Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 109: Using Polling Devices in the Classroom

Transcript

Ep 109: Using Polling Devices in the Classroom · New Teacher Talk

• 0:01
  Welcome to another episode of New Teacher Talk,
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  the podcast designed for new and aspiring educators.
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  Whether you're in a rural, suburban, or urban setting,
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  we're here to provide insights, advice,
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  and support to help you thrive in your teaching journey.
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  Hi, my name is Melissa Axelsson,
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  and I'm the Dean of Students at NJCTL,
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  the only Graduate School of Education founded by a union of
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  public school educators.
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  In addition to being a graduate school,
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  we have free teaching materials available for kindergarten
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  to AP math and science, as well as AP computer science.
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  And I'm Susan Olszewski and NJCTL's Dean of Faculty.
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  Today, we're going to talk about polling devices.
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  In today's episode,
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  we'll talk about how to engage students with polling
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  devices,
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  and we'll share free teaching resources that were developed
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  to make using polling devices simple for
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  you. So Melissa, what are polling devices?
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  A polling device is an electronic way to anonymously poll
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  students.
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  Prior to all students having a computer to use during the
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  school day, schools used handheld devices,
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  like turning point responders or smart responders.
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  Now that in most classrooms,
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  students have access to a device,
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  teachers use web-based programs to poll their students.
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  One great thing is that NJCTL has developed formative
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  assessment questions that you can use,
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  so there's no need to create or add the questions to the
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  polling software you choose to use.
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  For example, you can get a free account at socrative.com,
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  S -O -C -R -A -T -I -V -E.
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  com,
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  and then you just ask a quick question to have the students
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  put their multiple choice answer in.
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  Susan,
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  so what are the benefits of using these polling devices?
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  The use of polling devices keeps students engaged because
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  every student can answer all questions.
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  Getting immediate feedback from every student helps
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  teachers make informed decisions about what students know
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  and whether they're able to answer questions related to
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  what you just taught or if they're just going through the
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  motions.
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  You've probably experienced this before.
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  You finish teaching a concept and ask the students if they
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  have any questions,
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  or you show a problem and ask if everyone understands how
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  to answer it.
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  Without a doubt,
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  the majority of your students assure you that they
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  understand or they don't ask a question and you leave class
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  feeling satisfied that everyone learned.
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  But later you give a quiz or a test and it's immediately
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  clear that not everyone understood.
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  Polling devices give you a clear and immediate indicator
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  about your students' understanding of the content.
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  You can immediately address misconceptions and
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  misunderstandings so they don't persist.
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  And, NJCTL's free science, mathematics,
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  and computer science teaching materials have been created
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  so that you can easily assess your students using polling
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  devices.
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  On our website, you'll find a huge library of free,
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  open-education resources with everything you need to teach.
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  This includes a presentation for each unit with embedded
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  formative assessment questions.
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  So each day you teach,
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  you'll have the instructional slides to present the
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  material as well as a handful of multiple choice formative
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  assessment questions that work perfectly with polling
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  devices.
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  So,
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  once you have all of the students answer a question from
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  the polling device,
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  you can then display the results to the whole class.
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  This then prompts to meet among the students until you come
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  away with a consensus.
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  You ask these questions one at a time,
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  so you're clearing up any misconceptions as you go through
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  the questions.
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  You can access any of our free teaching materials at our
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  website, www.njctl.org.
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  In addition to the Socrative that I talked about,
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  some people have found success using Pear Deck or using
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  Google Form.
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  And there's various other free resources out there that you
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  can use to ask these questions.
• 3:58
  Thank you for listening to today's New Teacher Talk
• 4:01
  episode.
• 4:02
  Be sure to follow us on our socials.
• 4:05
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• 4:09
  Thursday Thought on our Instagram page @NewTeacherTalk.
• 4:14
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• 4:17
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• 4:19
  Just hit the button and share with others.
• 4:22
  We're here to support you in your practice,
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  no matter where you live.