Power Point and 6th Grade

This last week I got to spend some time in my friend Mandy's 6th grade class. It was a blast and made me so excited to teach. The kids were so fun and so smart it was a blast. There was one interesting experience that I will have to post later this week.
One thing Mandy did was she had taught the kids how to use Power point, and then we went to the computer lab where each of the kids got into groups. They were assigned a topic about Ancient Greece and then instructed to make their own power point presentations. At the end of the week they were to present their power point to the rest of the class and teach what they learned.
I loved the idea of having the kids create their own power points and then use them to teach each other about a specific topic. It's a great way to get the kids excited about what their learning. I had a couple of the kids who asked me questions about creating the power point, and because I am not very experienced with Power point, I couldn't help them. I felt pretty dumb.
Luckily, I learned how to use Power point in my tech class this week, and I've been playing with it in my spare time. I learned how to make the picture go to the background (maybe it sounds dumb for you, but it was an exciting moment for me), I learned how to add sounds, video clips, change what happens when you move from slide to slide, change the color of the slide, add graphs and charts, and personalize the Power point. I'm still not a pro at it, but I know a lot more about power point now than I did a week ago.
I am so excited to be able to use this for my future classes. For the younger classes I could use it as part of my teaching, and for the older classes I could start teaching them about how to use it, and have them create some power points of their own. What an amazing age we live in!