by Jennifer DeMartino
My son told me that he learned more about Chemistry this week than he has for the whole rest of the year. I asked him why. He said that the reason was that he got a new teacher. I asked what this teacher does differently.
"He lets DO chemistry with experiments and he lets us use our phones in class."
"Use your phones to do what?" The answer I got was Kahoot! This is a really fun quiz game that your students will find very engaging. The user interface is easy enough that kindergartners can use it. The choices have colors and shapes instead of A, B, C and D. But my 10th grader thought it was a riot as well. When my 7th grader saw us using the tutorial quiz, he joined the game and wanted to play again. With the tutorial questions. That's how much he loved it.
You get to choose a nickname. Kids find this extremely hilarious to make up a silly nickname. I recommend that you let your students enter a nickname because scores are shown on the board. If they have a nickname (and if they choose to keep it private), it might be less stress inducing. You can make it so only the top three scores are shown and then no one sees the bottom scores. My son says he competes to get in the top three. When I played this with fourth graders yesterday, they wanted everyone to know their score and did not mind at all that they were in the bottom position. You have to know your student comfort level. Also, consider setting a timer for nickname selection because it is hard to choose a great nickname:)
"He lets DO chemistry with experiments and he lets us use our phones in class."
"Use your phones to do what?" The answer I got was Kahoot! This is a really fun quiz game that your students will find very engaging. The user interface is easy enough that kindergartners can use it. The choices have colors and shapes instead of A, B, C and D. But my 10th grader thought it was a riot as well. When my 7th grader saw us using the tutorial quiz, he joined the game and wanted to play again. With the tutorial questions. That's how much he loved it.
You get to choose a nickname. Kids find this extremely hilarious to make up a silly nickname. I recommend that you let your students enter a nickname because scores are shown on the board. If they have a nickname (and if they choose to keep it private), it might be less stress inducing. You can make it so only the top three scores are shown and then no one sees the bottom scores. My son says he competes to get in the top three. When I played this with fourth graders yesterday, they wanted everyone to know their score and did not mind at all that they were in the bottom position. You have to know your student comfort level. Also, consider setting a timer for nickname selection because it is hard to choose a great nickname:)