Like many teachers, I use PowerPoint to guide the lesson. I like that I can have all the images, videos, quotes, essential questions, class activities, etc. in one place for the lesson. Lately, I have been thinking more about student engagement during class. I’ve come up with a simple way to verify that students will be engaged. I use a distinct color such as dark blue in the PowerPoint to indicate all the student activities such as questions to be answered, small group discussions, and comparison charts to be done. Before I teach a lesson, Iscan my PowerPoint slides to see how often I am engaging the students- I simply look for the dark blue text. Since I’ve begun doing this, I find myself wondering how I could be talking/showing for so long without students being asked to think through the topic. I find myself adding more opportunities for students to become engaged with the material.
Go dark blue and see what happens in your class.
My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Students, is available through Eye-on-Education.
Education with Technology Harry G. Tuttle 
