Embedding formative assessment with Plickers

I’ve recently started using Plickers in my classroom and have been really impressed by how useful it is. I teach at a state high school where few students have laptops or tablets and the ones who have phones usually don’t have data for 'educational purposes’.

Luckily, I learned about Plickers in a PD so I set about getting it up and running and tried it out that very week. I loved the novelty of being able to capture the answers of my students from the opposite side of the room and give them instant feedback on their answers.

I have been using it to review content at the end of each week or particular stage of the unit. I particularly like being able to include pictures in the questions and how it updates in real time.

Making it a routine

Initially it was somewhat time consuming to hand out all of the cards to the correct students so I came up with the idea of attaching Velcro dots to the back of each card and sticking them to a wall in the classroom. As you can see I have organised the cards by their number so students can quickly find their card and easily put it back in the correct spot when done. I display all of the students' numbers on the projector to remind them which card is theirs before letting them grab it.

I have found this system to work really well so far and the more it becomes a routine the easier and quicker it becomes. The students are really engaging with it and it provides me with a rich source of data to inform my practice (I even shared the score sheets with parents during interviews which really impressed).

Got Plickers? Let us know you’re using it!