Plickers - An Online Assessment

I would consider myself to be a fairly tech savvy person.

Yet when it comes to my classroom, I don't incorporate as much technology as I would like.

I plan to change that next year and have been to a few technology workshop this summer looking for new ideas.

I have gotten so many great ideas that I spent the month of June with my brain on major overload.

One of the ideas that I'm excited to use is Plickers.

Have you heard of it?

So What Is It?

Back when I was in college I had to purchase a very expensive clicker for my biology class.  Every day we had a quiz at the beginning of class.  I would use my clicker to select my answer.  My individual clicker number would appear on the screen when I had answered.

Plickers is a lot like that.  

Only it's free.

How Does It Work?

Students use a Plicker (paper clicker) to answer the question.

You can see a picture of a Plicker up above.  It reminds me of a QR Code, which I love using in my classroom.

As the teacher you will need to install the free app on your phone or ipad so that you can scan the Plickers.

I was a little skeptical about this at first.  How much valuable time would I waste trying to scan all the plickers in my classroom.

Y'all it only took a couple of seconds to scan them all.

Getting Started

To get started you will need to download the app as I mentioned before as well as set up an account on their webbsite www.plickers.com

Print the Plickers for your students to use.

Because I have three different Math classes I created three different classes on the website.  However, I can use the same set of cards for all three groups.  Students from different classes can share the same card.

Once you have created your account and set up your classes you are ready to start creating questions.

Here are a few I have created about ratios.

Putting It To Use

Once you have everything set up, you are ready to use it with your students.  Spruce up your exit tickets or have fun reviewing for an upcoming test.  There are so many ways to use Plickers.

You choose a question to display for students.

They hold their card with their answer on top.

Use your app to scan the room.

Immediate feedback.

Glorious!!

I love that every card is different.  Students can't  decide how to turn their card based on their classmates' cards.

Keeping Up With the Cards

I do not plan to have my students keep up with their Plickers for a couple of reasons.

One..I want to use the same set for all three classes.

Two...They would lose them the first week.

Seriously!!

I have found several good ideas on Pinterest (What did we do before Pinterest?) for ways to store Plickers.

One teacher had students glue them in your notebook.  This would be great if you were only using one set.  She told students it didn't matter where the A was when they glued them in.  This ensured that their notebooks were all turned differently when they answered...again preventing them from copying from a friend.

Several teachers punch a hole in the corner of the card to hang them on a wall or bulletin board.

I love this idea of printing them a little smaller and using a pocket chart.

So yeah...

I'm absolutely giddy about using Plickers in my classroom next year.  

I think my students are really going to enjoy it.

If you are new to Plickers you can check out Pinterest for a ton of great ideas.

And if you have used Plickers in the past, I would love to hear from you.  Did your students love it?  How often did you do it?  How did you use it?