How a Californian public school uses Teams to foster collaborative work

The use of presentation templates experienced a major boom during COVID-19 as classes moved entirely online. However, now that we have recovered from the pandemic, the use of these resources has proven to be here to stay, as they are the perfect tool to encourage classroom interaction and collaborative work.

An example of this is Casa Grande High School, located in Petaluma (California), where they have been using Slidesgo Teams in their classes for more than a year. We chatted with Pamela Kester-McNees, Spanish teacher at this school, to find out how they use Teams in their day-to-day work.

Pamela came to Slidesgo by chance, thanks to the recommendation of a student: "I heard about Slidesgo from a former student. She had volunteered to help teach one of my classes during the pandemic. All of our classes were through Zoom and her slides were really engaging. The students responded very well to them as instructional guides." That's when she contacted us and we started a pilot program to facilitate the use of Teams in her classes and get feedback from her and her students.

With Teams, students are exposed to real-world work tools while still in the classroom

Although Pamela admits that sometimes finding the template she needs is "challenging" due to the sheer number on the web and the need to print them in black and white, she acknowledges that there are a multitude of benefits to using them: "Students are exposed to real-world work tools while still in the classroom, they have the opportunity to use real-world tools in a safe and controlled environment, there are many templates to choose from. In addition, students can see the many ways (through the templates) that information can be organized to communicate with an audience." She adds, "With Slidesgo they learn to use new tools that integrate well with Google Slides and Flaticon, and they are pleased with their final product. Now they even use it in their other classes, not just mine, since the Teams account gives them access to more templates and downloads."

I will be delivering the presentations to a school and a community center in Guatemala, where there is a scarcity of reading materials

As for the practical use she makes of the templates, Pamela explains the different presentations they have created: "Books on health topics, alphabet books, books on professions, slides of the components of a country (e.g. reproduction cycles, social and family hierarchies, etc.), books with workplace tips, presentations on building a house in another country, on cocoa, and on hospitality. Moreover, these presentations will not remain only at her high school, but some will be printed in black and white for a very noble purpose: "I will be delivering them to a school and a community center in Guatemala, where there is a scarcity of reading materials. I hope to deliver them during the summer of 2023."

The process is designed to raise awareness of communication methods and the importance of details in communicating effectively

For Pamela, the most important thing is how these presentations help in her day-to-day work to foster collaborative work: "In all the projects we work on, students edit each other's work. The process is designed to raise awareness of communication methods and the importance of details in communicating effectively. Details can be the size, font, or placement of text in relation to icons, images, or other designs in the template. We talk about colors, styles, and the amount of content that should be placed on each slide," and she hopes this will help them "become better communicators, be it via a slide presentation or any other type of communication."

Slidesgo Teams is great for lesson presentations

That's why when asked if she would recommend the Teams subscription to other teachers, she says without hesitation, “Of course I would. If a teacher had the time to create it, it would be great for lesson presentations. Once students are in and have their own account, it's easy for them to use it."