Why I have flipped for flipcharts.... In the 13 years that I have been teaching, I have made the transition through:
- chalkboards
- overhead transparencies
- PowerPoints w/ a projector
to finally....... Promethean Boards.
Yes, you can still use your Word documents and PowerPoints and project them onto the board - with no additional work. But with a few extra clicks - one time, you can be on your way to what I have found to be the most organized, flexible and time-saving lessons that I have ever had.
WARNING: What I am about to discuss is for everyone - If you can send an email with an attachment, you can do this! (we will save the complex, interactive fun for later)
Before we get to the "how" let's talk about the "why"....
My Top Six Reasons to Flipchart ..... Daily:
6. Easily Print Notes for ABS and IEP students - Need a list of activities and notes from today's lesson? If you have it all on the flipchart, just hit print.
5. Sub planning is a breeze - Take the activities/slides you want the sub to do, put them in a separate chart, type or speak directions for the students to receive on each slide, snip a seating chart to the front and you are done. Send the file to a neighbor teacher to pull up for your substitute in the morning or leave it on a jump drive. Print a copy just in case. No reinventing the wheel and your class stays on track.
4. Bellringers / Objectives - Get the students working right away with a bellringer and/or state your objective. Put yesterday's exit slip results up. Elementary teachers: there are great morning routine ideas out there for date and weather reporting.
3. Keep the whole class on track - Easily avoid the "What page are we on?" by having it posted on a slide. I either have a picture of the worksheet or a picture of the textbook on the board with the page number. It makes for a quicker transition and less interruptions. Also, quicker transitions have not only saved instructional time, but have made classroom management much easier.
2. Easily adjustable plans - Didn't get to all of the activities you wanted to yesterday because of the fire drill? No problem, copy and paste the missed slides/activites into tomorrow's lesson. Need to go over something again? Flashback to an old slide with a click of a button. Want to change something for next year? Leave yourself a note on the slide.
1. Only open 1 File - Before Flipcharts, in any given class, I would have the following open:
- My lesson plan
- My PowerPoint
- PDFs of our worksheets
- Word Doc template of the notes
- One or more Websites
- Media Player for sound and/or video
Not only is this an organizational nightmare (especially when you have several preps), but this is also very time consuming. Now all of the above are in one file.
Want to see if Daily Flipcharting is for you?
Try one or more of the following:
a. Start with a Welcome/Bellringer slide.
b. Put each activity for that lesson on subsequent slides
(no need to be fancy - just functional)
c. Have notes?
- Use the snipping tool to copy and paste from Word
- Import a PDF (File - Import)
- Import a PowerPoint (File - Import)
d. Have a file or website you want to use?
- Insert a link (Insert - Link)
e. Want to play a video or sound clip?
- Insert a link or embed the media
(Insert-Link or Insert-Media)
f. Need to leave yourself a note about how to do an activity?
- click CTRL B and then the Notepad - type or copy/paste your instructional notes there
g. Want to record oral instructions?
- Use the sound recorder tool (CTRL SHIFT R)
- Copy and paste it into a slide at the beginning or end of your Flipchart
Now lastly - ENJOY the ease of opening one file at the beginning of class.
See your TechCoach for assistance in putting all of your lesson's activities into one user-friendly file. Start with just one, to see if it's for you.
jtamburlin@smasd.org
avollmer@smasd.org
acatalone@smasd.org
*Don't forget to share your thoughts and questions below. Leave a comment.*
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