First of all, it has been FOREVER since I have posted. I apologize….March is a busy month, and things get crazy.
Second, I used my ActiVotes for the first time this week. My classroom is equipped with an ActivBoard by Promethean. Included with the ActivBoard are these little voters called ActiVotes. They are wireless, battery-operated student response devices. Until now, these little things have intimidated me and I have been scared to use them. However, my student teacher and I finally got them out and started to figure them out. For his teaching unit, my student teacher has to administer a pre-assessment and a post-assessment to evaluate student learning. This was the perfect opportunity to try the ActiVotes out. And boy was it cool!
I helped my student teacher create an assessment using content from his unit. We passed out the ActiVotes and gave a VERY simple explanation at how they work. I was amazed at how engaged and quiet the students were as they took the quiz. I shouldn’t be amazed as these kids have grown up with buttons and tech devices since they were babies. This was instinctual for them. But it was cool to have them excited about showing what they know and responding accurately to the quiz.
What I find most exciting is that once the assessment has been administered, results are automatically saved with that assessment. You can go back and analyze results, see who answered how, and which questions were easy/difficult, etc. You can even show the results to the students as opportunity to reteach and review. Even better, I can print out results, record them in my grade book, and actually assess student learning!!! Who said a music teacher of 900 students can’t assess and evaluate ALL students for learning and comprehension?!?!? 🙂
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