My Favorite New Toy!

I have a confession to make......

......when I use a PowerPoint presentation in my classroom, I love to use a lot of animations.....

Okay, I have said it!

I recently got a feedback from one of my buyers suggesting that I remove all of the animations from my PowerPoint presentations.  He wanted all the items on a slide to be visible at one time.  But I couldn't disagree more!  I only want my students to see what I want them to see at any given point in my lesson.  I do not include a lot of moving parts (as you see here), but I do limit the amount of information the student can see.  As I am teaching, I want the student to focus ONLY on what I am currently teaching.  When it is time to move one, then a few clicks gets the students to the next point in my lesson.  This prevents the student from simply copying from the PowerPoint without listening to the explanation.  If the student can only see one sentence at a time, then that is all they can copy!  I get to determine when they should write more information in their notes.

So, now I am getting to the point of this blog post.  I, too, was a prisoner to my computer.  I like to walk around and pace while I am teaching.  This is hard to do if you have to constantly click from your computer keyboard to get to the next PowerPoint slide.

The solution?  Buy a clicker!  I recently bought the  

"Kensington 33374 Wireless Presenter with Laser Pointer" to use with my computer.  It has changed my life!  I cannot say enough good things about this product!  It is so simple to use.  Simply insert the receiver into a USB port on your computer and you are ready to go.  Not only can you click through your PowerPoint with ease, but it also has a laser pointer that can be used to direct your student's attention to a particular part of a slide.  The receiver is inserted at the base of the unit for easy storage.

The cost was around $40, but it may be the best money I have ever spent.

Don't Forget the Fungi!

My favorite biology joke:  What did the pepperoni say to the mushroom on the pizza?


Answer:  You're a Fun-Guy!  

My unit on the fungi is one of my favorite units to teach.  Most of the students in my biology class have never had any instruction about the Kingdom Fungi before they reach my class.  They are amazed to learn that outside of the animal kingdom, the fungi are our closest relatives!  The fungi have some amazing characteristics!  We depend on them as decomposers.  Life might cease to exist on Earth if it were not for the fungi breaking down and decomposing dead organisms and returning the chemical elements they possess to the ecosystem to be used in new organisms.

Click picture.

Simply put, there is more to the fungi than just that green mold that invades our pantries and refrigerators!  I have just posted my new "Fungi PowerPoint with Notes for Teacher and Student" to my TpT store.  This product is a 56 slide PowerPoint on the Fungi.  It is accompanied by a set of notes for the teacher, and a notes outline for the student.  Students will fill in their outline as the lesson is being presented.

Topics covered are:

1.   What are the fungi?

2.   Characteristics of fungi.

3.   Fungi are heterotrophs.

4.   Methods of food getting in the fungi.

5.   What environment do they prefer?

6.   The structure of fungi:  hyphae, mycelium, fruiting bodies, spores, rhizoids, stolons.

7.   Label the structures of a typical bread mold.

8.   Reproduction in fungi:  fragmentation, budding, spores production, asexual, and sexual reproduction.

9.   Kinds of fungi:  The four phyla are named and examples given for each phylum.

10.  Life cycle of the common bread mold.

11.  Phylum Zygomycota

12.  Phylum Ascomycota

13.  Phylum Basidiomycota

14.  Phylum Deuteromycota

15.  The Ecology of the Fungi: saprophytes, parasites, decomposition.

16.  Symbiotic relationships of fungi:  mutualism, commensalism, parasitism.

17.  Lichens and Mycorrhizae

I am also just about finished with a new FREE product on this topic, so stayed tuned for that.  I will add it to the list of freebies at the top left of my blog as soon as possible.

Happy Teaching!