Thanks for this. Good for thought. 33 year vet here. I agree that fewer words per slide are better than more and illustration is gold. Agree as well that a veteran teacher is going to say far more about the content of a slide than what shows. That said, visuals and content are highly effective in the real world and to rip that out of a presentation is contrary to their lives experience. Kids are looking at text all day every day. It’s their language. We need to speak their language. Likewise a well designed slide deck with images and information is an act of care and excellence. It’s a resource veterans can share with other teachers to help them and for the students to use later for studying and review. Animation of the transitions is highly effective I’d argue. It is visual stimulation to get the students to consciously note “we are moving” or “next point is coming in”. Again they are trained on visual stimulus and this is a visual cue to tune back in as many may have drifted away as I went on and on about some image I had that filled the previous slide. Slides are a great tool that can be used poorly and effectively but I’d argue that well designed and graphically beautiful slides are very helpful and the human connection can still be had , especially if the teacher is walking the room and advancing the slides remotely
I just completed my 5th year teaching Science at a Private School after a 34 year career as a very successful Research Scientist at National Laboratory where I developed novel detectors for medicine and to detect SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL and NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Teachers, this HISTORY teacher is AWESOME and all of his words of wisdom are EXCELLENT!! I just wish he taught Science to be more relevent to me, but I still listen to his videos because the underlying principles are still valid that he's making!! I just SUBSCRIBED!!
I personally like to use a white background, project the slides onto by white board, then write key words or draw on them as I go through a script. I think this helps keep it physical and dynamic. I feel that it also models good notetaking and slows me down when I am talking. When I started my slides were just an info dumps of bullet points that looked like my notes from college. If I have to wait for my students to finish writing down what is on the slide after I am done talking, there is to much on it and I cut it down.
Thank you for all of your support for both students and teachers! It’s truly been a lifesaver and I know my students appreciate your hard work. I was hoping to get your input on how you build your assessments. Do you typically pull from some database or build your own questions?
I find my powerpoints are a starting spot for creating notes. they provide a structure for the students to then engage in discussion and Socratic questioning about those note. Then there are opportunities for questions, connection making, and collaboration - just give them a task based off a note, or include ACTIVITY: and literally tell them what to do. In then end, one note at a time is my mantra. Trying to get the students to understand that they need to create THEIR notes is the goal. Mine are de minimis (sp?) and insufficient.
I totally agree and I try to do just that, but I’m curious as to how you handle students who missed a day of your class when you are presenting. Do you just send them the slides knowing they won’t truly understand? Do you also have notes you send as well?
I think there can be some somewhat different variables when you are teaching students outside their native language but I like your principles in general.
That's interesting. I tend to like to have my lecture notes in slide format, and I project them so that students who have auditory issues or who are simply anxious don't have to worry about getting every point down, as they can always go back later and check the slides. But I never read off them.
I went into teaching with this mentality but had to adjust because I had a lot of students with low literacy who needed to read along with me. I eventually got them to the point where they didn't need the words anymore, but it took quite a bit of preparation for them
I was looking for advice on presentations to show my daughter. I told her to delete the text from her school project slides and leave just the titles and pictures. She said that everyone else would just read from the screen, so that's what she should do. This video is great, but in places it doesn't follow it's own advice. 5:17 is literally a slide that uses 21 words to tell you never to use more than 10 words on a slide. ;-)
How do you accomplish this with dense information (like government, which the students I am teaching have little to no background knowledge)? Also, what do you do for students that are absent? I really enjoy your content and really want to learn from you about this topic.
I agree with everything you say here. I attended a pta meeting about a month ago where the main speaker used so many words on each slide that the viewers couldn't see them. It was boring and she accidentally deleted a slide during the presentation, leaving her completely discombobulated. Hey did you finish up at Gilder-Lehrman?
As a first year teacher, who does not have the content mastery or experience to be able to pull this off, I use slideshows as a crutch for myself. I know you said this is the opposite of what it should be used for, but it’s hard not to when you’re first trying to figure out how to teach. Hopefully in a few years when I’ve retaught content several times, I will no longer need them 🤞🏽
YES, I probably should have mentioned that I weaned off slides gradually. In my first years I did the same thing. Even so, I don't think content mastery is a prerequisite for what I'm talking about. Instead of putting all the words on the slides, just throw them in the presenter's notes section and see what happens. No pressure, just a friendly nudge...
I just started teaching at university level recently and there's no preexisting materials so like others I'm partly using them a crutch. The programme started before I did, so I'm chasing my tail every day. Generally what the students see is brief, but the hidden notes are where the "main meal" is! I'm looking forward to next year, when I'll have headspace and time to incorporate these tips. Thanks for more great videos :)
As a math teacher, I have very rarely used slides of any type. It saddens me to see how many of my colleagues teaching other subjects are using this same tired delivery method every single day.
You know what I hate having on slides? A stupid list of learning targets, essential questions and standards so that if admin randomly comes in at the very beginning of class they can "check the box" that you've included that stuff. It's meaningless to the kids but yet we "have to do it".
As a student, I actually like learning objectives, Aim, and Donows. It gives me time to get to appropriate section in my notes and set up my notes accordingly (dividing, titles, and table of contents)
I watched this video during my 2nd year if teaching and it helped me rethink slides. I'm not quite down to the 5-10 words yet but bullet points. Good goal to keep in mind. th-cam.com/video/Iwpi1Lm6dFo/w-d-xo.html
Some of this is really bad advice and based on some heavily biased assumptions that disregard a myriad of other factors. In relying on the "human connection" between you and your students as the primary or seemingly only method of conveying your lesson, you are completely shutting out any learning styles that struggle with this. For example, you might have high functioning or undiagnosed autistic students in your class who can't connect with you at all, but instantly gravitate towards the text on your slide. You might have students who don't connect to you because you simplt have clashing personalities, and they will possibly do far better if they have a method of ignoring you but not the material. You can't make them all love you, and you shouldn't be trying. You might also have students who benefit from multiple modalities, such as students who excel at multiple learning styles, or students with learning disabilities, who could benefit greatly from reading information while also listening to a teacher. Your logic is incredibly spurious that somehow creating a self-contained slideshow will somehow diminish or destroy the "human connection" you are trying to make with students. If a teacher's ability to connect with their students is so weak that some bulletted notes on a slideshow disables it, the problem isn't the slideshow, it's the teacher. Being able to provide absent students with the material they missed is such a time saver, it would be worth doing even if it crippled your ability to make a "human connection". Self-contained slideshows can also be an invaluable resource you can share with other teachers in your department, or with whatever sub covers you when you're absent. Seems to me like there are a lot more reasons to make self-contained slideshows than to do it your way. It's ironic how you claim to focus on your students with this advice yet it seems your method is just as much about you as the techniques you're criticizing. You seem to want to make a "human connection" with your students far more than you're actually concerned about their learning. Wanting to be the center of attention is fine, but you shouldn't let it blind you.
I remember having teachers like you. Thought they were the smartest person in the room, and maybe they were, but could not make a human connection to save their life. Even though they were well prepared and knew their material inside and out, they could not make their subject come alive. So boring to hear them drone on day after day. Mr Heimler is right, teaching is about connecting with your audience. Teaching history especially is about telling stories and connecting the material to the students lives. You’re so worried about the one kid who “might” have a learning disability, that you fail to connect with the 35 who don’t. The fact that you would watch the entire video and then spend another ten minutes ripping it to shreds tells me all I know to about you. Keep on doing what you do Heimler, I would much rather have you as my teacher than this angry old crone.
@@fairkid Spoken like someone who knows nothing about education and has never stood in front of a classroom. Part of any teacher's mandate is to try to reach as many learners in front of them as they can and to ignore that is unconscionable. Also, if you think every classroom only has one learning disabled student in it, you are deeply misguided. I have had AP classes where almost the entire class had some kind of learning issue including students reading on a fifth grade level. I easily end up with about half a dozen to a dozen students in each of my classes with learning disabilities. You also completely misread my post if you think I'm actually advocating against connecting with one's students.
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Thanks for this. Good for thought. 33 year vet here. I agree that fewer words per slide are better than more and illustration is gold. Agree as well that a veteran teacher is going to say far more about the content of a slide than what shows.
That said, visuals and content are highly effective in the real world and to rip that out of a presentation is contrary to their lives experience. Kids are looking at text all day every day. It’s their language. We need to speak their language.
Likewise a well designed slide deck with images and information is an act of care and excellence. It’s a resource veterans can share with other teachers to help them and for the students to use later for studying and review.
Animation of the transitions is highly effective I’d argue. It is visual stimulation to get the students to consciously note “we are moving” or “next point is coming in”. Again they are trained on visual stimulus and this is a visual cue to tune back in as many may have drifted away as I went on and on about some image I had that filled the previous slide.
Slides are a great tool that can be used poorly and effectively but I’d argue that well designed and graphically beautiful slides are very helpful and the human connection can still be had , especially if the teacher is walking the room and advancing the slides remotely
I just completed my 5th year teaching Science at a Private School after a 34 year career as a very successful Research Scientist at National Laboratory where I developed novel detectors for medicine and to detect SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL and NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
Teachers, this HISTORY teacher is AWESOME and all of his words of wisdom are EXCELLENT!! I just wish he taught Science to be more relevent to me, but I still listen to his videos because the underlying principles are still valid that he's making!!
I just SUBSCRIBED!!
I personally like to use a white background, project the slides onto by white board, then write key words or draw on them as I go through a script. I think this helps keep it physical and dynamic. I feel that it also models good notetaking and slows me down when I am talking. When I started my slides were just an info dumps of bullet points that looked like my notes from college. If I have to wait for my students to finish writing down what is on the slide after I am done talking, there is to much on it and I cut it down.
Thank you for all of your support for both students and teachers! It’s truly been a lifesaver and I know my students appreciate your hard work.
I was hoping to get your input on how you build your assessments. Do you typically pull from some database or build your own questions?
I find my powerpoints are a starting spot for creating notes. they provide a structure for the students to then engage in discussion and Socratic questioning about those note. Then there are opportunities for questions, connection making, and collaboration - just give them a task based off a note, or include ACTIVITY: and literally tell them what to do. In then end, one note at a time is my mantra. Trying to get the students to understand that they need to create THEIR notes is the goal. Mine are de minimis (sp?) and insufficient.
I totally agree and I try to do just that, but I’m curious as to how you handle students who missed a day of your class when you are presenting. Do you just send them the slides knowing they won’t truly understand? Do you also have notes you send as well?
I'm also interested in this!
I think there can be some somewhat different variables when you are teaching students outside their native language but I like your principles in general.
That's interesting. I tend to like to have my lecture notes in slide format, and I project them so that students who have auditory issues or who are simply anxious don't have to worry about getting every point down, as they can always go back later and check the slides. But I never read off them.
I went into teaching with this mentality but had to adjust because I had a lot of students with low literacy who needed to read along with me.
I eventually got them to the point where they didn't need the words anymore, but it took quite a bit of preparation for them
I was looking for advice on presentations to show my daughter. I told her to delete the text from her school project slides and leave just the titles and pictures. She said that everyone else would just read from the screen, so that's what she should do.
This video is great, but in places it doesn't follow it's own advice. 5:17 is literally a slide that uses 21 words to tell you never to use more than 10 words on a slide. ;-)
Based on this style of teaching do you spend time teaching your students on how to take notes?
How do you accomplish this with dense information (like government, which the students I am teaching have little to no background knowledge)? Also, what do you do for students that are absent? I really enjoy your content and really want to learn from you about this topic.
I agree with everything you say here. I attended a pta meeting about a month ago where the main speaker used so many words on each slide that the viewers couldn't see them. It was boring and she accidentally deleted a slide during the presentation, leaving her completely discombobulated. Hey did you finish up at Gilder-Lehrman?
Love this philosphy!
As a first year teacher, who does not have the content mastery or experience to be able to pull this off, I use slideshows as a crutch for myself. I know you said this is the opposite of what it should be used for, but it’s hard not to when you’re first trying to figure out how to teach. Hopefully in a few years when I’ve retaught content several times, I will no longer need them 🤞🏽
YES, I probably should have mentioned that I weaned off slides gradually. In my first years I did the same thing. Even so, I don't think content mastery is a prerequisite for what I'm talking about. Instead of putting all the words on the slides, just throw them in the presenter's notes section and see what happens. No pressure, just a friendly nudge...
I just started teaching at university level recently and there's no preexisting materials so like others I'm partly using them a crutch. The programme started before I did, so I'm chasing my tail every day. Generally what the students see is brief, but the hidden notes are where the "main meal" is! I'm looking forward to next year, when I'll have headspace and time to incorporate these tips. Thanks for more great videos :)
This is sooooo true thank you for confirming
Slides can be great for maps or diagrams
As a math teacher, I have very rarely used slides of any type. It saddens me to see how many of my colleagues teaching other subjects are using this same tired delivery method every single day.
You know what I hate having on slides? A stupid list of learning targets, essential questions and standards so that if admin randomly comes in at the very beginning of class they can "check the box" that you've included that stuff. It's meaningless to the kids but yet we "have to do it".
As a student, I actually like learning objectives, Aim, and Donows.
It gives me time to get to appropriate section in my notes and set up my notes accordingly (dividing, titles, and table of contents)
Found the mindless administrator pretending to be a kid.
I watched this video during my 2nd year if teaching and it helped me rethink slides. I'm not quite down to the 5-10 words yet but bullet points. Good goal to keep in mind. th-cam.com/video/Iwpi1Lm6dFo/w-d-xo.html
Hello
I hate PowerPoint classes at university, they are so boring and demotivating. I prefer traditional classes
PowerPoint is often PowerPointless.
Some of this is really bad advice and based on some heavily biased assumptions that disregard a myriad of other factors.
In relying on the "human connection" between you and your students as the primary or seemingly only method of conveying your lesson, you are completely shutting out any learning styles that struggle with this.
For example, you might have high functioning or undiagnosed autistic students in your class who can't connect with you at all, but instantly gravitate towards the text on your slide. You might have students who don't connect to you because you simplt have clashing personalities, and they will possibly do far better if they have a method of ignoring you but not the material. You can't make them all love you, and you shouldn't be trying.
You might also have students who benefit from multiple modalities, such as students who excel at multiple learning styles, or students with learning disabilities, who could benefit greatly from reading information while also listening to a teacher.
Your logic is incredibly spurious that somehow creating a self-contained slideshow will somehow diminish or destroy the "human connection" you are trying to make with students. If a teacher's ability to connect with their students is so weak that some bulletted notes on a slideshow disables it, the problem isn't the slideshow, it's the teacher.
Being able to provide absent students with the material they missed is such a time saver, it would be worth doing even if it crippled your ability to make a "human connection".
Self-contained slideshows can also be an invaluable resource you can share with other teachers in your department, or with whatever sub covers you when you're absent.
Seems to me like there are a lot more reasons to make self-contained slideshows than to do it your way.
It's ironic how you claim to focus on your students with this advice yet it seems your method is just as much about you as the techniques you're criticizing. You seem to want to make a "human connection" with your students far more than you're actually concerned about their learning.
Wanting to be the center of attention is fine, but you shouldn't let it blind you.
I remember having teachers like you. Thought they were the smartest person in the room, and maybe they were, but could not make a human connection to save their life. Even though they were well prepared and knew their material inside and out, they could not make their subject come alive. So boring to hear them drone on day after day. Mr Heimler is right, teaching is about connecting with your audience. Teaching history especially is about telling stories and connecting the material to the students lives. You’re so worried about the one kid who “might” have a learning disability, that you fail to connect with the 35 who don’t. The fact that you would watch the entire video and then spend another ten minutes ripping it to shreds tells me all I know to about you. Keep on doing what you do Heimler, I would much rather have you as my teacher than this angry old crone.
@@fairkid
Spoken like someone who knows nothing about education and has never stood in front of a classroom.
Part of any teacher's mandate is to try to reach as many learners in front of them as they can and to ignore that is unconscionable.
Also, if you think every classroom only has one learning disabled student in it, you are deeply misguided. I have had AP classes where almost the entire class had some kind of learning issue including students reading on a fifth grade level. I easily end up with about half a dozen to a dozen students in each of my classes with learning disabilities.
You also completely misread my post if you think I'm actually advocating against connecting with one's students.