Recently, I’ve started creating all of my own materials for the private classes I’m teaching, and in anticipation of co-creating a new language school for juniors. I have to say that I’m finding this process deeply therapeutic. Perhaps this is for some of the same reasons that have created the boom in adult coloring books, and color by number apps.
I’m really enjoying that I can develop my teaching materials to get them exactly as I’d like. I can test the resources I create with my classes, and modify them again in light of what I learn.
As someone who has always had advanced Microsoft Word skills, but intermediate Microsoft PowerPoint skills, many of my earlier creations (like mini flash cards) were made in Microsoft Word. However, I’m finding PowerPoint is a much better tool for making personalised resources because its more flexible, and it is easier to get the outcomes I want without having to hack Word to make it do things it naturally isn’t designed for.
I also find that there is a lot of hidden ‘junk’ (such as hidden characters or images) in the Word document files I’ve been creating my resources in. For these reasons, I’m moving most of the things I once designed in Microsoft Word into Microsoft PowerPoint formatted files.
If you don’t know how to use PowerPoint, there are lots of good tutorials at Lynda.com (read my review here), including specific tutorials on PowerPoint animation. Lynda.com is one of my all-time favourite tech training resources, and is free for the first month.
