Classroom Response System March 13, 2007
Posted by SuperTech in EMerge (Clickers).trackback
For those schools that have the classroom response system (clickers) — What effective way have you used them this school year? Share your ideas for using them in the classroom. Any problems that new users need to avoid? How do your students respond? Do they like using them or not?
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I use the system for review prior to our lab tests. In the past, students have had some trouble sending their answers but not this semester. I think I have done a better job training them on where to point.
When taking our practice tests, I use the timer to limit their response time to 15 or 20 seconds and at the end we see the top 4-5 scores. Then we look at everyone’s score to see how we all did. For whatever reason, the students seem really engaged by the process.
The software doesn’t use the full area of the screen so I have to use big fonts and decrease the size of my desktop to make it easier for the students to read. The web site has a plugin for PowerPoint that lets you use the system from within a presentation. This would allow you to get rid of the clunky, restrictive interface, but I haven’t tried it yet so I don’t know how it works.
I have two biology teachers and one math teacher that constantly use the Emerge system. They love it and so do their students. In fact they do not want others trained because then that means they will have to share with more teachers. They use the system for testing and for immediate feedback during a lesson. The math teacher loves to be able to walk around the classroom to observe students while she uses the little white board.
At Pleasant Grove ES, we had 3 sets of clickers. Like with any other techy gadget, there were a few teachers who really embraced the clickers and incorporated them into their lessons regularly. Counselor Julie Ammons used them with 4th-6th graders to execute character-related surveys, and the instant feedback was invaluable in allowing the kids to immediately reflect on the class’s responses. 5th grade teacher Brenda Stanley used them at least once a week, and in many different ways. Sometimes she used it to play a review game, sometimes she used it during her instruction along with PowerPoint questions or United Streaming videos, and sometimes she used it to give a quiz.
With every single lesson, the clickers were revered by the students. They absolutely loved the anonymous participation and immediate results.
There were a handful of times when the beam receiver would not work when the teacher was initially setting up the system for the day. Most of the time, unplugging everything and going back through the setup process would correct the problem. Only once did I have to go back in through the software to re-detect the receiver.
I have used the response system several times over the last two years to show my Power Point presentations. I created these myself and even added some relevant topics in United Streaming. In the math classroom, presenting the information using technology and being able to use custom animation to move drawings and examples around has made it more interesting for students. It takes quite a while to make the presentations and create the questions but the response is ‘GREAT’. The system gives you immediate feedback on what the students learned from the show. Students are really engaged and interactive in the lesson. Several of my tribe members have used the system and we wish there were more of them. A awesome asset to our school.
Unfortunately our teachers are so overwhelmed with constant PD and pressure to raise reading scores because we’re an at risk school, I haven’t been able to get many of them motivated to learn the clickers. Several have gone wild with the projector and use unitedstreaming content in their classrooms.
The teachers at Kermit Johnson Elementary use the clickers to introduce new material and as a review at the end of a unit. We also used them at our Math night for students and parents. The students love them! Our student teachers used them to incorporated technology into their units. We would like to train more teachers.
Lisa, We still use them for drill in the math lab. Every student is exposed to the technology and they love it. All of a sudden the seemingly competetive nature of the tech helps to keep students more attentive, and the animosity of the tech fosters more student participation.
I used the clickers to do a daily reading check and had some good results. Mostly told me they were not reading.
Like using to give tests as is very quick and you can give out multiple versions of the same test. Become familiar with how to use Examview Pro and it is really neat.
Look to use more next year and help others too. There is some time needed to get the kids used to using.
For set up i went to a place (which when I find name i will add) and bought some longer usb cable very cheap. mounted the receiver to the screen and works real good.
Students do enjoy and as I learn to use better will be good.
Needs some planning and training to work real good and that is what I will work on next year.
I have never used them but one my teachers is really interested. Does anyone have a recommendation?
Several teachers have used them in practice for the SAT.
Everyone loves to see them at work but not very many have taken the time to develop a classroom session. ARI takes so much of their planning time with stations and intervention. Only one high school teacher has tried it and she loved it but it’s the development time that poses a problem.
We have several teachers who use them often and report that students are much more engaged in the lesson when using the responders. On one of the work days coming up we plan to train a few more teachers who have expressed an interest in using them. If funds are available, we may purchase an additional set next year.
Lisa, My class has loved using the CPS system. I have even gone as far as letting some of the children put in the questions and answers into the database. This is a great motivator. They want to use the clickers over and over. They like to see everyone get a perfect score. They have actually learned how to hook up all the components by watching me over and over. Wish we had more systems so we wouldn’t have to share.