Tired of Kahoot ? - Meet Gimkit!

Kahoot, Quizlet Live & Quizizz are all awesome formative assessment tools for our students.

Each of them coming with their own set of pros & cons.  We love options for team play as well as homework mode. However, sometimes typing in multiple choice responses can be a drag.

Gimkit is different.  It has the options of live mode and self paced.  You can play as a team or individually.  Questions are repeated, improving retention.  Multiple choice items are even automatically created from your term list.  But that is not all...

Gimkit adds one of the 4C's that I haven't seen a formative assessment game do yet, and that is
critical thinking.

As students answer questions and progress through the game, they earn money.

This money can then be spent in the "store" mid-game to help make their money work for them.




Examples:  

• Spend $50, and all future dollars will be multiplied by 1.5!
• Purchase insurance, essentially giving you a lower copay for missed answers. 
• Buy a bonus for correct answer "streaks"
• Increase the amount you earn per question. 

Multiple Choice or Fill in the Blank !

Did you know ???  

Gimkit was made by a HS student!?!?! 

 A HS Senior in Seattle,  Josh Feinsilber, started it as a school project and now is its own company! 

Don't forget to remind your students of this when playing!

Check out this demo!

Want to play???  

Click HERE > Enter your first name > Play!

Need help making your first Gimkit? Click HERE

Reward yourself!  
Get to the badging center and earn an Act 48 hour per entry. 
(Not to mention the coveted badge!)

*Gimkit is free when you create up to 5 games!  Pay $7.99 for one month or $4.99 for a subscription.  Remember this is a HS project gone start up.  I can think of a lot of sillier ways that I've spent $7.99!

Save Time - Create a Course Vocab Spreadsheet

Bonus Tech Tip... 


Create a Google Sheets workbook with key terms and/or questions for each unit.


Use this sheet to copy and paste your questions into formative assessment tools. 

Many tools accept a .csv file that can easily be downloaded from Google Sheets. 








Makes for easy editing as you change your course over time.

Quick uploading to websites as educational trends come and go! 

Want a template to get started? Click HERE

Grading in the NEW Google Classroom

The NEW Google Classroom came packed with updated features.   

One of which is The Grading Shell!

Remember these days of endless tabs & 
waiting on this guy to stop spinning?

Opening 30 Google Docs...  Now wasn't that efficient?!?!?!?


Fortunately times have changed.  

See the tutorial below to learn about giving feedback and assessing work in Google Classroom. 

• Adding in-text comments
• Using the comment bank
• Giving overall feedback 
• Returning Work
• Switching between students
• Opening a doc in a new tab
• Viewing multiple files

The YouTube video below is by Alice Keeler of alicekeeler.com also walking you through the steps. 






Looking for a more one-on-one walk through of grading in the NEW Google Classroom? 

jtamburlin.youcanbook.me
acatalone@smasd.org
avollmer@smasd.org

Don't forget to post your questions and comments below as you start working with the new features!!

Padlet Keeps Getting Better...

In 2016 we posted about a digital bulletin board called Padlet.  Students were able to post text and images to a online bulletin board with ease.

Now, 2 years later, Padlet has embodied the features of voice recording, video, screencasting and more to create a one-stop-differentiated shop.  Here students are able to share ideas and demonstrate learning in a way that is most effective and meaningful for them.  Also teachers can easily build resource pages for themselves and their students.

   padlet

Visit this Padlet I created to help you see how students can contribute by adding files, links, images, videos, audio recordings, drawings and more. 

How have you used Padlet ?  

Share an example.  

How do you hope to use it? 

Go to padlet.com/jentamburlin/padlet  to add your ideas and experience! 

Warning: You may have heard that Padlet with its new features has decided to charge $8.95 per month.   This is only true if you want unlimited boards!  At the time of the upgrade Padlet issued all teachers a limit of 3 boards more than what they already had on their account.  If you are new to Padlet you will have a limit of 3 boards at a time.   I had 5 boards at the time of the change therefore I have 8 possible boards.  (not to mention you can create multiple accounts ;-))  Long story short - Padlet is still FREE and well worth it.