News from The Pit:
Participation Edition
Do You Have a Particpation Problem?
- Only a few students raise their hands?
- The same students participate over and over?
- Students read new material at home but you can't tell what they understood?
- "Cricket" moments in class?
Three Tools (and your librarian)
Get A Kahoot!
It uses two devices: the teacher's device launches the game and the student's device enters and plays the game. This is a "live" tool - not one to share with students for use at home.
Best Uses:
- ask questions that have a clear answer to review facts
- create a survey to gather and share student opinions
- activate thinking about last night's homework
- use as an "exit ticket" to check for understanding of the lesson
Words to the Wise:
- speed is part of the game, so winners are ranked based on how quickly they answer
- there are quizzes already created, so check those before making your own
- remember that you "launch" the game, then project the game pin for students; they go to a separate link to join the game (kahoot.it)
Today's Meet
Use this to give everyone in your class a voice. Create a "chat" room, project it on the screen, and start asking questions. Students join the chat and answer on their phone or laptop. They can see each other's responses (and so can you).
Best Uses:
- ask open-ended questions to survey the class's opinions
- ask questions that require students to answer from different viewpoints
- ask students to pose questions about the material
- ask questions with no right/wrong answers
- monitor understanding when students are reading a text at home. Have them post questions and comments about the reading. The teacher can monitor and follow up in the next class. (Note: Use the tool as a class first to set the tone)
Words to the Wise
- talk to students about the use of the tool (academic purposes)
- decide if you want students to use their own names or nicknames (do you want the info to be anonymous for some reason?)
- talk about digital citizenship (respect the tool, its purpose, and each other)
- if you want to archive the chat, you have to get a paid account
- you can set the parameters about when to start, close or delete the chat
EDpuzzle
Best Uses:
- use with quiz questions to check for understanding
- use as learning support to explain tricky words
- use "audio notes" to introduce or record explanations in a video
- crop a video to show only the part you need
- see which students watched and whether they answered correctly
Words to the Wise:
- This one requires more set-up time, so choose a video that you know is effective and require students to watch/complete it.
- Search the teacher-created videos to see if there are some that fit your class. You can edit them.
See Sample videos here:
Contact info
MS/HS Librarian
American International School of Budapest
Email: sducharme@aisb.hu
Website: www.trycuriosity.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AISBMSHSLibrary
Twitter: @sducharme