Hello fellow teachers!
Picture it: You just spent hours creating the perfect activity in Google Slides. It aligns exactly with your standards, your learning targets, and your students are excited and engaged…
But then the chaos begins. Students start struggling with technical issues like not knowing where to click, elements moving unexpectedly, and issues with the overall appearance. Have you ever heard "Where do I type?" or "Why did this box disappear?"
I'm sure this sounds familiar. We all experience it. Don't worry though, I’ve got the solution that's guaranteed to save you your time and your sanity. As soon as I learned this, it freed up a ton of time and eliminated so much frustration.
Let's dive into how the Google Slides Theme Builder can help streamline your teaching and eliminate those technical hurdles! Specifically: Static Backgrounds!
STATIC BACKGROUNDS.
Nothing is worse than knowing an activity is going to help the kids but they get stuck because of technical issues! (It's happened to all of us during an observation at one point or another)
Having a static (non-moveable) background on a Google Slides activity is helpful for the students so they know what should be clickable and what shouldn’t. This can be beneficial for lower elementary students that are just learning how to use a computer, or even for complicated high school math equations that require specific placement and organization. If a student moves the background, it can confuse them about the current problem, and they may not know how to fix it. Stressful.
When the background is static, you can ensure students are only able to manipulate specific objects in the activity, text boxes, drag and drop, etc. They'll focus more on the actual problem and skill being practiced, rather than trying to fix technical problems with the activity.
To facilitate this, you can add premade worksheets, documents, or visuals as the background that can’t move! Then add text boxes or drag-and-drop elements that can move and be manipulated. Easy for the students, easier for you!
HOW DO I DO IT?
I use Google Slides for 99% of my digital activities. It's the easiest to manage and it syncs so well with most Learning Management Systems (I use Schoology!). Within Google Slides, there's a magical feature called the Theme Builder! This allows you to create your own themes in order to customize your slides and save time! Using the theme builder, you can change the font for your entire presentation, make elements stay in one spot, and create cohesion in a Slides deck.
WHAT IS THE THEME BUILDER?
The Theme Builder function in Google Slides acts as a “master slide” that can provide you with a template for future slides. You can customize and adjust the “master slides” by changing all of the backgrounds, placeholder content, fonts, colors, etc. The theme builder essentially helps you create a base slide or template for the new slides you make in your Slides deck!
HOW DO I ACCESS THE THEME BUILDER?
To access the theme builder in Google Slides, navigate to the Toolbar in Slides and click the View option. Then click on Theme Builder.
This will open up the “master slides” for you to adjust and customize as needed. From here you can manipulate and customize different slides to meet your needs. From here you can add or delete slides.
SO HOW WILL THIS HELP?
By creating a static background, you can ensure that the students won’t move anything that shouldn’t be moved. Here are some examples where this will come in handy:
Digital worksheets
Drag and drop activities
Labeling a diagram
Inserting a .gif example
Digital crossword and word search
Inserting text into a comic
Teaching specific Slides content
Any time you want the students to focus more on the content and skill, rather than fixing the technology, a static background will come in handy.
HOW DO I MAKE A STATIC BACKGROUND?
The easiest way is to add a background from a picture you have saved to your computer, Drive, or from a Google search. After opening Theme Builder, select the slide you want to customize. Then from the Toolbar, select Background. You can choose any color, or upload and select a photo.
After that photo or color has been inserted, that type of slide will always have that picture or color on it! It really is that easy!
BUT WHAT IF I WANT TO MAKE A DIGITAL ACTIVITY?
What is so cool about the theme builder is that anything you create will remain unmoveable, unless you enter back into the Theme Builder.
This means that you can make tables to drag and drop items, and the students can’t move the tables! They can only move the items!
This means that you can add a .gif example of a math problem, and it will always be there! The students can’t delete it!
This means that you can even write directions on a page and the students can’t say they don’t know what to do because they “accidentally” deleted the directions.
OTHER COOL THEME BUILDER FEATURES.
Another really neat feature for the theme builder is adding placeholder text boxes. You can add a text box that won’t remain static, it will just say “Click to add text” when the students receive the activity. This is so useful so that students can easily see where they are supposed to type! And it saves you a step so you don’t have to write “TYPE HERE” in the box!
You are also able to change the default font for a Slide deck in the theme builder! That very top slide is a default slide. Anything you put on that top slide will show up on every single slide in the deck. So if you change the font for that slide, it will adjust the font for the whole deck. Even the slides you already made!
THEME BUILDER IS A GAME CHANGER.
Ever since I started utilizing the theme builder features I found that I didn’t have to troubleshoot students’ tech mistakes in the middle of a lesson! Especially if I already taught them how to make a new text box! My lessons became more about asking questions about the content and objectives, rather than how to fix the activity. Try it out!
CLASS DISMISSED
In conclusion, the Google Slides Theme Builder is a game-changer for teachers looking to streamline their digital activities and eliminate technical issues.
By creating static backgrounds using the Theme Builder, teachers can ensure that students can focus on the content and skills being taught, without getting stuck with moving elements or technical glitches.
This is particularly helpful for lower elementary students who are just learning to use computers, as well as for more complex activities like high school math equations that require precise placement. The Theme Builder allows teachers to create a base slide or template for their activities, making it easy to customize and adjust backgrounds, fonts, colors, and other elements. Teachers can also add placeholder text boxes, change default fonts, and create tables or insert images that remain unmovable by students.
This not only saves time but also ensures that students can engage with the activities without unintentionally modifying the content.
Overall, utilizing the Google Slides Theme Builder with static backgrounds can significantly enhance the teaching experience by simplifying technical aspects and allowing teachers to focus on delivering effective instruction!
Give it a try and enjoy smoother and more engaging digital lessons!
Kommentare