We all know how busy our days get. Between lesson planning, grading, and meetings, who has time to spend hours on presentations? Good news — I’ve got a solution that’ll save you time and energy!
I’ve started recording these super short video tutorials (in Spanish) to help busy teachers like us get our work done faster. I call them “Teacher Challenges” because I want to make the process fun, simple, and rewarding.
And don’t worry, these videos are quick, clear, and even if you don’t speak Spanish fluently, you’ll find them easy to follow.
Challenge 1: Create a Google Slides Presentation with ONE Prompt
Thanks to Magic School, you can create an entire Google Slides presentation just by typing a prompt. Yep, AI does the heavy lifting — you write a few sentences, and it generates the slides for you. It’s that simple and … free!
Watch the Video
In less than 3 minutes, you’ll see how to use AI to create a presentation with no hassle. Ready to take on the challenge?
“The more strikingly visual your presentation is, the more people will remember it. And more importantly, they will remember you.”
“Don’t make a speech. Put on a show”
I am sure we have all been to a lecture where if not for the fact that we were sitting front row, we would have dozed off. And probably the content was interesting but the presenter spent the whole talk reading straight from visually unappealing slides brimming with text. I am not claiming to be an expert and probably I might also be boring when presenting, but that is on me. Surely my slides cannot be blamed as I try to make them visually appealing, adding little text and lots of visuals, sometimes even memes and gifs. I know I should be more professional, but that’s me!
Words are important, of course, and the content of a lecture essential but… can we just not make an effort and besides giving a remarkable lecture/speech dedicate some time to creating a beautiful engaging visual presentation?
There are many websites that almost do the work for you. There are interactive presentations such as the ones offered on Genial.ly, the very visual 3D templates offered by Emaze or the beautiful templates offered on Beautiful.ai
But, if you want to play safe and not rely on the internet connection spoiling your presentation you can always use a traditional PowerPoint presentation or the downloadable feature on Google Sides. I don’t use PowerPoint any more. I used to. But I find Google slides does the same job as PowerPoints and it has more attractive features.
Anyway, this post is dedicated to my dearest son, Miguel, who will have to present his final thesis to obtain his university degree in under one month. Good luck, sweetheart! I hope you ace it!
Free PowerPoint Templates
Obviously, the first thing to do would be to choose a beautiful, simple but elegant PowerPoint template. I would go for a whitish background with little decoration but with lots of different slide options. These are my favourites. All free.
I am a huge fan of PNG images and use them very often in my presentations when I need portions of the image to be transparent. I find they are very elegant.
Wouldn’t you like to be the cool teacher using your mobile as a remote to present your own slides? This is soooo easy that I don’t know why I haven’t tried it before.
Before acting cool, you will need to download two things. Don’t worry. They are free. I am the free app teacher, remember? Oh and… please bear in mind it’s only useful if you use Google Slides. I do. All the time.
In your laptop: Download the Chrome Extension “Remote for Slides” here. Make sure you click Add to Chrome.
In your mobile, download the free app Remote for slides.
Done? Now
Open your presentation on Google Slides
Click on the Present w/Remote
3. At the bottom, you will see Start Remote
. Click and your Slide ID will be displayed. It will be on display for only 2 seconds. If you want to see it again, you will have to click the Show It icon next to it.
Open the first slide on Presentation mode
Done? Open the app on your mobile, enter the code and click on Connect
That’s it”! You will see two buttons. Next Slide and Previous Slide
Yes, I know, these connectors can be quite confusing; that’s why I have created this beautiful presentation to help you clarify them . I just hope the explanation doesn’t mix you up more. And it’s also, with this mind, the reason why a quiz follows the explanation. Beautifully presented as well. 🙂
To create these two interactive activities I have used Riddle.com, which helps you create interactive content in a few minutes.
Steps to create a Riddle
• Click on the Create Button
• Choose the type of Riddle you want to make. For this post , I have created a List and a Pop Quiz, but you can also create opinion polls and surveys.
• In a Riddle you can use images, animated gifts, articles, youtube videos…etc
• You can share on facebook and twitter or get an embed code for your blog
• The best feauture? It’s free!
I highly recommend Riddle to create beautiful interactive content for your classes.
CONFUSING WORDS: LASTLY, FINALLY, EVENTUALLY, IN THE END, AT LAST
Use LASTLY or FINALLY to introduce the last point you want to make, the last action in a series of actions, or the last item in a list
Lastly, I would like to remind you that speaking Spanish is not allowed in this class.
Load the paper, select the number of copies, and lastly press ‘Print’
You add flour, salt, and finally milk.
FINALLY and EVENTUALLY
Use FINALLY or EVENTUALLY to say that something happens after a long time
Finally we managed to get the car to start.
When she eventually turned up, the food was cold.
EVENTUALLY and IN THE END
Use EVENTUALLY or IN THE END to say what the result or outcome of something was
They eventually got bored and went home.
In the end we decided to cancel the trip.
AT LAST
Use AT LAST to say that something happens after a long period of waiting or trying, when you are glad about this
It’s good to be home at last.
At last, the pizza’s here!
www.cristinacabal.com
Ready for a small quiz?
Confusing Words: Finally,In the End, Eventually, Lastly and At Last
Read the sentences and decide which of the options best fits the gap.
Source: Longman Dictionary of Common Errors
Although she had been ill for a long time, it still came as a shock when she ___ died
Eventually
At last
__, I’d like to thank everyone for coming this evening
Eventually
Finally
Thank goodness! I’ve finished my essay ____!
at last
in the end
___ the baby stopped crying and we managed to get some sleep
Finally/eventually
lastly
Do you really mean that you’ve stopped smoking ___?
at last
finally
___ Spain won by two goals to one.
in the end
at last
___, as soon as you hear a beep, press the start button
Finally
eventually
It seems more and more likely that the human race will ___ destroy itself
eventually
lastly
She showed us the new dress, then the blouse and ___ the shoes
lastly
in the end
Blog de Cristina www.cristinacabal.com
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You didn’t score as well as the experts but this means you can only get better! Practise makes perfect so just get stuck in and give it a go. You’ve got to be in it to win it!
[You can use this space to write some funny content to encourage people to share their result. You can also add in links like the one below or choose (in the Customise menu) to show a form that collects user information so you can build an email list etc.]
You know everything there is know about creating viral content! Well, almost. Great start – now it’s time to get creating fun viral content. Then you can sit back and watch people share it around the world.
[You can use this space to write some funny content to encourage people to share their result. You can also add in links like the one below or choose (in the Customise menu) to show a form that collects user information so you can build an email list etc.]
