Technology Archives - So Blessed to Be a Teacher

It’s probably safe to say there has never been a wackier back-to-school season. With COVID-19 forcing schools to hop back and forth between different possible scenarios for how school will look this year, so much is still up in the air for everyone.

As it stands, it sounds like I will be teaching in-person, but going into the classrooms instead of having students visit me in the library. But who knows when we’ll turn on a dime and enact either the hybrid or virtual learning backup plan?

I recently started exploring Boom Learning℠, and with all the uncertainty surrounding the new school year, I’m excited about the possibilities it provides. If you’ve never used it before, Boom Learning℠ is a platform on which students can complete interactive digital task cards. I’m excited to get my students started with this platform because it seems like it will be super easy to transition from using Boom Cards™ for in-person learning to using them as a part of virtual learning and back and forth as needed.

The Basics of Boom Cards™

Your students must be connected to the internet for Boom Cards™ to work.
They’re interactive task cards, so your students will be clicking on correct answers, dragging and dropping, or typing in responses on each card.
They cover many disciplines – from speech therapy to algebra to library skills.
They are designed by “teacher-authors,” just like the products on TpT.
They are self-checking and provide instant feedback (including a cheery little “Ding” sound when you get an answer correct. Click here to try a deck and enjoy the “Ding” for yourself!).
You as the teacher can view the data it collects when a student completes a deck of Boom Cards™ to gauge mastery.
The membership fees for teachers range from $0 to $35 a year, depending on what features you wish to use and how many students you have.
In addition to your membership fees, you can purchase additional “points” that can be used to buy more Boom decks in addition to the free ones.

Here’s an example of what you might see on a Boom Card™! This is a Boom Card™ I created to allow students to practice ABC order. **Clipart on this card courtesy of MyClipArtStore | http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Myclipartstore** and TQ Colours | https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tq-Colours

What I Love About Boom Learning℠ So Far

You can open an account for free. I love to try before I buy!
I purchased the Ultimate plan for $35, which didn’t seem bad at all for a year’s subscription to an educational website. With this plan I have access to the entire library of free decks and am able to create as many decks as I want for up to 200 students.
There are a lot of decks available for free, and any that need to be purchased seem like a good investment since they can be used over and over again.
If you use free or for-purchase decks, Boom Cards™ are no-prep.
But, if you want to create a customized deck for your students, Boom provides you with that option as well. (And making decks is really fun!)
In addition to buying decks with points through the Boom Learning℠ website, you can also purchase them on TpT (where I hang out a lot anyway…and where I can use TpT giftcards).

Make Room for Boom

Since you can open a basic account for free, why not give it a go? I think we can all agree that the more tools we have in our teacher toolbox as we head into this school year, the better!

Here are a couple of simple FREE decks I have designed…feel free to give Boom a try with one of these freebie decks!

Click above to try out a FREE deck for the elementary school library!

Click above to try out a FREE deck for practicing addition facts!

You can also check out the whole collection of free and paid Boom decks I’ve designed here:

OR take a peek at them in my TpT store right here…where they are all ON SALE until 11:59 PM ET on August 6, 2020. Wahoo!

Kids can be pretty tough critics these days when it comes to educational games, so when I found a (free!) online game that my students love, I had to share! Kahoot is by far my students’ favorite way to review any school library lesson! (And it can be used in ANY subject area!)

How it Works

It’s unbelievably easy to get going with Kahoot. You just go to kahoot.com, set up a teacher account (free and no hassles!), and are ready to roll.

A little info you should know before we go farther: Kahoot is usually played as a whole class game. In an ideal setup, you will project the Kahoot questions on a smartboard and each child will participate by entering answers on an individual tablet, phone, or laptop. There are ways around having a device for each child, but the idea is that everyone is engaged in and participating in the same game at the same time.

So to set the scene…as soon as you start a Kahoot review game, your class starts jamming out to the fun, groovy soundtrack it plays. First, the kids will need to sign in by entering a pin on their devices that will appear on the big screen. Once everyone has signed in, a question (which could be supplemented with diagrams or graphics if you choose) will pop up on the big screen. On the bottom of the screen, up to four answer choices will appear.

The kids’ devices show four colored squares which correspond with the four answer choices on the big screen.

The children try to select the correct answer as quickly as possible and receive points for the correct response, and once everyone has answered, the big screen displays a leaderboard so the kids can keep track of who is earning the most points. The kids have each picked a “Nickname” to display in the leaderboard…which, of course, adds to the fun.

How to Prep for Your First Kahoot Session

The first step is to find or create a Kahoot quiz for your students to play. There are eleventy jillion Kahoots already out there, so it’s possible that someone else has already created a Kahoot that you can use for your students. With a quick search on site, you can find out.

If you find one that is sort of what you are looking for, but not quite, one fantastic feature is the “Duplicate” function.

This makes a copy of someone else’s Kahoot and then allows you to add and subtract as much as you would like until the Kahoot is perfect for your class. If you’d prefer to start from scratch, just click on “New K!”

and then “Quiz” and the Kahoot site will guide you through the lovely and simple process of creating your own Kahoot quiz.

Why It’s Such a Hit

The game allows for a competitive but not TOO competitive atmosphere as kids work to make it on the leaderboard. The kids’ made-up nicknames (which, don’t worry, are censored by the game!) and the funky, video-gamey music help cultivate a vibe that is relaxed and fun. And possibly the best feature is the way the game has been designed to force the whole group to look up at the big screen. Each student participates individually, but it’s a group experience, and in my classes, EVERYONE actually wants to participate and be a part of the fun.

How Teachers Are Really Using Kahoot

Kahoot can easily be used to review any subject area, and educators are utilizing it from kindergarten on up. From second grade spelling to high school physical education, the game can be customized to meet the needs of different students across the grades. In my library classes, I have used it in grades 2-5 to review information about the Dewey Decimal system, the Caldecott Award, MLA Citations, and more.

In addition to functioning as a way to review facts or concepts, Kahoot can also be used to introduce new concepts, as explained here in the Kahoot blog’s post about “blind kahoots.” I haven’t tried this method of Kahooting yet, but I’m looking forward to giving it try at some point.

The “Survey” function of Kahoot adds even more possibilities. When you want to collect data about student understanding or opinions without making it a competition, you can use Kahoot to set up survey questions. For the school-library-dwellers like me, this allows for creative possibilities like the March Madness-style book tournament that Erin from Erintegration explains in her blog. Fun fun!

What Might Go Wrong…and How to Fix It

Okay, so literally nothing out there has a 100% approval rating, and even though it’s pretty fabulous, a few of your kids might raise some objections to Kahoot. Here are a few things to watch out for and some ideas for how to combat them:

Getting kicked out. I have had a couple of situations where some kind of sneaky internet glitch has caused a student’s Kahoot game to go kablooey. Creating a quick partnership between the kicked out kid and a neighbor usually does the trick better than trying to fix the error.
Too much pressure. While I think the game does a nice job of creating a FRIENDLY competition, the ticking clock sound and time limits could be a bit anxiety-provoking for some of your kiddos. Turning the sound off could help, and a sneak peek at the Kahoot or a rundown of some of the questions could be a reasonable accommodation for kids who need it. I also highly enjoy the “Team Mode” of play, which gives the kids a couple of seconds of processing time before the counter starts so that they can, theoretically, discuss the answer choices with team members. During the last couple of times I have used Kahoot, I put it on Team Mode and allowed students to decide whether they wanted to work alone or with a buddy.
Image courtesy of Kahoot.com
Bad sportsmanship. I definitely recommend reminding kids about how to be good competitors before beginning the game. Emphasize that this is just a FUN way to review and learn, and be proactive about sharing your expectations for appropriate behavior during a Kahoot. If you think Kahoot is a tool you might use regularly, you could work with your students to come up with a Code of Conduct to be used during Kahoot time so that everyone understands the dos and don’ts of Kahoot etiquette (Kahootiquette, if I may) in your class (sorry…but c’mon, it was right there!).

It’s Time to Get Kahooting!

If you haven’t tried this fantastic tool, how about giving it a go now in preparation for the school year? Whether you are a Kahoot newbie or have been using it in your class for a while, feel free to add a note in the comments to let me know how you like it!