Socrative

This was originally written for teachers at my school and shared with them November 28.

We had a student stop by 125 and ask what the name of the site with the little rocket ships for answering questions that Mrs. Le used in history.  He wanted to use it in his math class. I think it’s great that the student was able to see the flexibility of the resource and that it could be used in other classes.  I thought I’d share it with everyone in case you are looking for something different to do as we head into December.

The answer is socrative.com  Socrative is basically a clicker type app/website that collects students responses in a variety of ways. You do not need to book chromebooks because it works just as well on any devices the students have - it is very mobile friendly.

Here’s a video that briefly describes what socrative does.

Socrative.com is an easy on line tool that you can use in your classroom with students for quick check-ins, quizes, exit tickets or what socrative calls space races (the one with the rocket ship).  

Reports are collected and can be emailed to you.  Quizzes can be done either teacher paced or student paced.  In “Quick Question” you can poll the class and find out where the class stands on an issue, or with their understanding of a concept.  I haven’t used Exit Ticket at all, so I can’t speak to that one.

I’ve been using the space race in my classes.  I create a quiz (in manage quizzes) before class based on work students had been doing.  In class I login to socrative, click space race, choose my quiz and the number of teams I want to have.  I then break students up into teams and have them compete against each other to answer the questions.  They login using my class room number (assigned by socrative).  One device per team.  As they answer questions correctly, their rocket moves across the screen (I put it up on the data projector).  They enjoy the competition and get pretty excited.

I’ve also done this with new material.  Students are expected to research the answers while they do the race.  This works best if teams can have 2 devices - one for research and one for the race, but it can be done in different tabs on one device.

Socrative allows for multiple choice, true/false or short answer type questions.  The short answer can get a bit tricky because the student answer has to match yours exactly (capitals, spelling).  I try to avoid this type of question.

If you want help getting started with socrative let me know.  It’s not difficult to pick up, but it is easier if you play around with it the first time using more than one device - one as teacher, one as student.

GAFE Certification

Image from: http://memoirvita28.blogspot.ca/2013/05/college-life-exams-part-3.html

A few weeks ago I wrote the 6 google exams to become a Google Apps certified trainer.  Each of the 6 exams was made up of 60 multiple choice questions and there was a 90 minute time limit.  They were intense.  The good thing was that I didn't have to have every detail memorized in order to pass the test.  I had to know how to find the answer.  It's google, you are allowed/expected to search for the answer.  But it was still tough.

At least once, I found some piece of information to answer a question and thought "Oh, I didn't know I could do that."  But in the stress of completing the test I couldn't for the life of me remember what that was when I was done.  I just remember having the thought.  But I feel fairly certain that if/when I decide I want to try whatever that thing was I'll know I can go looking for the answer.

I really enjoy using Google Apps for Education (GAFE) in school.  And one of the things I like about it is the availability of helpful hints and tips available.  I don't have to know how to do everything, I just have to have the confidence to go and find the answers.  Google is good for this, as is youtube.  Many people have uploaded screen casts about how to do anything you could possibly want to do.

Because I appreciate GAFE so much I spend quite a bit of time talking to others about its merits and how they can use it.  One of the toughest things I have to get them to believe is that they can play with it without knowing everything about it.  They can also find answers to whatever questions they might have.  Many time people come to me with questions about how to do something.  If I don't know off the top of my head, I will go with them to a computer and look it up, or I will look it up and email them links to videos or help pages on whatever they want help with.  I hope that eventually people will gain the confidence to search for the answer themselves.

Back to the Google Certification...  I passed all 6 exams.  I am now a Google Certified Individual.  It is my intention to complete the certification process to become a Google Apps for Education Certified Trainer.  I believe that this process will be much more reflective and give a much more accurate picture of my ability to work with GAFE and pass on my knowledge to my colleagues and work with it in class.  On many levels I find this process at least as intimidating as the exams as it is much more personal.

I will continue to share my process in becoming certified here in this blog.  It is my goal to be done it this summer.  Wish me luck!