New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

How can I make test prep review fun for students?

Utilizing technology in the classroom can support fun ways to prepare students for state testing to create a sense of excitement in any classroom. We must remember that our students are digital natives, and technology is second nature to them and their educational experiences. For many of our students, technology is expected, not an addition to their work at school. Children regularly use technology to communicate, share pictures and videos, and look up information that is pertinent to them. We must use this connection with technology, not fight it.

While it is vital that test prep activities are designed to engage all students, it is equally important that they also address and target standards for individual state testing assessments such as PARCC and CAASPP. Broad summative assessments only inform educators about one point in time. Students need to engage in a multitude of ongoing formative test prep assessments to ensure progress toward content mastery and confidence. Assessment variety should include gamification, categorizing, real-world connections, collaboration, multiple response type quizzes, and opportunities for students to engage in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) activities and brain breaks. 

5 Fun ways to review for test prep in the classroom

1. Spark excitement with educational games

Gamification in assessments can bring about an increase in student engagement. Friendly competition sparks excitement as well as engages students in an interactive setting. Time to Climb is an educational game appropriate for all ages of students. It can be used for targeted test prep linked to state testing requirements. Create your own review games and questions linked to a specific standard, or use an activity bank tied to specific learning targets.

Time to Climb allows students to receive immediate feedback on their progress through the activity. At the end of each timed question, students see if they got the correct answers or not. This immediate feedback will give them the information they need to be successful when answering the subsequent questions in the activity. Additionally, teachers can instantly see which students are being successful and which students need more support. You can even pause the activity in order to engage in a teachable moment if many students are struggling. Time To Climb is a great exit ticket or culminating checking for understanding activity during test prep season in order for you to be able to link progress or regression on a specific standard to an individual student.

2. Make learning interactive with Drag and Drop activities

Having students categorize information is a high-yield learning strategy. Key terms and vocabulary can be used in these activities to support test prep and content mastery. This type of activity supports learning by having students identify similarities and differences through categorizing, labeling, and matching.

Drag and Drop allows students to move either words and phrases or pictures into categories. One of the most powerful aspects of Drag and Drop is the ability to upload backgrounds. This helps to personalize the activity in order for teachers to target specific standards and learning goals. In using customized or downloaded backgrounds, students can drag and drop the names of capitals into states or countries, odd and even numbers into corresponding buckets, and vowel or consonant blends into words. Drag and Drop is a truly universal tool that can be used in all subject areas.

Matching Pairs activities give students the opportunity to connect vocabulary words with definitions, link together cause and effect properties, and practice math facts for faster memory recall. Take these test review activities for high school, elementary, and middle school students by having them submit their own vocabulary terms and content ideas for their peers to engage with. This creates a greater sense of learning ownership and inclusion.

3. Combine VR and simulations with interactive lessons

By using Nearpod in a test prep environment, students can annotate their thinking through interactive features such as the Virtual Reality (VR) Field Trip and PhET Simulations. By doing this, students are making their thinking visible to teachers and engaging in fun ways to review for a test. Combining these types of elements allows students to utilize higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy and reach the upper levels of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge.

For example, having students explore the tomb of Ramses III using VR Field Trips, noting the hieroglyphics on the walls. The teacher or individual students can take a screenshot of the hieroglyphics from the activity and post the picture on a Draw It slide. Students can then annotate their thinking on the picture by drawing on the slide or using a text box.

You can also take students on a nature walk using Virtual Reality (VR). On their exploration, students can identify certain types of foliage, ground coverings, and tree lines. By using a screenshot of the VR experience, students can then annotate on a Draw It to expand on their thoughts. By conducting this type of activity, students have more control and choice when it comes to their answers. 

The same notion can be applied to PhET Interactive math and science simulations. Students can complete the simulation and then take a screenshot of their work. For example, one of the simulations has students creating a shape with tiles of different areas and perimeters. Once students create these shapes, they can take a screenshot of their work, upload it to a Draw It, and then explain how each shape meets the required criteria.

4. Get real-time insights using multi-format quizzes

Multi-format quizzes are a more standard method of test prep. However, ensuring that data is tracked will help both teachers and students ensure that progress is being made. On Nearpod, Quiz content can be created to align with state testing standards and mirror testing formats of state assessments. Teachers can also monitor student performance data in real time from these formative assessments and address misconceptions at the moment.

Quizzes can be used in multiple ways to stimulate excitement and engagement in the classroom. Use quizzes for bell work as a way to both pre-assess as well as create an exit ticket to ensure that students leave for the day understanding the concepts covered during the instructional day.

One of the most powerful ways to support students while using quizzes is to insert reference media at the moment to give students a way to research the answer. Insert videos, websites, audio clips, pictures, and more alongside quiz questions to stimulate higher-level thinking. Mirror testing protocols from state and national assessments, getting students used to using different types of questions and answers format.

5. Temperature check the room with polls

Polls can be utilized to check the temperature of the room during test prep season. Create a Likert scale poll asking students how they are feeling about their level of knowledge of a certain content standard. This activity will help tests decide if they want to move forward with content delivery or pause to reteach certain elements. By having students self-assess their level of understanding, it helps to put them in the driver’s seat of their own learning journey. Leverage data-driven instruction and use the insights from students’ answers to create small groups for the next classroom review.

6. Make time for brain breaks!

Empirical research indicates that regular brain breaks from seat work help to increase knowledge retention and engagement during an activity. This is especially true in the younger grades, where teachers need to break instruction into small, digestible chunks in order to encourage retention at high levels.

Work in VR Field Trips into lessons that have students explore a beach, gardens, or other calming images to help relieve stress and to allow them to take a brain break. Students can then express their feelings in a Draw It or a Collaborate Board in order to support one another. Time To Climb can be another fun test prep idea to break up the stress of test prep by providing students with an entertaining, competitive outlet.

Another great way to give students a brain break is to bring movement into the classroom. Create a slide that takes students through a physical or breathing exercise, allowing them to disengage from academic work for a short period of time.

It’s time to make test prep review fun for you and your students

Test prep is often thought of as a necessary evil in education. However, Nearpod can make test prep interactive, engaging, and fun for all students, regardless of age or current ability. Access informative data to help inform the next steps with an instructional review or selecting individual students for reteach opportunities or intervention. By increasing engagement, teachers can get 100% of their students involved in test prep activities, leading to more successful learning outcomes for all students.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

David Franklin

Dr. David Franklin is District Strategy Consultant for Nearpod as well as an award winning school administrator, education professor, curriculum designer, and presenter. He earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from California State University, East Bay, a Master’s Degree in Education Technology from National University, and holds a B.A. in Music from the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Franklin is also an Adjunct  Professor of Education for Colorado State University. Dr. Franklin has presented at national and international education conferences and is a sought after presenter in the areas of academic intervention, school leadership, creating a shared vision, creating common assessments, and data analysis.

The post 6 Ways to make test prep review fun for students appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Formative assessments collect student data that provide insights teachers can use to inform the next set of instructional strategies, often making adjustments in real-time. Student assessment outcomes may indicate that teachers need to modify or even scrap their instructional plans in order to revisit or reteach concepts. There are many different types of assessments, from diagnostic assessments to summative assessments to authentic assessments. However, formative assessments are a common method teachers use for monitoring student progress daily.

Formative assessments provide teachers with real-time indicators of progress (or lack thereof) to make data-informed decisions when it comes to individualizing and personalizing instruction. These assessments can be active learning strategies—thumbs up or thumbs down, polls, quizzes, and the ever-popular “exit tickets.” But formative assessments are not just for teachers! They can also empower students using formative assessment to track progress themselves. Based on the frequency of formative assessments, students have more intel to drive their own learning journeys; they can seek out supplemental resources or practice materials depending on whether they are looking for more challenges or further support.

How to monitor student progress during a lesson

Teachers are ever observant and vigilant in monitoring student progress during a lesson. They can make observations about a student’s level and type of participation. They may use strategic questioning to gain evidence of student thinking and when tracking student progress. Many use active learning strategies such as think-pair-share to encourage collaborative learning and allow for peer-to-peer learning and feedback. Through such continuous analysis, teachers also can provide actionable feedback to students on an ongoing basis.

One of the hallmarks of Nearpod is that the comprehensive platform provides educators with real-time formative assessment data to monitor and modify instruction throughout the day. Allowing them to make “in the moment” instructional decisions to support student needs. Nearpod offers nine types of formative assessment:

• Drag & Drop
• Draw It
• Open-Ended Question 
• Quiz
• Poll
• Collaborate Board
• Fill in the Blanks
• Matching Pairs
• Time to Climb

The formative assessment data from these interactive features can be tracked whether a teacher is delivering a Live or Student-Paced Lesson lessons. When launching Live lessons, the content is synced across all student devices, allowing teachers to see every student and identify misconceptions. With Student-Paced lessons, students work at their own pace while teachers keep a finger on the pulse of individual students’ performance on activities, quizzes, and homework assignments. With both delivery methods, teachers can find comprehensive post-session reports via the Teacher Dashboard or downloadable CSV or PDF files.

During a Live lesson, click on Teacher View in the top right corner to see student responses to activities and assessments. You can share answers (anonymously, if you prefer) to highlight exemplars or address misconceptions. During a Student-Paced lesson, you can “View Progress” via a lesson code for any student in real-time.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

7 Tips for monitoring student progress with real-time formative assessment data

1. Choose the formative assessments that will provide the right insights

As mentioned above, formative assessments vary in format from strategic questioning and observations to engaging activities and assessments. Teachers employ multiple techniques and strategies depending on the format, content, and cadence of their lesson plans. The key is to pepper formative assessments throughout instruction so that students are actively participating and you are receiving feedback about individuals and the whole group.

Nearpod offers a variety of features that can help teachers use formative assessments when monitoring student progress throughout lessons. Consider how you might use Polls during an anticipatory activity to gauge prior knowledge of a new concept. Then, weave in an activity learning strategy like Collaborate Board throughout a lesson for quick checks of understanding. As an exit ticket, create a short multiple-choice Quiz or ask an Open-Ended Question to evaluate whether student learning objectives were achieved (and by whom!). These insights can help with data-driven instruction methods.

2. Embed formative assessments into lessons or stand-alone activities

Formative assessments can be bite-sized as well as more comprehensive. The trick is to immerse yourself in the many formative assessment strategies (see these active learning best practices to start) so that they become natural touchpoints for you to depend on throughout your daily instruction. Many say that teachers have eyes in the back of their heads, and while this sixth sense can help with classroom management, it can also help progress students toward reaching their goals.

Within a single Nearpod lesson, you can add a slide featuring a quick interactive check for understanding, like Fill in the Blank, or you can use Time to Climb to conclude a lesson with a bit of fun competition. Or, you might design a learning experience around a single activity. For instance, you could use Draw It to kick off a K-W-L chart or a Collaborate Board to capture small group work on a particular concept or problem. On Draw It, teachers can view students’ responses and data in real-time and share responses on students’ screens for discussions.

3. Provide feedback to individual students

Formative assessments provide teachers with rich data; then, the question can be, “Now what?” In addition to leveraging formative assessment data to design the next steps in instruction or even for planning a reteach, you can also intervene in the moment with targeted feedback. A continuous feedback cycle ensures that students stay engaged as you support them and boost motivation to strive toward their goals.

Nearpod’s feedback feature, Live Teacher Feedback, helps you provide such a continuous feedback cycle so that students don’t have to wait for support, encouragement, and praise. You can expand the toolbar on Draw It to add stickers or annotations to students’ work and responses within Nearpod. Screenshots of your feedback will appear in the associated student reports and notes as well. Students will be able to see your feedback in real-time, which helps them learn from errors and misconceptions, ask questions, and try different strategies.

4. Share student work

Many teachers appreciate the notion of “show what you know” when it comes to asking students to demonstrate their understanding, proficiency, and mastery of a new concept or skill by sharing their work. Teachers can use examples of student work to highlight where common missteps can occur. They also can share examples to showcase exemplary work or to applaud innovative thinking or self-expression.

Students can submit their work using the variety of interactive activities found in Nearpod. Tools like Draw It provide students a choice in how they demonstrate their learning based on their ability or preference, through drawing, writing, typing, or images. Teachers can share student work on the devices to encourage them to demonstrate their skills while developing mastery. Collaborate Board encourages peer-to-peer learning as well as peer-to-peer feedback. This feature is used as a digital discussion board where students share responses using text or images while commented on with their peers’ posts. Both tools provide evidence of student thinking that the teacher can monitor and share with other students.

5. Monitor class performance to check understanding

Teachers strive for student engagement, but the reality is that students’ attention can wax and wane throughout a lesson for many reasons—from the commotion outside a school window to the lack of personal interest in a topic. Therefore, teachers are masterful at weaving checks for understanding throughout even an hour of instruction. They may incorporate subtle personalized learning strategies to gauge understanding while also giving students voice and choice about what to pursue so they can take ownership in furthering their learning, whether that be asking for more support or seeking out a new challenge.

Nearpod’s Teacher Dashboard provides a turnkey way for educators to check whether or not students have started an activity or lesson and how they are progressing. Having formative assessment data analysis for progress monitoring student growth means that you can make informed decisions in the moment about how to challenge or modify instruction for a student, a group of students, or the entire class. You may choose to pull one or many together for a quick mini-conference to individualize the learning a bit more.

6. Adjust learning in the moment

In a popular Friends episode, Ross yells out, “Pivot!” at the top of his lungs. Teachers are nimble and applauded for their flexibility in response to classroom needs. By continually weaving formative assessment strategies into monthly, weekly, and daily lesson plans, teachers can rely on real-time data analytics to make informed decisions about what to teach next and how to do so. Additionally, integrating tailored standardized test prep into these strategies empowers educators to effectively address and reinforce key concepts necessary for student success.

Remember, you can duplicate and modify any existing Nearpod lesson. You may choose to add more interactive activities on the fly to boost your formative assessment strategies within a particular lesson. During Live lessons, you can also launch the Whiteboard for a more collaborative and visual discussion. Also, you could use the Live Annotation feature to highlight, draw, or type on content slides in real time to encourage more interactivity and model for students.

7. Use lesson data to differentiate

Teachers know they have a diverse classroom when it comes to varying personalities, ages and stages of development, and ranges of abilities. The first day of school is filled with anticipation as teachers meet their learners often for the very first time. With such a group of individuals in mind, teachers nowadays avoid “teaching to the middle” regarding skills or being a “sage on the stage” preaching to the crowd. Instead, they try to personalize and individualize learning plans, so much of their lesson preparation is thinking of ways to differentiate instruction based on anticipated needs. 

The real-time data collection that Nearpod provides means that teachers can differentiate instruction, targeting support and challenges accordingly. Many teachers plan for such differentiation, yet the data means that they can employ such strategies as needed in the moment, preemptively avoiding frustration or disengagement. Nearpod empowers teachers to recognize and address differentiation and thereby provide a more tailored and targeted approach to instruction. Nearpod supports needs-based decision making in classrooms and schools, and aligns with intervention approaches such as response to intervention (RTI) and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).

Start using Nearpod for monitoring student progress

Periodically reassessing goals is essential for both teachers and students, as goal setting can evolve or expand over time. Teachers’ and students’ goals can shift or stretch at any time, but it is best to take this moment to reflect on what the data says in order to make informed decisions for the last half of the year. Formative assessment examples can be a teacher’s best friend when it comes to encouraging student participation, connections, and confidence building. Student engagement grows when they make progress and their curiosity is sparked. Explore new ways to use Nearpod’s nine formative assessment tools during the rest of this school year to help you monitor progress and enhance instruction.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post How to monitor student progress with real-time formative assessment data appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access the resources on this blog post and create their own interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Why is classroom management important?

Effective classroom management is important for both students and teachers throughout the school year, significantly impacting student outcomes and their overall learning experience. A permissive or indulgent classroom management style can hinder the development of a positive relationship between students and educators, potentially disrupting the classroom culture. Conversely, good classroom management involves finding the right balance between levels of control and student involvement, keeping students engaged while accommodating diverse learning needs. It’s essential for teachers to adapt their teaching style to maintain an effective classroom learning environment where students feel supported, respected, and motivated to excel.

What are the 4 classroom management styles and their benefits?

Classroom management typically involves four main styles: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and neglectful. The authoritarian style focuses on strict rules, high control, and clear expectations, but it might stifle creativity and discourage independent thinking. In contrast, the authoritative approach combines firm guidelines with a supportive environment, fostering discipline while allowing for student autonomy and creativity. On the other hand, the permissive style offers flexibility and encourages self-expression, yet it may lead to challenges in maintaining order and structure. Finally, the neglectful style lacks involvement and direction, resulting in a chaotic learning atmosphere that hinders both discipline and academic progress. Each style has its strengths and weaknesses, highlighting the importance for educators to strike a balance tailored to their students’ needs and the classroom dynamics.

8 Effective classroom management strategies using Nearpod

1. Visibility to on and off-task behavior

At any point during a Nearpod lesson, teachers have insight into which students are on-task. If a student navigates away from the lesson, the dot next to their name will turn red. Teachers are empowered to choose the classroom management strategy that works best for them to address this.

2. Ensure 100% student participation

In order to ensure 100% participation, every student needs to feel empowered to contribute. Often, some students are quick to participate while others need more time to generate ideas (or courage!) to share.

Nearpod’s formative assessment features, like Polls, Time to Climb, Matching Pairs, and so many more, empower educators to provide multiple ways for students to demonstrate what they know. Since students respond on their own devices, EVERY student can answer every question, and teachers can see in real-time which students have submitted answers and which need more time.

TIP: Don’t have a class with 1:1 devices? Need students to shift their attention to the front of the class? Nearpod’s Front of Class mode allows you to share your video on a screen so students can watch together and prompt discussions with formative assessments woven throughout the lesson. New to Nearpod? Our Interactive Videos are the best way to get started teaching in Front of Class mode!

3. Receive immediate feedback and post-session reports

Teachers can view student responses in real-time, which means they can respond quickly to misconceptions (or situations where students have already mastered the topic!) to create an environment of providing feedback and prevent common classroom management issues that arise from these situations. This empowers teachers to foster classrooms where students feel heard and know that their individual learning is important. Since the teacher can easily see which students are struggling with a certain concept, they can intervene with targeted coaching and small groups immediately.

Teachers can share individual student responses with the whole class anonymously. This allows for a safer space for error analysis or an easy way to celebrate exemplar responses!

After the lesson, student responses and performance data are found in the Nearpod reports section. 

4. Benefit from synchronous devices

Ensuring all students are on the same page can be time-consuming with many print or digital resources. With Nearpod’s device synchronization, you can feel certain that all of your students are on the same screen (remember: check for the red dot to know if a student has navigated away!).

5. Boost accountability for independent work 

Student-paced Nearpod lessons are as impactful as Live lessons, allowing for the same level of engagement when students are working independently. This is especially helpful when in distance learning environments. Just like Live lessons, these lessons collect session reports, so you can review student work during or after the session. Student-Paced mode can also be used to provide make-up work for students who are absent, making it easier to catch up after a day out.

6. Promote ownership of learning with Student Notes

The Student Notes feature on Nearpod empowers students to take ownership of their learning. They can take notes during class and receive their notes, along with all media and the answers they’ve submitted during class, by email, OneDrive, or Google Drive. This allows students to organize their notes and come prepared for assessments or projects.

7. Never sweat a sub day again 

It’s no secret that one of the most stressful classroom management moments is when you’re not there. That’s why Nearpod has made it easy to communicate substitute teacher plans and drive 100% student participation on sub days. Explore tips for using Nearpod’s Sub Plans by clicking below!

8. Weave SEL into every lesson 

Often, the best way to prevent common classroom management issues is by pre-teaching the social and emotional learning skills that support positive student behavior. Nearpod’s social and emotional learning (SEL) lessons make it easy for educators to incorporate SEL into their classroom routines and increase student investment in contributing to a positive, empowering learning environment.

Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness K-12 Program offers resources to embed 21st-century skills like SEL, digital citizenship, and college and career readiness into every classroom. The Social and Emotional Learning collection includes lessons and activities that teach students core competencies, critical thinking, lifelong learning strategies, and growth mindset practices.

Start using these classroom management skills

Mastering effective classroom management skills is imperative for educators to create an optimal learning environment that encourages student engagement and success. Classroom management plans, exemplified by Nearpod’s interactive lessons and formative assessment tools, offer educators practical ways to maintain control while promoting student involvement. Embracing these methodologies not only ensures better student outcomes but also fosters an atmosphere where students feel supported, respected, and motivated.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access the resources on this blog post and create their own interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

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What is personalized learning?

The definition of personalized learning can vary. However, the U.S. Department of Education (2016) describes personalized learning as “instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for the needs of each learner. Learning objectives, instructional approaches, and instructional content (and its sequencing) all may vary based on learner needs.” The shift is in making instruction less teacher-centered and more student-driven. Barbara Bray and Kathleen McClaskey outline in their Stages of Personalized Learning Environments (PLE), Version 5 how agency is developed through seven elements: voice, choice, engagement, motivation, ownership, purpose, and self-efficacy.

This notion of agency goes hand in hand with personalized learning. Agency speaks to someone feeling they have control of and influence over their behaviors and actions; they feel they have the capacity or the ability to “get there” on their own. Personalized learning is often indiscriminately exchanged with individualized learning or independent learning, yet the terms vary just a bit in terms of intention. With personalized learning, the goal of instilling a sense of agency is foremost in educators’ minds. Personalized learning starts with the learner.

What are the benefits of personalized learning for students?

Due to the varying approaches to and definitions of personalized learning instruction, the body of research is slowly growing yet promising. However, it is commonly believed that the benefits include improved student outcomes and changes in attitudes, motivations, and behaviors. Early research by RAND Corporation and the Gates Foundation found positive indicators of student achievement. By the end of the 2014-15 school year, students who participated in personalized learning experienced a 3% improvement in both mathematics and reading. Particularly, those who began below the national average made substantial progress, nearing and eventually surpassing the national norms within two years. Regardless of achievement level, all students passed their comparison students in reading and math performance.

The role of technology in personalized learning

Technology plays a key role in personalized learning. One of the benefits of today’s modern technologies is the platforms, products, and tools that remove barriers so teachers can reach each and every individual student. With technological advancement, instruction can follow the learner’s lead and support with more individualized materials. Plus, with a much broader access to content, learning becomes more personalized to address the learner’s interests and curiosities. Technology allows for continuous monitoring and modifications, empowering educators to make more data-informed decisions.

Nearpod, a comprehensive K-12 platform, gives teachers personalized learning technology through its tools to actively engage students across the curriculum through its vast library of lessons and activities and its interactive features.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

How to create a personalized learning plan using student agency examples

1. Voice

Often, teachers may talk about giving students “voice and choice” in the classroom when it comes to personalizing learning. The voice aspect speaks (literally!) to allowing students to share opinions and perspectives on what they want to learn about. What do they want to dig into? What do they have questions about? How do they want to learn more? By tapping into a child’s passions and curiosities, educators take an interest-driven approach to education. A turnkey example is found in many elementary classrooms when teachers give their students time for “Free Choice Friday,” a block of time during which students can engage in one of several learning centers or activity options. Students become contributing participants in their own learning journey.

Nearpod is a comprehensive learning platform in part because of the wealth of lessons and activities it provides. You can use Nearpod’s interactive assessment features to gain insight into what students want to learn more about. Use tools like Collaborate Board, Polls, or Open-Ended Questions to ask this question and see student responses in real time.

Next, search the lesson library to find a lesson that aligns with students’ interests. Across the subject areas and grade levels, Nearpod has a robust library of content to support diverse interests. You can use these lessons as they are or use them as inspiration to create your own. Teachers can search by keyword or filter by standard or publisher, making it simple to find content on a particular topic to feed a child’s hunger for more knowledge. This high-interest, quality content can lead to further engagement and a sense of ownership, responsibility, and increased self-efficacy. This can also lead to improved self-regulation behaviors and practices.

2. Choice

Hand in hand with voice comes choice. By positioning students in the driver’s seat of their own academic success, you can further students’ sense of accountability. They become more invested when they can follow their passions and make and determine what they want to consume and when. Such “voice and choice” increases a student’s commitment to and investment in learning. They begin to employ higher-thinking skills to set higher expectations for themselves. With this deeper engagement, students are more likely to face and work through challenges and setbacks more successfully.

In personalized learning, the learner often chooses or even creates the customized learning activity. Through Nearpod, you can share lesson codes on a choice board and encourage the learner to pick one to pursue at a learning center. Through Collaborate Board, you can present open-ended assignments, focus on project-based learning strategies, or weave in authentic assessment strategies for students. Personalized learning can achieve the same learning objectives but in a variety of different ways.

3. Engagement

Ask any teacher, and they will say that student engagement is a daily goal for their instruction. Without it, teachers have an uphill battle to convince, cajole, and persuade students to be interested and involved. Active learning is a key ingredient to a successful recipe for classroom engagement. With student engagement comes intrinsic motivation to commit to becoming a lifelong learner. Such engagement increases when educators embrace the benefits of personalized learning.

Nearpod has features to create engaging quizzes to check for understanding, exit quizzes, or summative tests. These formative assessment techniques can help you take a more personalized approach to providing support and more challenges to those who need it. With Nearpod’s real-time data, you have insights into which concepts and skills students are grasping or still struggling with.

4. Motivation

While we as educators can provide gold stars and other forms of extrinsic motivation, we all aspire to build students’ intrinsic motivation. Personalized learning plans seek to discover and encourage individuals’ personal passions and interests. We try to find ways to let the student lead their own learning by delving into what they are curious about, seeking out answers to their own questions, and finding personal satisfaction by having that “aha” moment on their own. According to Ryan & Deci, 2020, a child who is more intrinsically motivated tends to be more participatory, more attentive, and more engaged. Such involvement can then lead to more enthusiasm as well as better performance.

Not only can teachers find a wide breadth of content, but the interactive content addresses multiple learning styles, encouraging students to consume, connect, and create in a way that speaks to their strengths. Nearpod offers gamification to help motivate students to do their very best. Interactive activities like the Time to Climb quiz game help increase engagement and friendly competition while assessing student understanding. Such interactivity can bolster intrinsic and extrinsic motivation by providing feedback, encouragement, or reinforcement for completing a task well. You can find premade Time to Climb quizzes in the Lesson Library or create your own.

5. Ownership

Student ownership is just as it sounds—it is when students believe that they are in control of their learning and have a say in their own education. A sense of ownership comes from an established relationship between teachers and students that is based on mutual respect and trust. Teachers work diligently to create such a safe and positive classroom culture. According to the American Psychological Association: “When students feel a sense of ownership, they want to engage in academic tasks and persist in learning.” Many teachers build such a culture by having regular check-ins and mini-conferences with the students. This helps them understand where students are in the learning process, what they need to work on, and how best to achieve success. This pride of ownership translates into a sense of autonomy and independence that has benefits far beyond the classroom’s walls.

Nearpod encourages ownership by helping students reflect on their own learning needs at their own pace with the Student-Paced mode. During any Student-Paced lesson, students can take their time completing formative assessments and exploring informational slides, videos, VR Field Trips, or PhET simulations to cement their learning. This flexibility celebrates students’ achievements as they reach them, unencumbered by time constraints or peer pressures. A student’s sense of ownership complements and plays into the other elements of a personalized learning plan.

6. Purpose

All individuals, young and old, aspire to have a sense of purpose. As kids grow developmentally, they want to make sense of the world and find their place in it. Purpose in the classroom can come through understanding how learned skills have applicability to the real world, today’s society, and tomorrow’s professional dreams. Every teacher has probably heard the resounding refrain, “Why do I need to learn this?” By showcasing how activities and projects can build one’s readiness for life outside of school, students will develop a more sound sense of purpose when it comes to learning.

To support students in defining a sense of purpose, Nearpod can support teachers in providing a continuous feedback loop. Nearpod eases the friction of providing diverse content and adaptive interactivity by offering many different assessment tools. Using tools like Polls and Multiple-Choice Questions, students can self-check their understanding of a topic and gauge their progress toward goals. Couple quantitative data with live teacher input, and students receive continuous feedback to help personalize their instruction. Timely feedback means a student can practice and implement the feedback as immediate next steps, with no gap. The new teacher-to-student feedback feature on Draw It permits teachers to intervene immediately, identify misconceptions, or provide additional support to boost student engagement and achievement. Students will begin to develop their own sense of purpose when it comes to learning.

7. Self-efficacy

Name that movie: “If you build it, he will come.” In Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner’s character exhibited great self-efficacy. At its core, self-efficacy is an individual’s belief in or perception of their ability to reach goals based on their own competencies and behaviors. Therefore, self-efficacy is closely tied to one’s sense of aspirations. However, there are many influencing factors such as past experiences, modeling by and feedback from others, and one’s own emotional state. Students need to develop a strong sense of self-efficacy for academic success and personal well-being. Such self-confidence will help them find success not only in the classroom but in life.

Nearpod offers a suite of resources called the 21st Century Readiness Program. Within this program, teachers can take advantage of social and emotional learning (SEL) materials from trusted organizations like Common Sense Education and more. Over 400 SEL lessons, activities, and videos underscore CASEL’s five core competencies. These SEL lessons and activities will encourage students to set lofty goals, build their confidence, and persevere through setbacks.

8. Targeted instruction

When it comes to targeted instruction, teachers align goals to students’ needs and vice versa. It is a continuous process in which educators must rely on data (in conjunction with a teacher’s intuition) through observations and assessments. Such intel then informs shifts and revisions to one’s learning plans. Targeted instruction is nuanced and requires a hefty dose of flexibility.

Nearpod supports targeted instruction because a wide range of content can be delivered to a whole class or individuals, all within the same instructional period. Nearpod’s real-time data and post-session reports give teachers a tangible dashboard of progress—or lack thereof—with a lesson and provide them with options for addressing the most diverse needs. As targeted instruction is a core pillar of personalized learning, do remember to celebrate even the small wins to develop that intrinsic motivation.

Start using Nearpod to create a personalized learning plan

As with most teaching endeavors, a hallmark of good personalized learning is getting to know your students, both academically and personally. Remember to ask a lot of questions and keep copious notes. This will help you hone your approach to reaching each and every child. Share personalized learning examples with your staff regarding voice and choice, engagement, motivation, ownership, purpose, and self-efficacy. Encourage students to become agents in their own learning pursuits. Showcase how such an investment in time and effort can yield exponential results regarding progress and enthusiasm for learning overall.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post How to create a personalized learning plan using student agency examples appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

How to use technology for student assessment data analysis

Summative assessments—such as standardized tests or class exams—provide teachers with crucial insight into class trends. Analyzing that data gives us a tangible sense of how deeply they have learned a topic. It elucidates their strengths and weaknesses. With Nearpod, teachers can give a Quiz or other assessment activity as a summative assessment of the unit and analyze the data from a Nearpod post-session report for insight into the effectiveness of their teaching.

Formative assessments are crucial tools that offer real-time feedback on students’ learning progress throughout a lesson or unit, unlike summative assessments that evaluate learning at the conclusion of a period. On Nearpod, these ongoing assessments enable educators to gauge student understanding during the learning process. The quickest way to close gaps in your classroom is intentional instruction that responds to what you see here.

Through Nearpod’s interactive features, teachers can deploy various formative and summative assessment activities, such as polls, quizzes, or interactive tasks, to capture insights into comprehension levels. This insight can be used for your reteaching strategies supported by data driven instruction.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

5 Reteaching strategies that use data to drive instruction

1. Analyze test data effectively

Analyzing test scores and data can seem overwhelming, but it does not have to be. This is crucial when understanding why and how to use data to drive instruction for your reteach. Use these steps year-round to improve student learning, especially when preparing for standardized testing.

To effectively analyze summative data, follow these steps:

1. Calculate the average student performance for each standard on the exam.
2. Analyze the questions aligned to low-performing standards and look for trends in the incorrect responses of your students. Are students selecting the same wrong answers? Is there a conceptual misconception that needs to be cleared up? Are there lagging skills students need to perform this task?
3. Look at individual students’ work to understand misconceptions more deeply. Are there patterns in student errors that you couldn’t see from just the data?
4. Select low-performing, high-priority standards for whole-class reteaches. Try and interpret the standard deeply: what would students have to know or be able to do to show they’ve mastered a standard?
5. Identify the students who lack the background knowledge to master that standard so you can provide extra scaffolding.
6. Identify other standards where smaller pockets of students haven’t shown mastery to plan small-group remediation.

2. Address errors and misconceptions to students

When exploring how to reteach a lesson, bring the analysis from the data collected into your planning. Be sure you explicitly name the error or conceptual misconception you found, and then start interacting! This will help students who struggle with a concept truly understand areas of improvement. The more your kids can explore and attempt similar challenges, the stronger their understanding will be.

Nearpod is an ideal platform to address errors and misconceptions. With numerous formative assessment options, teachers can use assessment data to inform and address any misconceptions in the moment. Even better, teachers can use the live whiteboard to address an error or misconception in a lesson before it’s too late, supporting students better than ever.

3. “Chat the error” problem

One reteaching activity is to use a “chart the error” problem. In this type of lesson, students are shown an incorrect work sample and must analyze the incorrect work. Usually, this incorrect work reflects the most common mistake revealed in the data. This insight will support you when using data to drive instruction to impact student learning and success.

In Nearpod, teachers can use Draw It, an easily accessible drawing assessment activity, for this method. Students interact with the problem by annotating the mistakes made by the incorrect student. Then, they actively mark up and correct the student’s work, further gathering data you can use for future instruction. Nearpod’s Draw It is a perfect way to support student annotation of an error. To give immediate feedback, teachers have the ability to give personalized feedback during a lesson with Live Teacher Feedback using reaction stickers.

4. Ask students to vote for the correct/incorrect work

Another reteaching activity is asking students to vote between two pieces of work. In this strategy, students see two work samples; one sample shows correct work, and the other shows work that reflects a common misconception among your students. Students look at both answers and then answer a Poll where they vote for which student answered the question correctly. With a Poll on Nearpod, you’ll get immediate and personalized information, which will help when using data to drive instruction. You can also cherry-pick students who voted correctly to share their thinking with the class and support students who may be struggling. You can use this activity as an exit ticket for a quick check for understanding at the end of a lesson. For deeper reteaching strategies, use the data collected from the results to divide your students into targeted work groups.

5. Ensure continuous improvement through reassessment

After implementing your lesson, always have a plan to reassess so that you can gauge the effectiveness of your reteach strategies and guide further instruction. Formative assessment tools on Nearpod, like the student-favorite quiz game Time to Climb, allow real-time insight into students’ comprehension. Offer opportunities for retesting or redoing assignments to showcase improved understanding. Conduct one-on-one conferences or peer assessments to personalize guidance and foster collaborative learning. Utilize portfolio reviews, project showcases, and reflection activities to encourage self-assessment and demonstrate mastery. Regular reassessment not only evaluates progress but also guides targeted interventions, enabling teachers to adapt and provide tailored support, fostering a more responsive and successful learning environment.

Start using Nearpod for your data-driven reteach

Merging reteaching strategies and using data to drive instruction is crucial for fostering comprehensive student learning. Recognizing the impossibility of instant mastery, educators must target their teaching methods to accommodate diverse student needs. Nearpod helps teachers facilitate in-depth student performance analysis, offering insights into individual strengths and weaknesses. By utilizing various assessment tools, teachers can adapt instruction dynamically, creating an effective learning environment. From analyzing data to addressing misconceptions, these strategies empower educators to teach, reteach, and foster continuous improvement, nurturing classrooms for student success. With targeted interventions and creative, interactive lessons powered by Nearpod, your students will thrive.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

The post 5 Reteaching strategies that use data to drive instruction appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Why do some students lack motivation?

Students may lack motivation due to various factors such as external hardships in their home life, a disconnect between learning and real-world applications, disinterest in the subject matter, potential undiagnosed learning challenges, and the developmental stage affecting their ability to foresee the consequences of disengagement.

Perhaps there are extenuating circumstances in their home, whether it be familial strife or lack of food, that can cause them to lack presence and connection to the classroom or instruction. Too often, we’re unaware of the many layers of a child’s life and the stressors they encounter daily. Lack of motivation can come from not understanding the real-world applicability of skills. Students need to learn the skills alongside the use cases – and that use case can’t just be for a test this coming Friday. Perhaps a student lacks motivation because the subject just doesn’t interest them.

Passion is a critical driver in learning, so many teachers aim to help students make personal connections so that the content sparks interest. Or, a child may be facing an undiagnosed learning disability that is constantly keeping them from feeling successful. Furthermore, developmentally, younger students live more in the moment. They don’t fully comprehend the longer-term ramifications if they don’t engage, since their prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed – meaning they may lack the foresight for reasoning, judgment, and planning.

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the classroom?

In the classroom, teachers strive to personalize and individualize lessons to reach every child, and the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is crucial. There are two forms of motivation: Intrinsic motivation originates from within, driven by personal satisfaction, leading to increased persistence and enjoyment; extrinsic motivation relies on external rewards or pressures.

Intrinsic motivation speaks internally. In an ideal world, all motivation would be intrinsic. One’s drive and sense of purpose toward accomplishing a task or goal is done for one’s own satisfaction. Research shows that intrinsic motivation can lead to more persistence and more enjoyment. In a classroom, intrinsic motivation can be seen when a child chooses a title on their own because they want to dive into a book or when they keep their head down to solve a problem because they’re up for the challenge. A child who is intrinsically motivated tends to be more attentive, more participatory, and more engaged, and thus can perform better and realize higher achievement (Ryan & Deci, 2020).

When there is a carrot at the end of a stick or a brass ring, so to speak, the motivation becomes extrinsic. Extrinsic motivation comes from the desire for a reward or to avoid negative consequences. So, if a child is trying to earn a goodie from the prize box or please a parent with a good grade, that drive isn’t from within. Now, extrinsic motivation does have its place in the classroom: There are good forms of it when it can provide feedback, encouragement for something outside one’s comfort zone, or reinforcement for completing a task well. Grades are a form of extrinsic motivation, and most teachers use them to applaud students’ work or frame how they can do better. How they do or do not internalize such feedback is up to the students. Often, it can be helpful to look at the Motivation Matrix (internal-positive; external-positive; internal-negative; external-negative). While all the quadrants can lead to change, only internal-positive motivators tend to be associated with personal happiness.

How teachers can boost student motivation for academic excellence

According to Dr. Anders Ericsson, motivation is the most significant predictor of success. Those with motivation can make and manage change, prepare, take action, and persevere toward goals. There are several ways teachers can help encourage student motivation throughout the school year, day in and day out.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Interactive technology tools like Nearpod can support educators in boosting student motivation.

Teachers can sign up for free below to access the lessons in this post and create their own interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

1. Spark their interest

At the beginning of each school year, take the time through surveys, interviews, and good old conversations to get to know each child. What do they like? What do they shy away from? Use the trick of asking five “whys” to drill down to the root cause of a child’s nascent opinion. Then, lead them to high-interest content to help them dive deeper into a topic or broaden their horizons on another. Such motivational activities for students can yield great results.

Nearpod offers a robust library of standards-aligned content, and you can let students pick their own paths and take an active learning approach when it comes to exploring subjects and working through levels of proficiency.

Additionally, Nearpod gives you the option to integrate high-interest multimedia content, catering to students’ diverse passions and backgrounds. Incorporate dynamic media such as Virtual Reality (VR) Field Trips and Interactive Videos into their lessons. Teachers can tap into students’ interests and connect classroom content to their real-world experiences. This not only captivates their attention but also fosters a deeper connection to the subject matter, ultimately fueling their motivation for academic success.

2. Let them drive

Another way to motivate students in the classroom is to empower them with a sense of agency through student voice and have them make choices based on their own personal interests. Research from Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan in the 1970s and 1980s put motivation on a continuum. The self-development theory (SDT) ranges from amotivation, the lack of any motivation to engage students in tasks or activities, through layers of extrinsic motivation, to intrinsic motivation. Their early work highlighted the need for individuals to feel self-determined, self-directed, and autonomous, and to have a sense of control over their lives and destiny.

Curiosity is the engine of achievement.

Sir Ken Robinson

Nearpod supports student choice and voice through interactive features like Collaborate Boards and Open-Ended Questions, enabling students to share their perspectives, collaborate with peers, and engage in meaningful discussions. This fosters a sense of ownership and autonomy in their learning journey, as they can contribute their unique insights and learn from others.

By providing a platform for student voice and choice, Nearpod helps create a student-centered learning environment that values their opinions, promotes active engagement, and encourages student ownership in their learning experiences.

3. Encourage the “pleasantly frustrating” paths

Professor James Paul Gee has written seminal research on learning and video games. He’s known as the godfather of game-based learning (GBL). He touts several good “learning principles” that video game design has exemplified in terms of hooking and incentivizing students. By challenging kids with levels of achievement, you can help motivate students find an inner drive to keep moving ahead, one step at a time.

Check out Nearpod’s educational game Time to Climb to encourage students to push themselves a bit more under gamified conditions. Digital platforms like Nearpod allow for in-the-moment interactivity that is designed to push the child to try and try again.

Nearpod’s Time to Climb and other educational games contribute significantly to the promotion of active learning and student motivation. The competitive element, sense of achievement, and enjoyable experience provided by these games enhance student engagement and encourage active participation in the learning process.

For example, in a science class, a teacher can use Time to Climb to reinforce concepts related to the water cycle. The game can present questions with visuals and scenarios related to the topic, challenging students to apply their knowledge. Students can compete against their peers to climb the leaderboard by answering correctly and quickly. This not only encourages active participation but also creates a sense of achievement and enjoyment as students progress through the game.

4. Show the long-tail effect

Developmentally, many students struggle to think about the long-term future. Jim Taylor, Ph.D., writes that motivation to change often begins with the 3 D’s: direction, decisions, and dedication. So, teachers often become masterful storytellers who weave tales of the real world, future careers, and passions to encourage student motivation. They showcase subjects like math outside of drill-and-kill worksheets and word problems by sharing everyday practices or career-advancing (and enhancing) skill sets that rely on math proficiency. Students need to understand that they are not learning for learning’s sake alone; they are learning to whet their appetite to expand and hone their skills.

Learning isn’t confined to specific subjects; it’s about acquiring a toolkit of skills that empower individuals to analyze problems, make informed decisions, iterate on ideas, and share their insights effectively. By integrating crucial skills known as the 5Cs – critical thinking, computational thinking, collaboration, creativity, and effective communication – educators can show students the real-world relevance of their studies in their lessons. Nearpod’s interactive platform allows teachers to seamlessly weave these essential skills into their lessons, illustrating their long-term value in preparing students for success in any field they choose to pursue.

5. Provide feedback

Everyone likes a gold star once in a while. Extrinsic motivation isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as it’s not excessive to the point of having an overjustification effect, where the extrinsic cancels out any intrinsic motivation. Consider ways to give feedback that builds their confidence, encourages them to reach just a bit higher, and rewards them for taking chances. Remember that asking questions and modeling active listening is a way to provide authentic feedback.

Nearpod’s formative assessment tools provide you with real-time data on student responses so that you can plan your instruction not only for the whole group but for individuals as needed, just in time. The best feedback is given immediately.

The true power of feedback lies in its immediacy – addressing questions and misconceptions while they are fresh in students’ minds. Nearpod’s feedback features, such as stickers and writing options for teachers in Draw It and Drag & Drop learning activities, enable educators to respond instantly to each student, tailoring guidance to their specific needs and ensuring that the learning experience remains personalized. By harnessing Nearpod’s capabilities for real-time feedback, teachers can motivate students to thrive and excel academically, creating a supportive learning environment.

6. Talk about procrastination

Procrastination for many is not merely a time management issue, postponing a more important task in favor of a less important one. Often, procrastination is an emotional management conundrum when fear, frustration, anxiety, insecurity, or self-doubt thwart the best of plans. Students and adults alike battle with procrastination. Procrastination can cycle and build into negative thought patterns called procrastinatory cognitions (the Procrastinatory Cognitions Inventory (PCI) has 18 such items). Social and emotional learning (SEL) supports students’ development of self-awareness and self-regulation skills, which can help in such emotional management. SEL promotes a growth mindset and grit, too.

Nearpod offers over 400 SEL lessons, activities, and videos built on CASEL’s five core competencies in the 21st-Century Readiness Program. This program offers a simple method for incorporating SEL practices, such as fostering positive interactions, promoting gratitude, facilitating reflective moments into daily learning routines, and contributing to the establishment of safe, inclusive, and effective classroom environments.

Nearpod also offers free social and emotional learning (SEL) lessons and activities. Features such as Collaborate Board, Draw It, Drag & Drop, Time to Climb, and Interactive Video can be used for emotional check-ins and practices. Here are some examples of motivational activities for students:

• Time to Climb: Social Emotional Learning (Grades 3-5)
• Collaborate Board: Share Your Mood (Grades 6-12)
• Collaborate Board Check-In (Grades 2-12)
• Interactive Video: Mantras (Grades 3-8)
• Interactive Video: What Is Empathy? (Grades 6-8)

7. Show that you’re human, too

So much of what teachers do well is model. And modeling means showing the messy side of life, too. When motivating students to learn, share how you’ve failed forward and pushed through tough times or daunting tasks to inspire them. Talk about lofty goals you had and how you modified or broke them down into smaller goals that build upon one another. Illustrate how strong goals are reframed as SMART goals. Share future goals that you have and the power of “yet” – that you have yet to achieve it all.

Share some of Nearpod’s lessons and activities on goal setting to motivate them forward:

• Time to Climb: Goal Setting (Available for grades 3-6)
• Time to Climb: Time Management (Grades 6-8)
• Interactive Video: Growth Mindset (Grades 4-12)
• Lesson: Goal Planning (Grades 3-5)
• Lesson: Setting Goals (Grades 6-8)

Boost student motivation with Nearpod’s support

Staying motivated is a key goal not only for our students but for teachers, too. We are facing high teacher attrition rates due to factors that are overriding teachers’ intrinsic sense of pride and purpose in their careers. Teachers are lifelong learners who look to inspire the next generation. As Samuel Johnson wrote, “Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.” Seek to motivate the curiosity in yourself and those around you! And just remember: “I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could!”

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Interactive technology tools like Nearpod can support educators in boosting student motivation.

Teachers can sign up for free below to access the lessons in this post and create their own interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post How to boost student motivation in the classroom for academic excellence appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Tools like Nearpod can be used by teachers to facilitate this process and allow for the quick and easy collection of formative assessment data. In turn, this data can be used to make a variety of improvements and adjustments to their lessons.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

3 Examples of formative assessments that work

1. Check for student understanding

One of the best ways to get started using formative assessments is to simply check in on how students understand a certain topic.

Teachers can check for understanding with Nearpod by using Polls, Quizzes, Collaborate Board, Time to Climb, Open-ended questions, and Draw It’s. As soon as students submit their responses, teachers will have an instant snapshot of their student’s understanding of a particular topic.

Teachers are able to capture student thinking from all students within their class, and teachers can even share out student responses with the rest of the class in order to promote discussions and correct misconceptions. This can often be more beneficial than simply calling on a few students to share their responses.

Jeff Krapels, an English teacher and technology mentor at Northern Valley Regional High School in New Jersey, explains how he uses Nearpod to check in on student understanding while teaching Romeo and Juliet:

“Usually, I will ask students to write down their answers [to discussion questions], and then call on a couple of them to share. Of course, some students will always be eager to participate, and some are more reticent. With Nearpod, though, you have the ability to see every student’s response to the questions you ask, and then the capability to share an individual student’s responses to every student laptop (this is anonymous, so it is up to the teacher if he or she wants to tell the class whose response it is).”

2. Collect student drawings and annotation screenshots

In addition to checking for student understanding through the use of Quizzes, Polls, and Open-ended questions, teachers can also have students submit annotated photos and screenshots through Draw It.

This can be useful in collecting formative assessment data from activities like science labs, graphic organizers, math problems, exit tickets, design challenges, or even during field trips!

Chris Loat and Janice Novakowski, teachers in Richmond School District, explain how they used this idea to support their colleagues across the district. One formative assessment example for elementary comes from using Nearpod in a math class:

“In this Math lesson, students provided their responses [through Nearpod] in two different ways: 1) Students completed the work in their notebook and took a photograph of their response, often circling the answer to highlight it;  2) Other students took a photograph of the hundredths grid and then annotated it on the iPad before submitting it to their teacher.”

3. Use post-session reports as actionable insights

Finally, teachers can use formative assessment data collected through Nearpod to generate reports and create actionable insights. All formative assessment data collected through Quizzes and Polls in Nearpod will automatically be formatted into graphs so teachers can instantly visualize performance and understanding across their class. This data can also be downloaded or exported so teachers can access it later or share it with others.

Educators can use insights from the reports to determine areas where students excel or struggle, identify patterns in learning gaps, tailor their teaching methods to better suit individual or small group needs, and make informed instructional decisions. Additionally, these insights can aid in adjusting curriculum pacing, providing differentiated instruction, offering personalized support, and fostering a more effective and engaging learning environment when assessing students.

Nick Acton, Primary Apple Specialist Trainer and Apple Curriculum Coordinator at JTRS, explains how this can be beneficial:

“When [students] have finished a quiz, Nearpod will automatically create a report for you. You can access the reports directly through the app and download the data as a PDF overview, a CSV file, as well as reports on individual students. This really helps [teachers] gain a completely comprehensive understanding of [their] class’ ongoing progress.”

Start using these formative assessment examples in your classroom

Nearpod is a beneficial tool to facilitate the collection and use of formative assessment data in the classroom. This use of additional formative assessment activities can also have major classroom benefits and help lead to increased student engagement and achievement.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

The post 3 Examples of formative assessments that work appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Why is formative assessment important?

Formative assessment fosters active student participation and provides immediate insights into their understanding. Mastering formative assessment strategies will help your students showcase their knowledge of and reflect on the material taught while providing the teacher with insight into their understanding. When teachers ask students to demonstrate their understanding through formative assessment during a lesson regularly, students become active in the learning experience and are able to cement or apply their knowledge. Through this instant feedback, teachers can tailor their instruction on the spot to immediately meet the needs of their students based on these insights.

How to use technology for formative assessments

We know the instructional value of consistent formative assessment in the classroom, but it has become a demanding practice to implement regularly for teachers with competing priorities. That is… until smart devices came into the picture. In fact, Ian Beatty at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst was one of the first to illustrate how personal smart devices in the hands of teachers and students could dramatically transform the ability to deliver and analyze the results of formative assessment. The integration of technology in the classroom provides teachers with real-time feedback that can be used to inform instructional decisions. Teachers can create personalized learning experiences, get immediate feedback on student learning, and conduct data-driven instruction, which can result in an improvement in student outcomes and engagement. Nearpod provides real-time insights into student understanding through interactive lessons, interactive videos, gamification, and activities — all in a single platform.

The research and benefits of formative assessment in Nearpod

The original platform design of Nearpod was inspired by a growing body of research around the positive impacts of consistent formative assessment and best practices for implementing them (Engle & Conant, 2002). In the beginning, teachers could facilitate Nearpod lessons from their devices that synchronized informational slides and a few options for formative assessments (open-ended questions, multiple choice quizzes, or polls) on student devices. As the educational landscape evolves, Nearpod has consistently enriched its suite of formative assessment tools with evidence-based solutions, supporting educators in adapting to the changing classroom environment.

Nearpod allows teachers to monitor real-time formative assessment data and share individual responses with the rest of the class, making students more eager to demonstrate their understanding. Also, teachers can access formative assessment data after any session in their post-session reports or on their teacher dashboard during instruction to monitor student progress. Now, Nearpod offers nine types of formative assessments to check for understanding in any lesson!

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

5 Evidence-based formative assessment strategies using tech tools

1. Provide diverse assessment options to keep students interested

No matter how beneficial a formative assessment may be, doing the same thing over and over can get repetitive and have a negative impact on classroom engagement. Truly effective formative assessments should deploy a variety of tasks to measure student understanding (Ames, 1992). Diverse delivery of assessment is associated with strong cognitive and emotional gains in students (McLaughlin & Yan, 2017). This research inspired the Nearpod team to build out a more comprehensive suite of interactive assessments that could be added to a Nearpod lesson. Nearpod added Fill-in-the-blanks and Matching Pairs to better scaffold student work and responses for identifying and define-level assessments. 

2. Provide opportunities for collaboration and creation

The introduction of the Collaborate Board allowed students to see and interact with peer-written responses, recreating the concept of a digital instructional “parking lot” and updating responses in real time on teacher dashboards. One study from 2010 showed that opportunities to “doodle” during a learning experience increased the likelihood of information retention (Andrade, 2010). The Draw It tool was created as a way to empower students who prefer expressing their understanding creatively. Students can submit drawings on a blank canvas or a background image uploaded by the teacher. The feature quickly became a teacher and student favorite!

3. Use reference media to support and scaffold student learning

For each interactive assessment, we try our best to remove any potential impediments from answering a question. One study found greater access to requisite background knowledge enhances online assessment outcomes (Fuchs et al., 2000). Accordingly, Nearpod developed the ability for teachers to add reference media, such as an image, a video, a website, or even an audio recording of a teacher’s voice, as an attachment to interactive assessments to give more background information.

4. Promote inclusivity and reduce biases during instruction

Not every student is willing to raise their hand publicly, and this popular method of questioning means many are left behind during formative assessments. Student-response systems increase participation and draw out reluctant participants. (Graham et al., 2007) Nearpod developed the optional feature to make student responses anonymous in order to promote increased participation and reduce feelings of vulnerability (Caldwell, 2007). In Nearpod lessons, the barriers to entry for participating are reduced compared to raising your hand in class.

One study found that teachers can maximize learning outcomes and promote inclusivity by allowing students to submit audio recordings in lieu of written responses (Dalton, Herbert, & Daysher, 2003). Nearpod has a feature whereby students can submit audio responses to an open-ended question. Cheryl Staats argues that every educator enters the classroom with some degree of implicit bias, manifesting itself in who gets called on, who is believed in, and general classroom attitudes (2016). It can be a hard thing to spot in oneself, let alone curb entirely, but technology can play a pivotal role in democratizing classroom participation and formative assessment strategies.

5. Incorporate educational games

Educational games create engaging, fun, and valuable learning experiences for students. These types of formative assessment tech tools help build 21st-century social skills and problem-solving skills and build community, all while learning and boosting student achievement. Games are most effective when well-planned and integrated into learning objectives. With Time to Climb, you can include an existing Nearpod lesson or use it as a quick stand-alone activity. Students compete to get to the top of a mountain by answering a series of questions correctly and quickly to become one of the top three winners of the game. Teachers can choose a setting, and students select a character. It’s a teacher and student favorite!

Start using Nearpod’s formative assessments

Formative assessment, especially with tools like Nearpod, has transformed traditional teaching methods. Teachers have attested to the fact that more students participate and participate consistently in Nearpod lessons compared to traditional lessons. Nearpod’s evolution showcases its commitment to supporting teachers with effective tools. Embracing technology-driven formative assessment not only enriches learning but also fosters an inclusive and adaptable educational environment where each student can thrive.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Works Cited in Research Base

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: principles, policy & practice, 5(1), 7-74.

Engle, R. A., & Conant, F. R. (2002). Guiding principles for fostering productive disciplinary engagement: Explaining an emergent argument in a community of learners classroom. Cognition and instruction, 20(4), 399-483.

Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of educational psychology, 84(3), 261.

McLaughlin, T., & Yan, Z. (2017). Diverse delivery methods and strong psychological benefits: A review of online formative assessment. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 33(6), 562-574.

Andrade, J. (2010). What does doodling do?. Applied Cognitive Psychology: The Official Journal of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 24(1), 100-106.

Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Karns, K., Hamlett, C. L., Dutka, S., & Katzaroff, M. (2000). The importance of providing background information on the structure and scoring of performance assessments. Applied Measurement in Education, 13(1), 1-34.

Graham, C. R., Tripp, T. R., Seawright, L., & Joeckel, G. (2007). Empowering or compelling reluctant participators using audience response systems. Active Learning in Higher Education, 8(3), 233-258.

Caldwell, J. E. (2007). Clickers in the large classroom: Current research and best-practice tips. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 6(1), 9-20.

Dalton, B. D., Herbert, M., & Deysher, S. (2003, December). Scaffolding students’ response to digital literature with embedded strategy supports: The role of audio-recording vs. writing student response options. Paper presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, Scottsdale, AZ.

Adam Franklin

Adam is a Learning Experience Designer at Nearpod. He previously taught High School History teacher in Houston, Texas where he also served as the Social Studies Department Chair. Adam is currently in charge of the quality control of Nearpod’s learning experiences. He is also the manager of the Digital Citizenship and Literacy program.

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How to make your own interactive Drag and Drop activity

Nearpod’s Drag and Drop activity allows students to sort, order, or label images or text sequentially or in groups. Educators can choose from an ever-growing collection of premade activities or create customized activities to meet specific classroom needs. To create your own, you can add a content background image and customize draggable items for the activity. When paired with all of Nearpod’s interactive slides-based lessons, interactive videos, and other gamification and activities, this feature gives teachers many tools to meet the needs of diverse learners.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

5 Ways to use Drag and Drop activity maker in the classroom

1. Label diagrams, images, and maps

With seemingly unlimited possibilities, these activities provide a visual and interactive learning opportunity, increase student engagement, and encourage retention. Start off by labeling diagrams, images, maps, patterns, and cycles. Here are some examples you can use in your classroom:

• Geography: Label the continents, oceans, and state flags
• Science: Label the parts of a plant, the parts of the brain, or the parts of an animal cell
• English Language Arts (ELA): Label the parts of speech in a sentence.

Here are some premade activities you can use:

• Locating & Identifying States: Northwestern States (Grades 3-5): In this activity, students identify the location of and label five northwestern states.
• Labeling the Parts of a Plant (Grade 4): Students can practice reading about and identifying the different parts of a plant.
• Labeling Parts of the Brain (Grades 9-12): Have students showcase their understanding of the brain by dragging labels to their correct positions.

2. Sequence events and information

Use a Drag and Drop activity maker to sequence events, steps, procedures, and information. Here are some examples you can use in your classroom:

• Social studies: Sequence the events leading up to the American Revolution
• English Language Arts (ELA): Sequence the order of events in a story: the beginning, middle, and end.
• Math: Sequence a collection of fractions on a number line

Here are some premade activities you can use:

• Representing the Numbers 14, 15, 16 (Grades K-1): In this Math activity, students will engage in practicing various methods of representing numbers using draggable objects.
• A Key Events Timeline: The Formation of the Union (Grades 6-8): Students show their understanding of crucial events that paved the way for the union’s establishment.
• Story Elements (Grades 6-8): Students will read a passage and identify the story elements.

3. Sort concepts and categories

Here are some examples you can use in your classroom to sort concepts, characteristics, properties, and categories:

• Science: Sort animals into groups, the five senses, and elements of the Periodic Table.
• Social studies: Sort the causes and effects of WWII and the powers of the three branches of government.
• Social emotional learning: Sort the steps for goal setting, categorizing emotions, and examples of empathetic and non-empathetic statements.

Here are some premade activities you can use:

• Local, State & National Government (Grades 3-5): Students explore the roles and selection processes of government officials at the local, state, and national levels and identify their services.
• Identifying Congruent Triangles (Grades 9-12): Students can sort triangles based on their characteristics
• Recognizing Emotions (Grades 6-8)*: Students identify how different situations can induce different emotions by ranking how they may feel in different scenarios.

*This lesson is only available on Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program.

4. Gather student responses to assess knowledge and gauge understanding

Providing students with timely feedback and support based on formative assessments is a highly effective way to enhance and improve a student’s learning. When teachers can create opportunities for feedback on a consistent basis, learning can reach a whole new level. Consider gathering feedback beyond the traditional assessment methods.

Create Drag and Drop game as an end-of-lesson or mid-lesson metacognitive check-in, gauge how students feel about learning a specific topic, or check in about the difficulty level of a homework assignment. These activities can aid students in indicating stress or focus levels or whether they find a lesson interesting or challenging.

5. Set expectations for learning and establish routines and procedures

Imagine having a tool that actively engages your students in understanding and establishing routines and procedures to allow your students to participate in building the classroom community. This will help create opportunities for students to become active participants in the classroom. Use interactive activities to sequence classroom procedures, gauge student understanding of classroom rules and policies, and take a snapshot of the level of excitement for a particular topic in the daily class agenda.

Use Nearpod’s interactive activities

As students physically engage with concepts through Drag and Drop elearning games, learning will be transformed into an immersive experience. These activities will prove to be a powerful EdTech tool in the classroom, enhancing learning and building stronger connections between teachers and learners and among classmates. Be sure to make these activities an integral part of instruction this school year and take advantage of our ready-to-launch standards-aligned activities, growing into the hundreds throughout this fall.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Jessica Clarke

Jessica Clarke is the Curriculum Manager at Nearpod.

The post 5 Ways to use Drag and Drop activity maker in the classroom appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

New to Nearpod? Sign up for free to access these activities. Explore interactive activities, standards-aligned lessons, and more!

4 Ways to increase student participation

1. Rich media in interactive lessons

Experiences like labs, discussions, and even field trips open up the door for hands-on, minds-on learning. These experiences are often students’ favorite part of a unit and drive engagement and participation even after the activity is over. With Nearpod, you can move from passive to active learning by adding Virtual Reality (VR) Field Trips, Interactive Videos, and simulations to drive connections and encourage participation through exploration while embedding questions that spark critical thinking and creativity. 

VR field trips

Our 350,000 VR field trips bring the world into the classroom, and now they are bringing the world into the homes of students. Our immersive VR experiences can be used on any device with or without VR goggles.

Simulations

Simulations can also be part of making those real-world connections. They engage students and the enrich learning process. Simulations allow students opportunities for exploration and hands-on, minds-on learning. With Nearpod’s integrations with PhET, you can easily embed math and science simulations into any lesson!

2. Engagement around formative assessments

Checking for understanding throughout your lesson not only drives student engagement but also gives teachers real-time insights into student learning. When classrooms aren’t physically together, it’s even more important for students to be able to show what they know and for teachers to get a pulse on what their students have learned. On the other hand, during regular in-person learning, not all students raise their hands. Nearpod provides the opportunity to hear from all students.

Formative assessment is a hallmark feature of Nearpod and student participation. You can choose from a variety of question types that give students multiple ways to demonstrate learning (and have fun!). Examples include Poll, Time to Climb, Draw It, and more. These activities are engaging for your students and provide you with reliable data on their level of understanding.

Add Nearpod’s formative assessment features to any point of your lesson or video for pre-determined checks for understanding, and hear from every student for every activity!

3. Fostering classroom community

Class community is an important part of increasing participation and engagement. With Nearpod, you can build classroom routines and foster class community, even from a distance.

Gamification

One way to create a class community is through routines that bring joy (and sometimes even a little competition) to your classroom. Try using our Time to Climb quiz game as a way to assess students’ prior knowledge or as a summative assessment at the end of the week. This can be built in a moment of structure that the whole class will look forward to, and the competition and excitement will engage your students, no matter where they are. You can create your own or use our premade Time to Climb quizzes from our Lesson Library.

Collaborate Boards

Our interactive virtual discussion board, the Collaborate Board, is a great way to encourage student interaction. Students contribute responses by posting them to the prompt on a message board. Responses can be text, images, or both, meaning that student participation can happen at anytime, and you can hide student names for anonymity. Collaborate Boards are great for:

• Priming class discussion
• Brainstorming ideas
• Reflecting on a skill or concept
• Sharing experiences
• Quick SEL check-ins

You can also add any of your favorite collaboration tools to your Nearpod lesson with a weblink.

Flocabulary

Another routine way to build community for class participation is by incorporating Flocabulary hip-hop videos to reflect student interest and identity during instruction. Flocabulary is a great way to introduce a new topic and teach vocabulary. You can leverage the supporting activities, like Vocab Cards, to reinforce what students have learned and provide opportunities to express creativity. At the end of a unit, students could use Lyric Lab to write their own rap about the topic they’ve learned. Flocabulary videos can be added inside Nearpod lessons or used on their own. 

4. Interacting via video

Interactive Video

The interactivity teachers and students value in Nearpod slides-based lessons is now available for videos! Video instruction is such a powerful tool for teachers. However, video on its own can be passive; students sit and watch rather than interact with the information.

In the classroom, you’d pause and ask questions at key moments during a video. With Nearpod, you can pre-determine these checks for understanding, even during asynchronous instruction, and every student has the opportunity to respond on their device.

Upload a video of yourself teaching, find the perfect video on YouTube, or check out our library of over 1,000+ videos with questions already built in!

Nearpod with Flip

Nearpod now has integrated with Flip, taking video-based conversations to a new level. Flip is like a discussion board that uses video rather than text. You can use it for:

• Book reports
• Reflections
• Teacher-student conferencing
• Class debates

Students can also record themselves answering your questions. Then, you might have their classmates like and share the videos. Using Nearpod with Flipgrid can help students feel more connected with each other.

By embedding Flipgrid into your Nearpod lesson, students have a seamless experience. Easily include Flipgrid after a media source to capture student reactions and add in other question types. Students access, all with one link!

Putting it all together

Ensuring student engagement and participation is even more of a challenge than ever. With these four ways to increase student engagement and participation, your students (and you!) will be eager to log in for the next lesson.

New to Nearpod? Sign up for free to access these activities. Explore interactive activities, standards-aligned lessons, and more!

Nearpod Team

Nearpod’s award-winning platform is used by thousands of schools around the globe, transforming classroom engagement.

nearpod.com/

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