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Plickers

I learned about Plickers a few years ago from a speaker that was presenting at Meredith College.  He was amazing, and I cannot remember his name (of course).  During his lecture, he mentioned Plickers and I (being the nerd I am) immediately Googled it.  It took me to a video that I watched with my colleagues- and I was hooked!  If you're interested, here is an extensive video that goes into detail of all that is Plickers.  

 To skip the tutorial, I'll do a run down for you...

 Plickers are basically "clickers" without the hassle of a tech guy.  Each student takes a card with a code on it and with answers either A, B, C, or D.  You pose your question to the class (either via slides or through the Plicker website) and the students hold up their answer choice while the teacher scans each code across the room.  Boom.  Just like that, you have 37 student responses in under 30 seconds.  Because this is a web-based tool, there is no need to download software that takes 58 people to approve (perhaps this is a slight exaggeration).  You do, however, need the app on your phone or tablet.  No worries, IT'S FREE 😁

 I have the actual Plickers cards set up in folders at the front of the classroom and when it's time for the students to get theirs, I just let them know.  The process is very simple, yet so informative!

 For my most recent activity, I wanted to get to know the students on the first day of school.  Therefore, I created a 10 question survey.  I wanted to keep it light so I asked fun questions like, "What color is your toothbrush?".  The answer choices were: green/blue, pink/red, yellow/orange, or I don't brush my teeth.  What did I learn?  One student was willing to tell the entire class that she doesn't brush her teeth in order to get a free piece of gum from a classmate.  It was very entertaining.  

 I highly suggest using Plickers in your classroom.  You get instant feedback from them and the kiddos love the response time and analysis provided.  

 I would recommend using Plickers for the following situations:

  • banking a set of survey questions in case you (ugh) finish a lesson too early
  • daily quizzes or exit slips
  • review for major assessments
  • PD- teachers like this too!
Good luck Plickering and staying informed of your students' progress!

~SSB



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