I've been wanting to write about Plickers for awhile - just to find the time! Well, fall break has finally hit us, so I'm taking a few moments to talk about a favorite new find.
I find a lot of great tools, many of which I never get to use in my own classroom. Plickers happened to be one of those tools. I was prepared to use them - I even had the cards printed out - but I just didn't have the right opportunity. Luckily for me, I had an awesome colleague ask me for a recommendation for a review tool for an upcoming science test. I happily set her up with Plickers and gave her my set to use. She tells me it was a great success, and we even got a math teacher on board to try it out too!
So, what is Plickers?
Plickers allows teachers to collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices - only a teacher device is needed. You print out a very simplified QR-type of card (example below) to give to each student. My colleagues laminated their cards for stability to use over and over, especially in middle school!
I find a lot of great tools, many of which I never get to use in my own classroom. Plickers happened to be one of those tools. I was prepared to use them - I even had the cards printed out - but I just didn't have the right opportunity. Luckily for me, I had an awesome colleague ask me for a recommendation for a review tool for an upcoming science test. I happily set her up with Plickers and gave her my set to use. She tells me it was a great success, and we even got a math teacher on board to try it out too!
So, what is Plickers?
Plickers allows teachers to collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices - only a teacher device is needed. You print out a very simplified QR-type of card (example below) to give to each student. My colleagues laminated their cards for stability to use over and over, especially in middle school!
As the teacher, you create a class(es) and assign students to a card - there are 40 cards available.
After you create your class(es), you design your questions and add them to your plan (ie, class). When it is time to show the questions to the students, you can pick whether you want their particular answer to show or not. In my example below, the students' answers do not show, but a check mark is placed next to their name to let me know they have answered the question.
The students take their QR-type card and hold it up with their pick for the question at the top (ie, A would be at top if they wanted option A for their answer). You take a mobile device (we found an iPad mini, iPad or iPhone 6 work best - we didn't test it on an Android, but it is available) and capture their answer using the Plickers app, which is a free download.
One really cool feature for teachers is the back-end data you collect from the students' responses. Each question is graphed as a class total with each student's response recorded as well. Imagine the possibilities!
One really cool feature for teachers is the back-end data you collect from the students' responses. Each question is graphed as a class total with each student's response recorded as well. Imagine the possibilities!
My colleague said next time she would review a few days prior to the test so she could go back and really dive into the data. However, she was able to use the collection immediately, especially when a class collectively didn't do well on a particular question. She took that opportunity to review the material with the students again.
I think Plickers is a great review tool, a great exit ticket tool, and just an overall great tool. How could you use it in your classroom?
Until next time...
I think Plickers is a great review tool, a great exit ticket tool, and just an overall great tool. How could you use it in your classroom?
Until next time...