It's the little things, they say, that often separate ordinary moments in the classroom to extraordinary learning opportunities. In my Social Studies class I routinely offer extra review sessions for students...whether it is in the beginning of the day or during lunch time, these review classes offer students an extra opportunity to 'bone up' before a test.
Today's little thing took the form of Today's Meet. This website allows the host to create a unique URL at which participants post comments and suggestions in a real-time format. TodaysMeet advertises that it 'helps you embrace the backchannel and connect with your audience in realtime.' What it can to for the classroom teachers is create a formative assessment opportunity for immediate feedback on student learning.
Today's Meet allowed my classroom an opportunity to turn a mundane review session into something truly unique. For the review I did the following:
1. Create a unique URL for the meeting 'room'. I called ours: http://www.todaysmeet/lunchreview
2. Set a timespan for the meeting. In our case we met for 30 minutes however I set the room to expire in 2 hours.
3. Wait
4. Discuss expectations and appropriate use of technology and digital etiquette.
5. Verbally pose review questions and watch as students respond via Today's Meet.
Using TodaysMeet
Tips on Backchanneling with Students
http://langwitches.org/blog/2009/11/19/backchanneling-with-elementary-school-students/#
Now THAT'S using your Smarticles!!
