Using PowerPoint will break up the traditional method of teaching.
If you are teaching children, then using a PowerPoint presentation will be a useful visual aid to break up your usual teaching style. However, PowerPoint presentations are meant to supplement a teaching style, and not replace it. PowerPoint has the potential to both maximize and minimize the effectiveness of your teaching, and so it should be used carefully.
Pictures
Using pictures with your presentation is the best way of getting the students' attention. If you are doing a presentation on the American Civil War, pictures of the battle sites and the key players will help to keep the students engaged in the subject and will not detract from what you are saying. Use PowerPoint to engage with the emotional side of the brain, and your words with the rational side. This way, the students will able to remember what is taught to them, making learning easier.
Text
Using too much text in a PowerPoint presentation is the most common mistake. Writing out exactly what you are talking about will result in children reading what is on the slide, and not listening to you. There should be no more than six words on a PowerPoint slide, and the text should supplement what you are saying, not replace it. For example, if you have a picture of Abraham Lincoln, use text to spell out his name, and nothing more.
Colors
The use of colors in a PowerPoint presentation is crucial. Colors that clash, or are too bright, will make your presentation unattractive, which will undermine its value. Instead, choose a pastel color for the background, and place the photographs and text onto this. The more colorful your photographs, the more neutral your background should be. A pastel blue or green will work well with black and white pictures. This will serve to engage the students with the text and photographs, and not a bright background.
Videos
Use videos selectively, and only if you cannot explain an idea better. For example, if you have a video of someone doing an impression of the Gettysburg Address, think about whether this will ruin the atmosphere you are trying to create. A video will be time when you are not talking. As a rule, if you have primary footage, then it is acceptable to include it. Otherwise, don't insert a video.
