Now that I am teaching virtually, I use PowerPoint more than ever. I don’t love it, and I’m constantly looking for ways to make it work in different and unexpected ways. I recently came across a YouTube tutorial from the Tech Train on creating a timer for PowerPoint. I created a few of them, and have been using them for when we practice contractions with various techniques, and to leave on the screen when we are having our break mid-class.
I’m including a free download of a PowerPoint here, with several different kinds of timers. The 30, 60 and 90 second timers are good for practicing contractions, and the longer ones are good for break times. All the images in this slide show are free stock photos, and the last slide has credits for where you can access them.
To use the timers, just advance to the slide containing the timer, and press the space bar to start it. The shape will gradually fill in as the time passes. You can copy the slide into your own PowerPoint, or you can have this one open in a second window and switch to it when you need it.
I hope you find this helpful!