Nearpod in the classroom

SO.... I am a little slow to blogging, however I would like to sing the praises of Youtube and Nearpod.  I have used nearpod religiously for test corrections and at least twice per unit for lessons and responses. What I have done is recorded my exampled on our document camera using a usb and then upload the video to youtube. Once I have the youtube video link, I can search for it on the nearpod and link it to the slide.  Our students are able to work on an assignment whole group or even at their own pace. Students can also use their own devices to participate.

The use of nearpod has been beneficial for our entire campus especially for our current 7th grade level. I have used this for our campus to survey our students on their 5 love languages. The data report that was produced was so insightful and useful for our teachers to better understand and connect with our students.

I am far from an expert, but I did want to share how grateful I am and how useful this tool is.

Spot Check using Google Form

I was having a nightmare. Literally. It was that I was doing a whole group review for an upcoming test with unruly students and an OF COURSE an unplanned observation happened.

 I woke up to this idea that students would "spot check" a test review sheet on their own using a Google Form, while I pulled a small group for review/interventions. Then some magic would happen at the end of class. (Keep reading for the magic.)

Also- I realize that this is a review sheet, but it had an intentional purpose and served it. 😏

Background: The review sheet was over "Speed and Motion." Students should have finished the review sheet before completing the "spot check". With their review sheet in hand they would access the "Spot Check Google Form." The form would ask students about some of the questions on the review sheet.

-If the answer is correct, no message will appear. Continue checking answers.

-If the answer is incorrect, an "error" message will appear. Read the hint, and try again.

How it works: Google Form's have a feature called, "response validate." When you make an open response question, click the ellipses in the bottom right corner, then set the desired response. If the student answers incorrectly the form will flash red. You can designate a "custom error text". (For example: "Reread the Y axis. Try again.")

Custom error text example:

But the BEST part! This is where things went right. The last question on the google from is open ended and reads:

Closure: Instead of tediously going through every single question on the review sheet the last ten minutes were reserved for specific questions asked through the google form. The magic was that students who usually DO NOT ask questions ASKED! They were able to talk to me privately through the google form and I could address their questions with some anonymity. 

My quiet babies used their voice & I was able to provide custom feedback specifically to what they wanted. Students were also more engaged at the end because I think they were partly a little excited to see if their question was chosen, but also they knew it was not going to be a long process. Short, sweet and to their chosen points.

The feedback from students was mixed. Most students liked that they were able to check their work on their own and then have the whole group closure at the end. Some students said that they preferred the traditional whole group review. I liked that it allowed me to reach mores students for intervention and I was able to put some ownership onto students.

Adding Choice of Product

Station rotation has been a great way for me to incorporate blended learning in my classroom ... but after listening to a fellow vanguard, I realized that I wasn't giving my students much of a choice when it came to the products that they were creating.

My students normally have a BrainPop station and I recently added these three product choices. I added the pictures to my itslearning class. I hope you can use them in your classroom.



Back on the grind

Back to work today!!! Knocking out a lot of work plans may have to wait til this weekend! My students are begging to stay.  Sorry guys this is not a regular school.  Our job is to house you, help you and release you.  We pray you have learned some quality skills to help you on your return to campus.  It amazes me every time.