Formative Assessment Tools

Last summer I did a workshop on formative assessment tools.  Here is a link to that presentation. Recently, Richard Bryne posted a few new assessment tools that are definitely worth adding to your bag of tricks.

Tozzl.com
Tozzl.com is a digital easy-to-to-use platform that enables people to collaborate.   Like Padlet and Today's Meet, it allows students to share thoughts, ask questions and respond to prompts.  But wait, there's more!  With Tozzl teachers have the ability to add hashtags to the mix.  Say you're a Social Studies teacher studying the Civil War - add #civilwar to your Tozzl and a feed populates for your students to see.  Want students to view a video and respond?  Tozzl has a place to upload YouTube links, photos and more.  Watch this video for a tutorial.  

Plickers
Plickers is a classroom polling system which can display results in real time. The only materials you'll need to get started are paper, a printer, and a smartphone or tablet. Check out this video to see how Plickers can be used in your classroom.

Socrative is AWESOME!

I've done Professional Development across the district singing the praises of SOCRATIVE. A few of the reasons I like it so much is that it makes student engagement soar, and it's easy to use.  If you aren't familiar with SOCRATIVE, it's a student response system, that mimics "clickers", but that is web based.  It can be used on smartphones, PCs, MACS and iPads.  Teachers can design their own quizzes and activities in minutes. Another great thing about SOCRATIVE is the customer service they offer.  Any time I have contacted them, I get a prompt, helpful response.  In addition, they listen to their customer feedback and make changes accordingly.  Recently, they updated their website with two new options - the ability to embed pictures in quizzes and gradable short answers.  

Those sneaky folks at the SOCRATIVE team have made us sing for our supper, so to speak. Those awesome new features are out there,  BUT....you have to give them some feedback in order to turn it on!!! (This is why their customer service ROCKS.)

Please navigate to this address:
http://www.socrative.com/garden/

Enter your info and log in to your account and you will be good to go. Yes, it's FREE. All it will cost you is five minutes of your time.  Below is a video that shows you  how to use these new features.  Enjoy!