Teaching Engergy Conservation: A Reflection

Thoughts on Teaching
After presenting my PowerPoint on energy conservation the following thoughts came to mind:

Weaknesses: What I can work on in future presentations.

• I need to explain more of what is in my PowerPoint.
• To make a PowerPoint presentation effective in a classroom it needs to be interactive.
• I need to provide more background into the topic.
• For it to be more effective, I need to provide space for students to ask questions.

Strengths: What worked in my presentation.

• Students saw me as a learner-on the same level as each of them.
• The presentation offered an example for a media analysis project that I later introduced.
• My language was fairly clear, easing going and accessible.
• To my knowledge, there were few distracting and idiosyncratic quirks. Though I am known for my long pauses.

Earlier this year my students completed a taking acton unit, in which they chose a topic to research and take action on with their writing. In the future, I will use this PowerPoint as an example for how they can literally take action and create subtle change that can grow exponentially depending upon their commitment.

Additionally, I was reticent to use PowerPoint and this project provided the impetus for me to overcome this reticence. Although I don't anticipate using PowerPoints pervasively in the future, I do see how they can be an effective teaching tool. This in itself is a success.