My mission is to get my Pre-Algebra 8th graders ready for Algebra 1 next year. I know that number theory concepts and vocabulary *need* to be mastered before things get too abstract. I also know that some topics (which have been taught over and over again since upper elementary school) still escape these promising 8th graders I have the pleasure to teach.
How do I teach a unit on basic number theory when they SHOULD already know all that stuff… but DON’T? I truly don’t have the time to spare, but how do I move forward?
Enter Socrative!
I created this Socrative (iPad student clicker) quiz as a means to activate prior knowledge, pre-assess, and get a rise out of my students today.
Using the “Teacher-Paced” quiz option, only one question at a time was sent to students. I logged in as the “teacher” (of course) and displayed my view on the big screen at the front of the class. Initially, I hid the “Live Results” for each question, and when all students weighed in, I revealed the class bar graph to see how they did. As they fell for my true-or-false tricks, they threw their hands in the air with joy as well as “I-should-have-known-that” reactions. Make no mistake, it was an emotional experience!
As each question engaged students, my written comments after each question within the quiz itself served as a review lesson. However, using iPads and Socrative to deliver the content, the desire to succeed and get an attractive class bar graph made the experience more like a game than a lecture.
Judging from our color-coded data reports, we didn’t have it all together the first time through. It’s interesting to stack both data reports and note the similarly pink (A.K.A wrong) questions. At a glance, I’d say we have quite similar results from both classes! I do think we’ve cleared up some misconceptions. Students didn’t realize that the quiz also served as a math lesson today. The dialogue that happened between questions made for a custom lesson for each class, based on their needs in real-time. LOTS of A-HAs!
Using this quiz was worth the 15-minute investment at the start of class FOR SURE. How are you using Socrative?
Congrats, Cathy! You’ve got an impressive blog and an exciting willingness to use technology. Have you tried ExitTicket.org? Unlike Socrative, it stores students’ data so they -and you- can see in what areas they are excelling and where they are struggling. Now that Common Core is on its way, it’s the better way to measure comprehension. Good luck with your 8th graders!
Exit ticket.org looks like a promising tool. If I need a one-question assessment, I will give it a try, but as you can see, I use Socrative (free) and thatquiz.org (free) for many multi-question assessments.