Throughout this school year, as I discover things that I think are really cool or useful for the blended classroom (learn more about blended learning HERE), I’ll write all about them. They may be things everybody else already knows, but they are novel to me, so I’m pretty excited. Lewis and Clark wrote all about things that were old hat to Sacajawea, but they wrote about them all the same.
So I’ll be Clark here (Lewis, tragically, met his demise in a violent fashion–he’s not one I want to identify with). Last week, I wrote about taking pictures of paper assignments and submitting them on a Chromebook (complicated at first and then surprisingly simple). Check it out HERE.
This week, I want to talk about polling in Google Classroom.
I love polling my classes. It’s a great way to get the students engaged and a sneaky way to have them reflect. They are always interested in the final results.
Some of my favorite polls, using examples from each of the subjects I’ve ever taught, are:
-Who is the craziest Caesar in the Julian line? (World History)
A. Nero
B. Caligula
C. Tiberius
-What is the most arbitrary usage rule in the English language? (ELA)
A. Lay vs. Lie
B. Less vs. Few
C. Finished vs. Done
-Which personality disorder best describes Regina George in Mean Girls? (Psychology)
A. Borderline
B. Histrionic
C. Schizotypal
– Flash Mobs can best be explained by (Sociology)
A. Contagion Theory
B. Convergence Theory
C. Emergent Norm Theory
– Truman dropped the atomic bomb in order to (U.S. History)
A. Bring the war to a quick end.
B. Show the Soviets U.S. strength.
C. Punish the Japanese for Pearl Harbor.
Back in the day, my students would answer these polls on mini whiteboards. We already had these on our tables, so it was no effort. The results were more of a quick impression or a time-consuming count, though. Afterwards, we would discuss, debate, and compare our responses.
Then my school went Bring Your Own Technology, and we used the website polleverywhere.com to get analytics back right away. This is a good program, but it takes some effort to create an account and send the students there. We would discuss, debate, and compare our responses.
Now that we’re 1:1 and use Chromebooks, my students are in google Classroom everyday. Last week, I “discovered” a feature that would allow me to take a poll right in Google Classroom. No effort. No redirection to a new site. No taking the time to count or just using impressions.
Here’s how it works:
It’s as simple as that. The students get to see the class results immediately. And afterwards, we still discuss, debate, and compare our responses.
Do you use polls in your classroom? If so, how? If not, do you think you might like to try? Leave a comment below and let me know.
And be sure to stick around to check out my other Blended Classroom Tips and Tricks.
