Recently we observed veteran teacher, education adviser, and author Mary Myatt on Twitter talking with a colleague about how she uses Haiku Deck in teaching lessons and planning. Given her success as an author, TEDx presenter, teacher, and education consultant, we were inspired to learn more about her work and share her unique experience using Haiku Deck in her work.
Mary works in schools across the United Kingdom, talking to students, teachers and leaders about learning, leadership and the curriculum. With over 20 years of experience, she has taught religious education, English, Latin and Greek in secondary schools. She has also done work to support school improvement and curriculum development for local districts, dioceses and others.
Guest Q&A
What inspired you to start using Haiku Deck?
I noticed a presentation on Twitter and was struck by the quality of the images. I saw it was by Haiku Deck, downloaded and got going. It is a complete counterpoint to the heavy handed, clunky, cumbersome alternatives. It transformed my presentations, not only in terms of aesthetics but also in terms of the clarity of my thinking.
What is your approach for using Haiku Deck with Lesson Planning?
I use Haiku Deck for conveying the main concepts in my keynotes, presentations and seminars. I find that linking the key words and concepts to an image does two things: it helps me to clarify my thinking and it gives my audience a powerful hook that links to the main ideas. The pictures and images produce a stimulus for discussion and as a result I have an insight into their points of view and can adjust my talk accordingly.
(here’s an example of one of Mary’s Haiku Decks)
Copy of Gathering evidence – Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires;
What are some other ways you think teachers could benefit from using Haiku Deck in the classroom?
Providing images which link to the key concepts to be taught provides high challenge and low threat for students. It is high challenge, because they have to make the links between an image and an idea; it is also low threat because all responses are legitimate. This means that teachers have an insight into their students’ thinking. There has been some interesting work developed by The National Gallery in London on ‘Take One Picture.’
Your book focuses on lessons school management teams can learn from leaders in other sectors. Can you share some of the key ideas from your research that would be helpful to the educators who use Haiku Deck in their schools?
I’ve written extensively about a few ideas on my blog. Some relevant posts include, Focusing on the essentials, High challenge, low threat, and On trust.
You mentioned that you used Haiku Deck TEDx Norwich in March 2016. What did you do to prepare for that talk? What kind of feedback did you get from members of the audience afterwards?
I distilled my ideas down to the key points I wanted to convey. I decided not to use any text, and talked just to the images. I edited my ideas down to the key essentials and Haiku Deck helped me to do this. Some feedback from my talk is captured on Storify.
Thank you, Mary for sharing your experience with us! If you’d like to view Mary’s inspiring TEDx Norwich Talk, click below. Also, follow Mary Myatt on Twitter and visit her web site to learn more about her work. To view more of Mary’s Haiku Decks, visit her Haiku Deck user profile page.