Last thursday I underwent another one of the legal “rites of passage” of a new teacher by being observed by my school principal. Although an incredibly stressful situation it turned out to be a highly constructive affair. I received many words of encouragement and constructive criticism from an education veteran who is passionate about the future of education, particularly the role of technology in this future.
One specific encouragement she afforded me was the nature of my entry slips or warm ups. Inspired by the urgings of my twitter friends or “tweeps” I have developed a method of conducting these warm ups using technology, specifically Google forms.
Photo from Keso S: bit.ly/googlelegopic
In a nut shell the students are linked to the google form or type in the bit.ly customised link into their task bar. Once there, students are prompted to enter their name and then answer a short number of questions based on foundational knowledge of the coming lesson or revision questions from the previous lesson.
I display the responses on the Interactive Whiteboard so students are encouraged by seeing their submission register on the screen. I personally adjust the width of the browser so the students answers remain hidden but their name displays. When students finish they pass their devices to students who forgot to bring/charge theirs.
After the submissions are in, I select “Add-ons – Flubaroo – Grade assessment” and select the answers I entered when I created the form. The add on “grades” the responses which shows instantly trends in answers and students which may need more help during the lesson. If they class under performs in a question sometimes I spend some time to revisit that concept before continuing with the lesson.
Give it a go! It will surprise you how quick and easy this is! Alternately, If I have spooked you with my wordy explanation stay posted for a pictorial or feel free to ask me.
Smashing Maths 