Thursday, August 1, 2013
Activity #8 Poll Everywhere
All in all this was pretty easy to use. I like the idea of using this as a quick question to practice vocabulary or to use as an exit slip.Could be used easily as a question of the day... then start the next day with the answer. I am not a fan of students having their cell phones out in class (and what about the poor kid that does not have one!!) because I think it invites then to get off task. But, it is a fabulous tool and perhaps easier to use than the SMART response system that I am accustomed to using for this type of activity. What I really liked was that I could use pictures in my poll. That was fun.
I also made a google form using simple questions from a unit that I will be doing right away this fall on food. I would use these polling systems as a way for students to practice vocabulary and to be able to predict what their classmates might answer. They think it is fun to "guess" the most popular answer and don't even realize that the have to understand Spanish to answer and analize the answers! I would not use this every day as it might get old... but it also seems viable to use at the end of class or the end of a concept to see if they understand it.
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At Chippewa the Smart Response clickers are dying like flies AND they cost $80 a piece! I used Poll Everywhere a lot last year for exit slips and invited students to bring phones to the library for these activities. Kids that didn't have a phone or forgot it were given an iPod touch from a class set we have. I also have mixed feelings about phones being a distraction but when harnessed for educational purposes I felt it was valuable.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoy SMART response. At the elementary level, the students are perfectly satisfied. They get super excited about "the clickers" and I have yet to have any issues with them after a couple of years of use.
ReplyDeleteI would encourage you to try to use more cellphones in class. I know there is that fear about improper use, and yes that does happen, but I have found most students use them respectively. And for those who don't, they often are disrespectful in other ways, regardless of if their cellphone is out. I think students need to be taught responsive use of technology. They are going to be left to their own devices soon in college and adulthood. Just as we teach students proper behavior like raising their hand we need to teach them how to use their technology responsibly. Just as we can't teach them to raise their hand by never asking questions, we can't teach them to use their technology properly if we never use it in class.
ReplyDeleteI also hesitate to have kids get cell phones out in class like Laura. For that reason I have used the Smart response system. Everyone has the same device and there's no comparing how fancy someone else's phone is with another's. And the clickers are super easy to set up. But I like the idea of doing Poll Everywhere once in awhile. Maybe at the end of the period so putting their cell phones away isn't a big deal. I definitely am going to use Google docs. I would need to reserve the Ipads for it to work. It will be interesting to see if I think this or the clickers are more efficient. Something interesting that happened in my classroom last year in Spanish 1. I prepared a lesson using the clickers with the questions begin the ones that were going to appear on the speaking test for the lesson. I thought it would be a great way to give the kids sample answers they could use. When I handed out the review sheet with the questions for the speaking test, one student said "Oh my gosh, these are the same questions we just practiced!" The other students responded, "Really. Oh this is going to be so easy."
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