Google Classroom, a paperless assignment workflow application, helps teachers and students communicate and learn together, has recently been improved with the inclusion of a new polling feature. This can help helps teachers quickly check for understanding, gather feedback or gauge interest.
Here are four ways in which teachers are using polling in the classroom:
Post exit tickets
Cindy Nordstrom, a teacher at Oak Ridge Elementary School in Minnesota, uses polling to make sure students understand the main points of a lesson. She explains, “We were studying poetry and talking about novels in verse. Since this was the first time that most students had encountered the format, I wanted to see if they knew what novels in verse were. I created this poll as an exit slip for the class. I could click on students’ answers and see their names associated with their response. This helped me get an at-a-glance view of who understood the concept and who didn’t.”
Help students self-monitor
Mike Fricano, a high school teacher at the Iolani School in Hawaii, teaches a makerspace course called Make It 101. He polled his class to see if his students were on track for meeting a project deadline. Fricano says, “When I sent out this poll, I could see who was on schedule and who was at risk of missing their deadline. For those who reported being “way off track,” I met with them to help them get back on schedule. I will continue to use multiple choice polls like this to check in on deadlines and gauge interest in future projects.”
Guide student discussions
Heidi Bernasconi, a teacher at Clarkstown North High School in New York, used polling to help guide a career discussion with her students. “I wanted to discuss skills and qualities employers are looking for from graduates,” Bernasconi says. “I kicked off the discussion with a poll, which led us to review a Forbes article. I allowed students to see each other’s posts so they could get a feel for what others felt was important. ”
Get feedback on your lesson from students
Allyson Greene of Barrett Elementary School in Virginia uses polls to understand what her students liked best about a lesson. She says, “We were doing a unit on electricity and forces and I wanted to see which part of the unit was the most fun for them. Setting up a poll was very easy.”
Source: Google for Education Blog
