Tech Messengers Podcast - SMART Response Clickers

The Tech Messengers series is back this week with Nick Frosolone who discusses with me how he is using the SMART Response clickers to help assess his students in class.  Nick has been able to leverage the instantaneous nature of the data from the clickers to inform his instruction and track student progress over the course of the marking period.  Learn more about how Nick got started with the clickers and his suggestions for those looking to incorporate them into their classroom...




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Self Scoring Quiz with Commenting & Automatic E-Mail

Remember Scantron sheets?  I think I have created a form that is the 21st century equivalent.  If you are not interested in spending less time scoring assessments...you should stop reading now.

As I was cleaning up my Google Drive account I found a spreadsheet/form that I created back in the beginning of the year for teachers at Seymour High School who were using Google forms for assessment.  Using a few simple formulas, I was able to have the spreadsheet automatically score student responses but I also added some functionality to have the student's score and comments e-mailed to them.  It's pretty cool.

To try out this assessment collector, click here and make yourself a new copy for your Drive account.

After you have saved it to your account your are ready to modify the questions to fit your assessment.  If you are familiar with creating Google Forms this will be a piece of cake but if not you can check out this tutorial to get you through it.

Once you have included your questions on the form it's time to input the answers in order to have them corrected automatically.  Start by taking the actual quiz yourself...hopefully you get a hundred.  In the name field you can put something like "Answer Key" and use your e-mail address.

Note:  If you would rather watch a video tutorial (vs reading the text version) on how to modify the form, scroll down.

In order to get the spreadsheet to auto-correct you have to use a formula further down the line to assign a point value for each correct response.  So...in the "Sample Quiz" form for cell L2 you should have =IF(E2="answer",1,0) where answer is the correct answer to the question.  You can use multiple choice or it could be short answer but whatever you type inside the parentheses will be the only accepted response.  You will need to do this for the rest of your questions.  Moving along the next formula would be in cell M2 where you would put =IF(F2="answer",1,0).  Essentially the formula is saying to check cell F2 and if the correct answer is there put a one in M2.  If the correct answer is not present it puts in a zero.

To tally up the score you will need to use the formula =sum(L2:P2) in cell J2.

The next step is to add your comments in to column K.  This is where you can offer feedback to the student about how they did and their areas of strength and weakness.

Once you have put in your comments, you click on a cell in the row you want to send then click on "Teacher Menu" and "Send Scores & Comments".  That's it...you're done!

To watch the video equivalent of these directions see below:



Now What?

Using a form like this will get you fast, informative data that you can use in your classroom to guide your instruction.  The fact that you can add anecdotal feedback is what separates this form from the rest of the pack.  I hope that you find it useful and please share it with your colleagues.

Glogster

Glogster is easily one of my favorite tools for creating on the web.  I learned about it a few years ago and use it whenever I have the opportunity.  In my school there is one teacher in particular who uses it whenever he can with his students and has even gone as far as purchasing a premium educator account in order to access his student's work and provide feedback.  I recently co-taught a class with this teacher and created a Glogster tutorial for the students to access outside of school.  If you are interested in getting your students involved with Glogster you can share the tutorial below and help them to get started.  For lesson ideas and more be sure to check out Glogster's comprehensive Educator Resource Library.



Now What?

In order to get those kids Glogging you will need to have each student create their own account on Glogster.   Keep in mind that Glogster is a free public domain and there may be some content that is inappropriate in the gallery of Glogs.  Glogster EDU provides a safe space for students but there is a cost associated.

QR Code Generator

QR Codes are fastly becoming very popular in education for a number of reasons but mostly because students and smartphones are becoming synonymous with one another.  If you don't know what a QR Code is you should check out the Common Craft video which does a great job of explaining them in "Plain English".  If you are ready to start creating your own codes for your students be sure to check out this QR Code website called QRStuff.com.  On this site you can generate a QR Code out of just about anything (see image below).  They will also put your code on anything you can imagine (t-shirt, hat, even a chocolate bar).  If you are looking to get started using these codes in your classroom check out this collaborative slideshow of ideas for how you can incorporate QR Codes into your classroom.

Now What?

If you are looking for a quick way to get some QR Codes up in your room you can use QRStuff.com to create a code which links to your class webpage or Twitter feed.  Another idea would be to create a code for your students which will get them to your homework calendar quickly.

Poll Everywhere

I wrote about Poll Everywhere a while back and have since revisited the site to find some great new changes.  Just recently they have allowed for images and equations to be used in their polls.  Check out the video below to learn more about those changes.  What I also found to be pretty cool was the PowerPoint integration.  On the Poll Everywhere site you can download a PPT file which has your poll embedded in a slide which will update in real time.  This would be excellent for those teachers looking to embed a poll into a PPT presentation that they already have created.  The best feature about this site is the ability to text in an open ended response.  This would be a great way for students to ask their own questions rather than just answer yours.



Image Support for Multiple Choice Options from Poll Everwhere on Vimeo.


Now What?

Class polling sites are popping up like weeds right now on the web and that means that it is even easier to get a pulse for your classroom during instruction.  Poll Everywhere is a great tool for formative instruction and the texting feature and PPT export makes it the best available option in my opinion.

Math Reasoning Inventory by Scholastic

Scholastic recently underwent a massive overhaul introducing a number of great new free resources for teachers. One of the new features that I just noticed is the Math Reasoning Inventory which helps teachers to formatively discover what students know and are able to do mathematically.  From what I can see on the site, they currently offering questions geared toward whole numbers, decimals and fractions which seem to be difficult concepts for students in middle school to grasp.  The Math Reasoning Inventory is made up of written expression as well as interview questions.  Once completed the website will generate reports at your discretion which can be used to monitor progress or submit to your SRBI team for data collection.

Now What?

Many schools are already using some form of standardized testing to track student progress but if you are not this could be a great start for your teachers.  Even those who are using those tests might be interested in the anecdotal evidence that is derived from the interview questions.  I could see this being a teacher goal for middle school math teachers who are looking to enhance data collection in order to facilitate higher achievement.

GradeCam

GradeCam is a new way of assessing and grading your students.  Using GradeCam teachers can create an assessment using a Scantron format and then once the students have completed it...simple scan the paper using a document camera, scanner or even a webcam and it will be scored automatically with the grades being tracked on the GradeCam website.  Coming soon there will even be an app for iOS devices so that students can self grade their papers and get immediate feedback.




Now What?

GradeCam is a gamechanger for teachers who are tired of grading objective assessments.  I love that students can even grade the assessments themselves by using the iOS app.  Using these types of tests cannot be used for every assessment but the quick and immediate feedback is a great tool for formative instruction.

Gnowledge

I discovered a new site today that is following in the mold of "jailbreaking" knowledge and making it available for the world to access similar to Khan Academy or Learn Zillion.  Gnowledge is a little different though in that is is purely the assessment piece without the videos and the instruction.  I took an assessment on Earth Materials and found it very easy to use and quick to submit.  I like the feedback at the end and the ability to distinguish myself to the author if I was a student for a grade.  Gnowledge is a great site for creating more than just assessments but also homework assignments and quick checks in progress (e.g. after completing a reading in class or at home).  Using Gnowledge to create a quiz was very simple and the ability to track your assessment scores is a really cool feature for students.  Students can also take assessments created by other teachers which is an excellent way for them to practice previously learned skills.

Now What?

If you are looking for a way to incorporate some outside of the box homework Gnowledge would work really well for your students.  This would also be a great way for you to change up your method of assessment in class if you have computers available to you.  You could even have this be a center in your room so that students could take the test in rotations while the other students were engaged in the classroom.

Create a Quiz on Edline

Many of you have asked how you can create quizzes online for students to access.  I have reviewed sites in the past such as QuizSnack and of course how you can use Google Forms for creating quizzes but today I am going to share with you something that you already know how to use and you have in your possession...Edline! Creating a quiz on Edline is very easy and the simple interface allows you to get your quiz up on your site in no time.  Check out the video below for a step by step tutorial on how to get a quiz onto your Edline page for students.

Classroom Jeopardy using Smart Notebook

http://jeopardy.edogo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/jeopardy-show.jpg 

I remember when I was a student back in the day (not all that long ago) and we had a test coming up in class. My teacher would put together some watered-down (created on the chalkboard) equivalent to Jeopardy and the class would absolutely love it.  We would get really into the score and kind of forget that we were reviewing for an assessment.  Today, Jeopardy has evolved in the classroom in a big way.  I submit for your approval my version of Jeopardy using the program Smart Notebook.  It can be modified to fit any content area and completely customized.

Now What?

If you have a Smartboard in your room...edit this file and have some fun.  Even if you don't have a Smartboard you can play the game if you have the Notebook software installed on your computer.  If you make any changes to the game, drop a comment and share what you've done.

Classroom Polling (Poll Everywhere)

Teachers around the country are engaging in "CFAs" which are Common Formative Assessments (as if you didn't already know the acronym).  We all know what assessments are and the fact that they are common has been happening for years.  The piece that is fairly new, to some extent, is the idea of quickly turning around the data and informing instruction.  This is where classroom polling comes into play using a site like Poll Everywhere where students can use their mobile devices to quickly inform you of what they know and more importantly...what they don't know using text messaging or by voting through a website.  The data can then be shared directly on the web.  It is very simple to setup and you don't even need an account.

Now What?

Poll Everywhere can be used simply to allow students to demonstrate if they are with you during a lesson or you can have students text in their questions about a homework assignment which can then jump start the next day's lesson.  Check out this video for a more detailed overview of the service.

Museum Box

Museum Box is a unique way for students to demonstrate learning through the creation of a shadow box filled with various text and multimedia items.  Using the website's tools you can include sounds, videos, images, files, links and of course text.  Each museum box can also be saved to resume work at a later date.  Museum Box is a great presentation tool because it limits the amount of text that is used in the presentation and helps to encourage the students to evaluate the information.

If you are interested in using Museum Box as a class or individually, please let me know so that I can set up an account for you within our school community.

Now What?

This is an excellent project offering for students who want to create something outside of the proverbial box.  You can even have the students view the published boxes on the web and leave comments for each other.  This web tool assists students in achieving higher order thinking as they must apply content in a new and inventive way.

Smart Response Clickers

Many of you have been using the Smart Board for some time now and may be looking for a way to make its presence even more interactive in your classroom...for that purpose, let's talk about the Smart Response clickers which are used in conjunction with Smart Notebook.  The Smart Response program is basically an instantaneous way to get feedback about what students know or don't know.  They can be used to ask a quick spur of the moment question during a lesson or even as a summative assessment as opposed to traditional paper and pen.  Watch the video below to see the power of this tool as it even gives you data and graphs using the student scores.

FYI...at the middle school we have one set of clickers while at the high school there are two sets being passed around.  If you would like to know who is currently using the clickers please send me an e-mail.  Also, if you would like to set up a time to work on setting up a lesson using the clickers, I'm here when you are ready!