Math Practice #5 for Teachers

The other day I was trying to decide which of the many tools in my bag of tricks I wanted to use for a quick formative assessment.  My usual routine is just to have students raise their hands to answer my questions and provide enough wait-time for everyone to think about it, or to have them write their answer on their individual whiteboards.  But no matter how much wait-time I provide, there's either that one student who calls out the answer so everyone else stops thinking, or the student who just waits for someone else to answer so they don't have to.  Over this past summer I read Total Participation Techniques and swore I was going to use some of these strategies to get everyone involved in answering, but I really haven't done a good job with that.

So back to my decision of which tech tool to use - here are my usual go-to choices:

• Nearpod 
• Socrative
• Google Form
• Plickers
• Classkick
• Google Classroom Question

I'm looking for something that is quick and easy, will record everyone's answers for later review, and gives everyone an equal opportunity to provide an answer.  I'm trying to assess how my students are understanding the pattern lessons we've been exploring from the book From Patterns to Algebra.  I want to see if they can explain their thought processes using words, not just drawing or building the next position in the patterns.  I want to see if they can explain how they determine the constant and the multiplier.  This is really important as we are going to move on to patterns where all the tiles are the same color instead of having the constant stand out with a different color.  I want to have a good class discussion afterwards to reveal all understandings and also correct misconceptions.

So, my first option - Nearpod - requires me to set up the presentation and have students sign in.  I can see the results in real time and it does save the data for later.  I can even share out good responses and those that are lacking so we can discuss them as a whole class which I like.

The next option - Socrative - also requires that I set up the questions ahead of time.  Yes, I could use the Quick Question option, but as far as I know (please correct me if I'm wrong) the data isn't saved for later review.

Next up - Google Form - again requires prior setup to use, but it does save the data.  But reviewing the data is awkward when it's short answer questions as I'm planning to use.  Forms are also good for multiple choice because they can be graded with Flubaroo, but this was not this case here.

Next is Plickers - my students love Plickers, but they're only good for multiple choice, so that option is off the table.

Classkick is another option, but I find this is a better option for using the drawing tool to solve problems, not so much for typing responses.  

My last choice is the Google Classroom Question feature.  My students are already signed into Classroom all the time, so that makes it quick to access.  And adding a question on the fly is quick and easy too.  I have a class that I named "Templates" where I add questions that I use over and over again.  So when I want to use one, I click on the "+", chose "Reuse post", and pick the question I want to ask.  I love that I can see how many students have submitted their answers and how many have not.  I also find it easy to review their short answers by simply scrolling through them.  I can also provide feedback to them by means of a private comment if I wanted to do that afterwards.

We talk about students' mathematical habits and the 8 Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practices that we want them to become proficient with.  I realized as I was trying to find the "just- right" tech tool for this formative assessment that I was paralleling Math Practice #5 - "Use appropriate tools strategically":

Mathematically proficient students teachers consider the available tools when solving assessing a mathematical problem. These tools might include pencil and paper, concrete models, a ruler, a protractor, a calculator, a spreadsheet, a computer algebra system, a statistical package, or dynamic geometry software tech tools for formative assessment such as Nearpod, Socrative, Google Forms, Plickers, Classkick, or Google Classroom Questions. Proficient students teachers are sufficiently familiar with tools appropriate for their grade or course to make sound decisions about when each of these tools might be helpful, recognizing both the insight to be gained and their limitations. ...  They are able to use technological tools to explore assess and deepen analyze their students' understanding of concepts.

As I was going through my options for formative assessment ("consider the available tools"), I was making decisions about each tool's strengths and weaknesses ("recognizing both the insight to be gained and their limitations").

I don't think I've ever put this much thought into choosing a tech tool to use.  Going forward, I think I will always make a more conscious effort to "use appropriate tools strategically".


What do you look for when choosing tech tools for formative assessments?

"No-tech, high-tech" Plickers

This is the last week before the NJ ASK. It's very frustrating because there's still almost two months left of school so I haven't taught my students everything they need to know as eighth graders yet, but they will be tested on all of it next week. This week I've been trying to expose them to as much as possible of the curriculum that they haven't learned yet so they have a fighting chance...

Today's topic was transformations. I gave them a quick overview of translations, reflections, rotations, and dilations, how to plot an image of the original figure given the transformation, and how to determine what the transformation was given an original figure and the image.

So far, the lessons this week have been very dry and boring because I've been flying through the topics and haven't had time for any creative or fun activities. Today, I decided to change it up a little. 

I normally avoid giving my students multiple choice questions because I feel like all they do is guess and don't bother to actually work out the problem. (I don't like making up multiple choice questions either -- I'm not good at making up the wrong answer choices!) A few weeks ago I showed Plickers to the teachers in my professional development class and they thought it was pretty cool, so I wanted to try it with my students. I needed multiple choice questions in order to use Plickers so I went on Problem-Attic and curated 20 multiple choice questions related to transformations.

I explained to the class that we were going to try something new, "Plickers", and described them as "no-tech, high-tech". They were familiar with the clicker concept, so I said it's like using clickers, but it's just a piece of paper with a big, fat QR code. For the first few questions, I Reflected my phone up on the Smart Board so they could see the "high-tech" part. They were very impressed! (I think they really just liked seeing their classmates' goofy faces as I scanned past them to capture their responses!) 

I received nothing but positive feedback about using the Plickers from my students. Even the aides in my classroom thought they were really cool! The students appreciated the fact that it allowed them to change their answer if necessary. Some of the other assessment tools we have used this year would not allow this, informing them that they had already submitted their answer. The only issue I had was that occasionally when I tried to scan a student's Plicker, it would flop over because I only printed them on paper. I tried to print them on cardstock this morning, but the printer kept jamming, so I finally gave up and just printed on paper. I have to work on this before I use the Plickers again...

PD on Plickers

Yesterday I introduced "Plickers" to the teachers attending my professional development class. For those of you who are not familiar with Plickers, they are "paper clickers" - a way of using a student response system without having technology in your classroom such as smart phones or tablets (only the teacher needs a device). You can print out a complete set of 40 Plickers on the Plickers website. The Plickers look something like giant QR codes (see photo at right). 

Even though Plickers is so "untechnical" to the observer (students are not using any devices), it really is pretty high tech. One of the teachers even commented "I like going back to the old fashioned way of just using paper". My professional development class is focused on using iPads in the content areas, so I wasn't sure how this idea would be received, but they loved it! I had them all be the students and try it out. I had my phone reflected up on the screen so they could see exactly what was happening on the teacher end of it. They were amazed at the speed and accuracy of it, and how far away I could stand and still be able to scan everyone's Plickers.

One teacher had a fantastic idea. He noted that some younger students or those with disabilities might have a difficult time trying to manipulate the Plicker with the answer choice at the top when it has to be facing away from them so they can't see it. (I think even middle school and high school students might have difficulty as well.) He suggested that we write the A, B, C, and D on the back of the Plickers (the side that would be facing the student) in the correct positions so they can see it facing them and still allow for the teacher to see the side that needs to be scanned.

It's very easy to set up and use Plickers. Download the Plickers app, then check out the Plickers website to create your account, to print out your class set of Plickers, and to add classes and students.  Your students will think its cool!