Plickers in the Classroom

Hey yall!

 

Can I get a quick AMEN that tomorrow is Friday?

These last few weeks have just been SO stinkin' busy!

All has been well-my kiddos are amazing, I'm loving my team, and our days typically go off without a hitch.

 

But man, I'll be happy when we can slow down just a bit!

I feel that I'm always 3 steps behind.

I know its like this every year, I think I just forget how truly BUSY the first few months of school are.

 

Anyways....on with the post!

 

Over the summer, I had attended a workshop with my new county where they told us all about Plickers. I thought they were so cool and couldn't wait to use them!

 

But then I got.....you know, BUSY!

So when one of my teammates mentioned that she started using them in her classroom, I just knew I had to get on board, too.

 

Have you heard of Plickers???

 

Here's the gist:

You give each student a numbered card that is assigned to them. Each card has a black something-or-other (I have no idea what you would call it!) on it with four sides: A, B, C, and D.

 

They look like this...

 



Image from Amazon



 

You can either order a set of laminated cards from Amazon (although they're currently out of stock!) or you can print them right out at home.

 

Then you add a series of multiple choice or true/false questions to the app on your phone or computer. You show these questions for the students to see and they have to hold their card with the correct answer facing up.

 

Now, here's the cool part!

 

You just stand in the middle of the room and scan all the cards with your phone!

You don't have to scan each individual card-it gets them all with one quick scan!

 

I tried to get some pictures of my kiddos doing this, but my phone was giving me some trouble.

Here is an image from their website so you can see what I'm talking about...

 

 

Your phone (or computer) will show you all the students answers, so you get instant feedback on how well your students have mastered the content!

And they think its the coolest thing since sliced bread (and so does their teacher!).

 

My kiddos were seriously SUPER into this when we did it the other day.

We have been working on subjects and predicates (BORING!), so I just gave them 10 quick multiple choice questions. They couldn't have been more excited!

 

Unfortunately, I realized that some reteaching will be happening this week on subjects and predicates.

But hey, that's what I love about this system! It took about 15 minutes and now I know which students need more practice and which students got it.

 

No paper or pencils needed.

 

Go check it out!

What are you waiting for?

Seriously....GO!

Remind 101

Hey yall!

 

Happy Labor Day weekend! I just wanted to pop in real quick and share an amazing resource that we've been using this year.

 

Have you heard of Remind 101? I'm hoping you have, but in case you have been living under a rock lately {like I have been!} let me tell you about this cool resource.

 

Remind 101 is an online text messaging service that allows you to message your students' parents {or your students, depending on the grade level!} without giving them your cell phone number. You can type in one message and it will be mass texted to anyone that has signed up to receive alerts. Pretty cool right?

 

 

To get signed up, just head on over to the website. It honestly takes about 2 minutes to sign up and you can print off a note to send home to parents about how they can sign up to receive messages. If they would prefer to receive emails instead of text messages, there is a way for them to sign up for that, too!

 

I've been using Remind 101 this year and have already had so much more contact and support from parents than last year. Parental involvement has always been a weakness in our school, so I'm totally psyched to use this service to help strengthen that! I've been averaging about 1-2 messages a week...but mine are certainly not as creative as this one...

 

 

Enjoy the rest of your long weekend, friends!



Teacher Week-Technology Tip Tuesday!

Hey yall!

Are you having a blast keeping up with Teacher Week? I know I am!

Today is Technology Tip Tuesday!

So I have a couple of different tips for you today.

The first tip is a website that I used a lot in my classroom last year. Have you ever heard of Sign Up Genius?

It's a really awesome website that allows you to create sign-ups for just about anything in your classroom and send out emails to all of your parents!

Need some weekly volunteers? Sign Up Genius!

Need some extra materials in the classroom? Sign Up Genius!

Need some snacks or materials for that class party? Sign Up Genius!

Do you see where I'm going with this???

Click on the picture to take you there!

Its free and super simple, too! Once you have created a sign up list {for whatever your heart desires}, you just type in the email addresses that you want to send it to and it does the work for you! It allows parents to sign up for multiple options and also see what others have signed up for. It also sends you an email every time someone signs up, so you know what you are still missing.

Awesome, right?

I seriously used this website a ton in my class last year, and was always surprised at how fast everyone signed up! This is especially great for those parents that want to be involved but can't due to their jobs. This way they can still feel like they are contributing!

My second tip is something that will help you when creating units for TPT.

When I first started making units, I used Microsoft Word for everything. I also used screenshots and Paint to create my preview pages.

Some sweet little bloggers encouraged me to use PowerPoint, and I have not looked back! It is so much simpler to use and much more user friendly.

I also found out about this little gadget!







This little guy is called a snipping tool and he has seriously made life so much easier!

Mine is down at the bottom of my toolbar, and I hadn't ever really given him much of a second glance before until recently.

Why is he so awesome?

Well, if you just click on him, it allows you to take a snippet of anything that is on your screen. Then you can Save it, Copy it, Mark it, Highlight it, or Send it.

This is perfect for when you want just a quick picture of something on your computer.

Remember that picture for Sign Up Genius up there?

Yeah...I snipped that :)

And see that tool bar picture up there with the highlited yellow?

Yeah...I snipped that, too!

Hopefully you all have that genius little gadget, because he really does make everything ten times easier than using Paint.

Hope everyone has learned something new today.....now go check out Blog Hoppin' for more tips!