Are you looking for the best way to use the resources within the AES system?

Teachers are often unsure how they can use the teacher PowerPoints associated with many of the Learn & Practice eLearning lessons.

You want to help your students learn and retain key information, and these PowerPoints are one piece to help make that happen.

However, when used incorrectly, they can actually create confusion and misunderstandings among your students.

In this article, you’ll discover why you should use the teacher presentations, tips on how to best use them, and things to avoid.

The teacher PowerPoints were created as a tool for you to engage with your students in a different way about the topics in the modules.

You can opt to skip the presentations and have students go directly into the online lessons for the unit.

However, if you want to increase student understanding and retention of information, the PowerPoints will help make that happen.

After all, the more times your students encounter information, the more likely they are to retain it in the long term!

While we want you to be creative in how you use the AES curriculum resources with your students, we have a few tips to help you best leverage the PowerPoints:

Nearly every unit within the AES curriculum modules has an associated PowerPoint, unless otherwise noted.

These presentations highlight the most important content within the student-directed eLearning lessons.

Because of this, the primary way we suggest you use the PowerPoints is to introduce students to the topic prior to them beginning the online lessons.

Some teachers present all of the module PowerPoints upfront, while others break them up to act as transitions between each unit or lesson.

No matter how you break things down, starting off each new topic with an introductory presentation provides repetition of material, which will help with your students’ long-term information retention.

Many of the teacher presentations include tips and discussion questions in the Speaker Notes section.

These speaker notes are designed to help you better connect with your students and encourage more effective classroom discussions about the topics.

If you don’t refer to the speaker notes, you may feel some of the context is missing from the presentations or have a more difficult time keeping your students engaged in the conversation.

That’s why we recommend reviewing the Speaker Notes section prior to presenting the information to your students.

The AES teacher presentations are just a starting point for you to work from. Once you download the PowerPoint file, you can tailor it to fit your needs.

Many teachers add, change, or remove information based on their unique classes and what else they will be covering in relation to the module topic.

Some teachers mix it up and use the presentations as a way to flip their classroom and assign the “lecture” as homework.

To accomplish this, you would record yourself narrating the presentation. Then, you can share the recording with your students to watch prior to the next class period.

This technique allows you to get more focused class time for students to work independently in the online lessons. In addition, you’ll be able to more effectively help students who struggle with the material.

Flipping your classroom in this way can also be beneficial for teaching remotely in a distance learning situation.

Note: This method is best used when there are little to no challenges with students having access to technology outside of the classroom.

Along with the recommendations on how to best use the teacher presentations, there are two common mistakes teachers often make:

We would never recommend sharing the teacher PowerPoints with your students with no additional instruction or guidance.

Your passion and knowledge of the topic are one of the best learning resources your students have. Your students need to connect with you to best absorb information.

So if you simply assign them to review the presentations on their own, they’ll be missing out on that much-needed connection and context you provide.

We highly advise that you not use the teacher presentations as a replacement for the online lessons.

The digital lessons dig deeper into the content than the introductory presentations.

They include stories, examples, interactive activities, formative assessment questions, and student worksheets in order to support student comprehension.

If you solely rely on the teacher PowerPoints to deliver information to your students, they will be robbed of the full experience of what the module includes.

Now that you have a better idea on how to best use the teacher presentations in your classes, you’re one step closer to better student comprehension and retention of information.

However, these PowerPoints are just one small piece of the AES curriculum.

In order to have the most success in using your AES curriculum system, it’s important to embrace the four-phase AES course framework.

This framework is designed to maximize student understanding while also saving you time with planning.

The curriculum is taught with a combination of lectures, hands-on activities, and computer-based learning.

Learn more about the four-phase curriculum and discover seven tips on how you can implement it by clicking below: