Modern Languages Blog

This is the mantra of many a teacher, and once was mine. True, you can have the bones of many a presentation sitting on your hard drive (or uploaded on the MFLE), ready to bring out once a year when the unit in your textbook dictates.

But changing the bones for every class you teach is not as much an ordeal as it sounds. In fact, it can reduce the amount of work you need to do in the course of year.

How?
Try designing presentations on vocabulary and grammar so that the bones can be used for any course, any level, any age group. The basic preparation will take no more than it would for one class. Pack that presentation with all your ideas; don’t have one class in mind necessarily. Now, as each class approaches, delete the slides that are no use, not to their taste or not for that time of day. Rearrange any others that might spice things up, and “Save as…” with a class-specific name. Don’t forget to start with the end each time and to tell a story to get your point across.

What’s the alternative? Sticking with the same thing for different classes each year is boring for you, as you attempt the same exercise for the nth time with a different but oh-so-similar bunch of students as last year. Boring for the kids, above all, as the tedium you know you hold deep down at doing the same thing as last year creeps through into every word you speak.

Find your bones in a presentation, and add the muscle by removing the fat for each class.

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