But there is quite a lot more that Classkick can be handy for in the MFL classroom. I am now trying to experiment with more of its features: I have set a mini dictation - dictée - using the 'record' feature to speak a few sentences that they need to write out.
I'm now trialling its use for a listening exercise: I record myself reading a paragraph or several interactions of a dialogue, then set questions they have to answer on the page about the information given in the dialogue. The pupils write or type their answers alongside the questions and I can feed back to them directly on the page as they are doing it. On the page you see here, the first three questions are on this page and the second three questions are on the next page, to allow the spacing of the questions to be large enough for them to respond beside the question, using either text or the pen tool to write with their finger. As you will see below, that works pretty well, with no need for a stylus.
Signing up is blissfully simple for pupils: the teacher creates his or her own sign-up account and makes the assignment. Once created, you tap the + to add 'rosters', giving each one a name. That creates a tab with a colour of your choice and a unique code. You put the code up on the board and by entering and code and their name, each pupil is added to that class's roster automatically. It's worth mentioning that the children should use an agreed format for their name, as I have run into the problem that the first time they sign in they use Elizabeth, then on a subsequent sign-in they use Lizzy and thus end up on the class roster as two different people, or even three, if the third time they fancy being Lizzy Wizzy in a more frivolous moment!
You can see everyone's work live on your iPad and interact with them across the classroom, as if by magic! The first time I used it, I had to explain to pupils that they didn't need to walk out to my desk with their iPad to have it marked!
Finally, marking is a breeze: when the pupils have tapped 'please check' you can call up their work on your screen and feed back directly to that child on their screen, either by actually using the pen tool to make corrections, or you can create a set of quick-marking icons with customised phrases which you just need to tap (green speech bubble at the bottom right of the screen) and they appear on the pupil's work, complete with a mark value, if you wish.
Getting through everyone's work in a lesson can be a bit manic, so I usually have another task they can move on to independently, while keeping Classkick open on their iPads in the background, and I call out when I'm marking someone's page so they know to go back in and check. As it's so easy to do, I often get them to make the corrections right there on the page, and am learning that asking them to choose a different colour to their original colour would be a wise idea so that I can tell when the writing is a correction of the original, since they can delete or rub out the original.
Finally, I can note down the results at a later date if I wish, or go back in and examine the types of mistakes commonly being made so that I can direct my next lesson to addressing misconceptions. All in all, I'm loving this app the more I use it and my KS2 children got to grips with it extremely quickly.
No comments:
Post a Comment