On February 12, I had the opportunuty to implement my wicked project for the first time. I presented to a group of resident mentors about conflict resolution; a rather boring topic. So, it was a great opportunity for me to bring in clickers!
Check out my podcast to see how everything turned out!
It sounds like the clickers worked really well with your staff. Even though it is not "technically" a classroom, you are still striving for engagement...and I think you accomplished that goal. I appreciate how you were able to compare/contrast your experience with an elementary classroom. Will you try using clickers again? Or, do you view it as a means to accomplish this project? I'd be interested to know if you plan to implement the clickers any more? :)
ReplyDeleteAlthough you were able to meet the objectives of this assignment, you did not create a "true" podcast. You created more of a "vodcast." A podcast is simply the audio. I will not make you redo it, but make sure you are able to create an audio file (mp3 = most common) and embed it into a blog post. I am a visual person, so I appreciated the pictures...
Thank you for your flexibility with this project. Undoubtedly, you have created an experience that has allowed you to grow as an educator. Well done!
I am a big fan of clickers and I agree they are a good way to get responses from all students without the fear of being wrong. As you were speaking on some bumps, I thought about how I am one of those people who constantly talks during any downtime in a meeting. I think technology integration will provide students the opportunity to stay alert and want to pay attention.
ReplyDeleteI am too familiar with having to give students a observation period with new manipulative or technology. Many times younger children have to explore and thoroughly find out what they have in their presences. I have seen the eggspert clickers by insight for younger children. These are cheaper for students in early developmental stages.
I sounds like your first try with the clickers was a big success! I really liked a lot of the questions that you were using with this group. I think that that's the exact type of question you want to ask them to keep them engaged. I am glad that you had so many positive results and that they were more engaged during this session. It seems like the fact that they've had experience with clickers before was a great help to them. As far as your bumps are concerned, I'm sure that as you use the clickers more you will find that perfect balance of keeping students engaged vs. bombarding them with questions. That's something that I'm sure will improve with time. You also mentioned that you thought it might not work as well with younger students because they wouldn't have experience with clickers. Having used them with my own group of fifth grade students before, I can tell you that it did not take them very long to adjust to using the clickers at all. My students found them very easy to use since there are only a few buttons. We simply had a talk in the beginning about not using them as a toy and from that point on we had no issues. I think the key to making them successful is simply setting up strong expectations in the beginning. It sounds like your project is going great so far! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of it!
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It sounds like this was a great experience for you and the college students. I enjoyed your video cast and being able to see what you are talking about. Great job.
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