PowerPoint (I am undecided)

One of our assignments for SEDU 183 was to create a PowerPoint to "teach" a class.  We had to chose an age group, a lesson, and research what the PA standards that must be taught.  Let me tell you my stomach was in knots!  Right off I knew what lesson I wanted to teach however, I was unsure if my lesson would teach all the standards.  As I looked on the PAS website, I was baffled on what to look under for my specific lesson.  I finally figured out what I was looking for by consulting my professor (mental note: there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers....)! So began my journey in the development of my presentation.  I take that back, its not a journey, it is a mental workout!

I decided the lesson would be on "Crash Blossoms" or confusing headlines reporters use that have multiple meanings. I chose 3 headlines and used pictures to illustrate one way the headline could be interpreted. This would also be the assignment for the students.  I knew what I wanted to do, so I started off looking for funny headlines.  Wow! You wouldn't believe how many "Crash Blossoms" in newspapers there are!  I had to keep in mind that the lesson could be used to teach 7th-12th grade students, so that meant the headline " Tiger Woods plays with own balls, Nike says" wouldn't work.  I don't even want to think about what pictures teenagers would find to interpret that one!  I was able to find clean ones and started my PowerPoint.

First of all, I have never used a PowerPoint program.  It was all greek to me.  If I wanted to put something on the slide, it seemed like it took 3 steps, keep in mind that this was my first attempt.  My professor showed us how to hyperlink this and embed that, but I was still confused with what tab to click on just to go to the next slide!  The "UNDO" button became my best friend during this project.  I finally figured it out and had about 7 or 8 slides.  I had looked at my PowerPoint so much that every time I proofread it, I would yawn.  I agonized about my slideshow being boring but it would have to do, I had run out of time to work on it.

Then came the day to present it to my group.  With knots in my tummy, I flipped through each slide "teaching" my lesson.  To my surprise, my group really liked my PowerPoint!  All positive comments and they liked my use of humor. (mental note: don't overthink things, a joke is only the funniest the first time you hear it...)
My thoughts on this project are mixed.  I love to figure out ways to teach kids, but PowerPoint is confusing.  I realized I just need more practice with the program but my ideas on how to present lessons are pretty good!