Hey, math educators!
I hope you are all enjoying your summer break. I know I am. Sadly, I have only one month left before I will be whisked back into the four wall prison of the classroom with a new set of monsters, I mean, minds to mold.
Though the flames of passion are diminishing for me, I do still take the profession seriously. I continue to search for opportunities to bring into the classroom to provide a real-world experience for my students. Two programs I would like to share are: ClassBank and Kahoot.
ClassBank.
When you work at a Title 1 school, one major hurdle to overcome is financial literacy. Classbank is a site which allows students to have hands-on experience with managing money and financial literacy. What better way for future generations to learn about money management than in a safe environment.
I started using ClassBank last year, when my beloved Class-craft was bought out by an American textbook company. I needed to fill the void of losing an essential program to my practice, while making learning fun and beneficial. After scouring the internet for more than three hours, I found ClassBank. To learn about some basic functions the site offers, read the following article: ClassBank
Kahoot
Most educators know about the power of Kahoot. You create (or find) an online quiz to give students an opportunity to display their understanding of a topic in a gamified way. Furthermore, most educators will use the free version, which limits quizzes to multiple choice only. Whose who are daring enough will pay for a subscription and unlock further features of Kahoot, such as fill in the blank, polls, puzzles, and more.
I would like to recommend using the paid version of Kahoot. I started using the upgraded version during our most stressful year: the Pandemic. Students were kept at home, but the expectations to provide meaningful educations remained in place. Fortunately, Kahoot offered a discounted upgrade and I took advantage of it. Since then, I never went back.
Those who are dedicated to the craft know, multiple choice questions may not always provide the best measurement of assessing learning. Personally, I prefer fill in the blank or essays. True, not every child can write proficiently, but I take in account the writing skill level. At some level, every child should be able to articulate their learning, instead of simply relying on their ability to guess the correct answer. Kahoot’s fill in the blank can be a one-word response, which I find to be useful.
With an open response, I feel it’s the best way to assess student understanding, while the multiple choice option works well with strengthening skills. At my school, I have students who lack automaticity with multiplication. Creating a skill drill kahoot can help them memorize their multiplication facts in an entertaining way. Furthermore, there are many variations of a Kahoot game. There are co-op options as well (the students find these engaging). I am surprised how much Kahoot as evolved in the time since its launch, and I will continue to use as long as I am in the classroom.
These are two of the three programs I use in the classroom to aid with student learning and understanding. The good news: both programs accept school POs! So, put your card away and fill out the paperwork to have the school pay for the sites. Note: both sites require the use of more than one user in order to accept a PO. They will not accept a PO for individual licenses.
How about you? Have you tried any of these sites? Any tips, or tricks, you would like to share?
Which sites do you use? Which do you recommend?
Share in the comments below.