedom to change my lesson around if need be, and go back and forth and compare slides whenever there is confusion, and initiates participation among themselves when it comes to group activities.
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CUBA
This may seem a bit out of place, but it's something I thought I'd like to share on my blog.
This is a video I always show to my classes on culture days. It always amazes me at first to hear how many students do not even know where Cuba is or why they can't go...most of the time when I ask what they know about Cuba, they say that they know Cuban cigars and rum, and Fidel Castro. Oh, Fidel...once again, he has succeeded in catching the world's eye by supposedly resigning from power this week...which means absolutely nothing as long as he's still breathing.
Most of my students are intrigued when we talk about Cuba, because I usually bring in personal items, such as plane tickets and magazines and photographs, all faded with time, much like the country itself. I also take this opportunity to remind them of how lucky they all are, as am I, to have been born in this country, and that we should never take for granted the fact that we are Americans.
I talk about this topic fully aware of the fact that politics is usually a subject that most people like to keep out of the classroom, and I think that a lot of our society's problems would be solved if people weren't so afraid to air their opinions once in a while. Almost all of my students have thanked me, not only for showing these videos on Cuba, but also for making them aware of the fact that being American is a privilege, and not a right. It was very satisfying for me both as a teacher and an American of Cuban descent to see that my words made my students appreciate their country.
A lot of them are also surprised by the fact that teachers are arrested for teaching democratic ideas and for reading certain books to their students. Most of the things that happen in Cuba are not even fathomable to people who don't see past the beaches and palm trees. It just goes to show you that things are not what they seem, and that until things are exposed, the world will see Cuba the way Fidel sees fit, and unfortunately, so much time has gone by, that most of the people who were primarily affected by his ideals are now dead, in addition to the indifference many people have in regards to Cuba and its situation.
I would like to be wrong, but the more time goes by and the more I see the way Castro skillfully plans his exit, and the more the world buys it, the more I believe what he said during the early days of the revolution,
"History will absolve me."
1 comment:
Hola,
I am with you in that powerpoints can be a great resources in the FL classroom, but in moderation. I also believe that having students do little mini-exercises every couple of slides would help to keep them engaged. I do see how giving them handouts could cause them not to focus on the presentation so I don't know that I would do that. I think asking them to take notes on the presentation would be better, don't you?
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