Presentations

This week I explored different sites that either host collections of presentations or teach you how to make one.  I found a lot of amateur presentations, some very wordy ones, and a few I would show to my students.  One of the other teachers recommended Pete's Power Point Station, which has quite a large collection of education slide shows, and that was quite helpful.

And then I played with my favorite by far: Prezi.  I watched several tutorials, read some tips, and then jumped in!  I spent a while last night and tonight creating a presentation for class tomorrow.  It's still rough, but I enjoy the ability to move around the page, include visuals, be a little bit playful while presenting useful information.  I think I would have to be careful not to throw too much at my students in this format, though.  I had to tone mine down a bit because I was afraid the audience would get motion sickness, but what I ended up with is a decent mix of fact and fun, I think.  Certainly more interesting (for me, anyway, not necessarily for a left-brain thinker) than reading black words on a white page...

Now I want to get a drawing tablet so I can do my own drawings instead of depending on the images online.  And I want to learn how to do flash animation! And a document camera!

Will it never end??

And speaking of presentations, here is my favorite presentation of the week:  the South Portland Marching Band, featuring their drum major Joey Hendricks, in a custom made sequinned, bejeweled and glittered jacket, created by yours truly and my daughter Gracie.  They won 5 stars in all categories and brought home a gold medal.  Now THAT's a presentation!

The famous Pat Metheny glitter guitar jacket!

The amazing South Portland Marching Band -- what an incredible bunch of kids!