Climate Change in the Classroom

Asking a question of the class and receiving an incorrect answer can create a challenging situation. How the instructor responds often sets the climate for future question and answer sessions.

To help maintain a nurturing climate, Richard Paul, in his book titled Critical Thinking, suggested the instructor respond to an incorrect answer by using one or more of the following.

What do you mean by _____?
Can you give me an example of _____?
How does that relate to the question?
All of your answer depends on the idea that _____.
Why did you base your answer on this rather than _____?
What are your reasons for saying this?
Let me see if I understood you. Do you mean _____?
Could you explain your answer further?
Can you rephrase your answer?
What I heard you say was _____. Is that what you meant?
Let me rephrase the question. Now, what do you think?

*Paul, Richard. 1995. Critical Thinking: How to Prepare Students for a Rapidly Changing World. Dillion Beach: Foundation for Critical Thinking.

Myth Busting: Is Multitasking a Good Thing?

Have you ever wondered if multitasking saves time or is a good way to learn or if you are too old to remember all the tasks?

Well, a recent issue of Inside the School carried an article by Maryellen Weimer that indicated we may need to rethink our multitasking, at least when it comes to education. Titled “Three Multitasking Myths,” it discusses research related to each of the following urban myths:

• Multitasking saves time.
• Multitasking is as good as single-task learning.
• Multitasking is for the young.

The end result: all three of the myths were busted.

Read the complete article by clicking here.

Playing a Video/Movie From Within PowerPoint 2007

I recently attended a two-hour public meeting where the speakers gave PowerPoint presentations. There were videos shown during the slide shows, usually less than a minute in length that depicted a humorous aspect of the topic being discussed. Being short and funny, the videos made a nice comic-relief.

To run a video, the speaker minimized PowerPoint and used another program to play it. Not only was the practice cumbersome, it was unnecessary. In other words, it is possible to run a video from within PowerPoint.

Use the following procedure to insert a movie into PowerPoint 2007.

1. Open the program.
2. Display the slides of the presentation.
3. Select the slide to receive the movie or create and select a new slide for the movie.
4. Click on the Insert tab.
5. Click on Movie in the Media Clips pane (far right on the Ribbon).
6. Click on Movie from File.
7. Click on the movie to insert.
8. Click OK.
9. In the dialog box, click on When Clicked.

To save the slide show with its movie (note: the movie MUST be saved in the same location as the slide show):

1. Click on the Office Button.
2. Click on Save As.
3. Choose either a:

• PowerPoint Presentation (opens in the PowerPoint program) or
• PowerPoint Show (opens in Slide Show view) or
• PowerPoint 97-2003 Presentation (some PowerPoint 2007 functions may be lost).
  
  

To view the movie within the slide show:

1. Run the slide show.
2. At the slide with the movie, click the movie area.
3. Click outside the movie area to stop the movie or to continue the slide show.

Five More Teaching Tips

The following five teaching tips build upon the ten teaching tips posts of May 21 and May 28, 2008.

1. Build relationships with the students. Talk to them about their hobbies, interests, activities, etc.

2. Relate their hobbies/interests/activities to class content. As a result, they can connect more easily with the subject matter.

3. Ask questions regarding a student’s response. Attempt to determine what the student had in mind when responding to classroom material.

4. Be fair. Being fair in this context means everyone receives what they need.

5. Be organized. Not only does it make the class progress smoothly, it usually helps the students learn the material.