Issue 44 • October 1, 2025

Next month I present 7 sessions at the Georgia Education Technology Conference in Atlanta. This is the conference where I debut new topics each year. My new presentations for 2025 incorporate prompting custom AI chatbots, 3D printing, and vibe coding. I’ll be working on these presentation over the next few weeks. I always want to come prepared with lots of examples and real-life uses.

Six or Seven 🫴

Vibe coding is when you describe what you want a program to do and let AI write the code. You don’t need to be a coding expert. The key skill is clearly describing your idea to the chatbot.

Since “6-7” is such a phenomenon in schools, I set out to code an online math game where every answer is 6 or 7. I explained the idea to ChatGPT, answered its questions, and after several iterations, we landed on a final version.

Try Six or Seven! It works on laptops, tablets, and phones. Players decide if each falling expression equals 6 or 7, with four modes suited for Grades 3–8.

The game works well as a choice board activity, warm-up, station rotation, or early finisher option. It even tracks high scores. If you have a 3D printer, you could print a 6-7 pencil topper as a prize.

And maybe, just maybe, bringing “6-7” into a lesson will make blurting it out at the wrong time less appealing. 😉

Element Exploration 🕵

Consistent graphics make designs look more professional. I try to stick with elements that share the same colors, stroke weight, and overall style.

In Canva, open the Elements panel on the left. When you hover over a thumbnail, three dots appear in the top-right corner. Click those dots and choose View more by [creator] to see matching graphics from the same artist. This helps keep line weight and style consistent.

From that same menu, you can also click See more like this or View collection to pull up similar elements in the same style. It is a quick way to build a cohesive set.

When you click an element on the canvas, Canva often shows a Magic Recommendations strip in the Elements panel with similar options you can swap in. Browsing that strip is another fast path to a consistent look.

When you find keepers, click the Star. Starred items are easy to reuse across projects, so your slides and printables keep the same visual style.

Page Partitioning 🔲

Despite my love for Canva, I usually reach for Google Slides when making printables and graphics. I think it’s because I like to start from scratch and build my own layouts. Plus, Google Slides gives me better control over adding and adjusting shapes. After all, I’m the Shapegrams guy.

One format I design often is the quarter-page handout, where four copies fit on a single sheet that I print and cut apart. I did this recently for an exit ticket. Here’s the workflow I used:

1. Create a new Google Slides file, then go to File → Page Setup and set a custom size of 11 x 8.5 inches.

2. Delete any placeholder text from the slide.

3. Draw a small rectangle (the exact size doesn’t matter).

4. Duplicate the rectangle three times, then arrange the four rectangles into a 2 × 2 grid with the edges touching.

5. Select all four rectangles as a group and move them to the top-left corner of the slide.

6. Drag the side handle of the group to the right edge of the slide.

7. Drag the bottom handle of the group to the bottom of the slide.

Now the page is evenly divided into four sections.

I also use this method to divide a page vertically or horizontally when making table tents.

This technique isn’t limited to Google Slides. I use it in Canva and PowerPoint too. In PowerPoint, the key is to group the rectangles before resizing. No matter which tool you choose, it is a quick way to make shapes that are the same size and together fill the page or slide exactly as needed, whether for print or digital projects.

Transparent Trick 📲

On iPhone and iPad, you can quickly save an image without its background. Press and hold on the subject of the image, choose Share, then Save Image. The picture is saved to your Photos app as a PNG with a transparent background.

This feature works on most recent devices running iOS 16 or later.

Slide Smarts 🧠

Gamma affiliate link helps support this newsletter

Teachers often ask me about AI tools that can make presentations. If you have ever searched for an AI slideshow generator for teachers, you know there are lots of options. The one I want to focus on is Gamma, but first let’s look at a few others educators often use.

• Canva: The Canva AI presentation maker is especially popular with teachers because it is built right into the Canva dashboard. Canva AI will generate a slideshow with layouts, text, and images you can edit right away. Since many schools already use Canva, this option makes it easy to create a stylish deck without starting from scratch.

• Brisk Teaching: A Chrome extension that instantly builds a Google Slides presentation from the page you are viewing.

• Prezi: Instead of linear slides, Prezi AI generates a zoomable presentation on an open canvas.

• PowerPoint: Microsoft Copilot designs presentations from your prompt and can pull content from your files.

• NotebookLM: Add sources and NotebookLM produces a narrated video overview, which is more of a video slideshow than a slide deck.

Out of all of these, Gamma often produces the most polished results.

Why Teachers Like Gamma

Gamma makes creating a presentation quick and easy. You can:

• Upload a PDF and let Gamma turn it into slides.

• Describe your presentation topic, and Gamma will generate an outline you can edit before it creates the full slideshow.

It is fun to watch the AI generator type out slides. Once the deck is ready, the Gamma editor lets you tweak text, adjust layouts, and replace visuals. Since AI images can miss the mark, I appreciate how simple it is to swap in icons, illustrations, and photos.

Gamma also gives you flexible ways to share and use your work:

• Invite collaborators

• Share with a web link or embed code

• Export as PDF, PowerPoint, Google Slides, or PNG images

More Than Slides

Gamma can also create webpages, documents, and social media posts.

Pricing and Credits

• Signing up for Gamma gives you 400 free credits. A typical AI presentation uses about 40 credits.

• With Gamma Plus ($8/month or $96/year) you get unlimited AI presentations and up to 20 slides per deck.

Final Thoughts

I do not rely on AI to design my own presentations and keynotes. My style is big text, simple visuals, and slides that act as visual aids rather than complete handouts. Making my own slides helps me think through a topic and refine my ideas. My presentations would not be as strong if I let AI generate them.

That said, Gamma is one of the best slideshow generators for teachers who need a quick deck, a starting point, or a spark of inspiration. For fresh ideas, Gamma is worth a try. And if you like it, upgrading to Gamma Plus is reasonably priced.

Want to see Gamma in action? I imported the article above into Gamma, and it generated this document that you can view as a presentation. While you are in presentation mode, try the Spotlight feature. It is a simple way to focus students’ attention on key content.

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I’ll be back in two weeks with more tools, tips, and resources to share.

Smiles from Iowa,

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AI gave me a hand with brainstorming, drafting, and polishing this issue. Of course, I reviewed and adjusted everything before sharing it with you.