Say the phrase “Pop quiz,” and usually images of a half sheet of paper and pencil come to mind, plus some feelings of anxiety or even embarrassment.

But in Bert Treviño’s eighth-grade physics class at Oliveira Middle School, “pop quiz” has a whole other meaning.

Instead of groans, he’s met with excitement as students rush to grab a remote, or “clicker,” to participate.

“What was the name of the first space station?” reads one of the quiz questions.

Answer: Skylab.

A screen then pops up with the information on how many in the class got the question correct and which remote got the correct answer in the fastest. But no names are shown on the screen, so classmates will be left in the dark on how everyone answered.

“It gives (the students) a lot more confidence,” Treviño said. “They get to feel both, the triumph and the defeat, but at the same time, they’re learning. This way, they don’t know who’s getting it wrong or right, so everyone won’t make fun of them.”

The Qwizdom system allows teachers to take lessons to a whole new level through technology, according to Caroline Garner, product specialist for Qwizdom.

“Lots of schools are using this technology and really embracing it,” said Garner.

Students in Treviño’s class were quick to chime-in on what they thought of the Qwizdom system.

“I like it because you don’t have to use paper to write stuff down,” one said.

“It tells me right away if I got it right or wrong,” another said.

A healthy sense of competition is evident when Treviño tells his students to not reveal what number their clicker is until the end of the quiz. Many groan or let out a “Yes!” when an answer is revealed, but very few try to pry clicker number information out of others, unless one clicker number (or “rocket number,” as it appears on the scoreboard) begins to run away with the competition.

Treviño’s class is one of three at Oliveira using Qwizdom software, according to principal Jennifer Gonzales.

Using Qwizdom doesn’t necessarily cut down on out-of-classroom preparation time for Treviño, but he said the greatest takeaway is the excitement and fun students have while still learning. Qwizdom offers a lot of extra resources online, he said, which proves helpful for his lesson planning.

Treviño also uses a tablet to operate both his PowerPoint lecture notes and the quiz. Since he’s not confined to a desk or chalkboard, he roams around the class, stopping at different tables to engage students as he lectures.

In the end, Treviño points to the benefits of allowing students to actively participate in a class, as opposed to having them solely take notes during a lecture.

“I have seen student scores increase 15-20 points on end-of-grade testing since I’ve been using this technology,” Treviño said. “The response systems really help me pinpoint their weak areas and I can keep tabs on who is participating.”

All 11 BISD middle schools use the Living with Science program, which includes the clickers created by Qwizdom, district spokeswoman Drue Brown said. She said some of the schools utilize the clickers more than others.

Click here to read the original post by Molly Jasinski.

CBS Greensboro, NC visits Dudley High School to see how they are using Qwizdom classroom technology in preparation to compete against schools from 11 other states in the SMARTT EV (Electric Vehicle) Challenge.

KLTV stops by Pittsburg Elementary to see how teachers use technology to engage students and measure class participation. Educator Angela Brotherton shares some of the encouraging responses she receives from students who are using Qwizdom in the classroom.

Marcus Lattimore has been winning football games in a No. 21 jersey since his sophomore year at Byrnes. Maybe that’s why he didn’t have quite as much luck against Kara Gillespie’s third-grade class as player No. 5.

Lattimore, former Byrnes High School star and running back for the South Carolina Gamecocks, competed in a neck-and-neck game of “Are You Smarter Than a Third-Grader?” Tuesday morning at Wellford Academy of Science and Technology. A 19-year-old Lattimore — with backup from Byrnes head football coach Chris Miller — took on teams of 8- and 9-year-olds to answer math and science questions aligned to South Carolina curriculum standards.

Gillespie set up the game through Qwizdom, an interactive gaming system her class regularly uses to play games, take quizzes and review coursework. Each team was equipped with a remote that instantly sends in a selected response. For this game, called “Fast Track,” teams were ranked according to the number of correct answers and also how quickly they responded.

“I wanted everybody, including Marcus Lattimore, to see how hard these students work,” Gillespie said.

Not surprisingly, Lattimore buzzed in first to answer a question about how many inches are in a yard (36), but couldn’t answer as quickly as Team 1 on a question about glaciers. Math, Gillespie noted, was Lattimore’s strong suit, but her students weren’t going down without a fight. After pulling ahead early on, Lattimore started to slowly slip down the leader board.

In the end, Team No. 1 was victorious, answering the most questions correctly in the least amount of time.

“It was fun,” Lattimore said after the friendly game. “I loved it. It’s a fun way to learn.”

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En la Escuela Elemental de Pittsburg, los alumnos def cuarto grado ahora se encuentran mas confentos pot clue cambiaron los pizarrones el papel y lápiz por tecnologia coma pizarrones digitales, videos educacionales, pizarras de control.

El mattes 10 de mayo; los medios informativos y petsonas importantes de la comunfdad asi coma las padres fueron invitados a la primera demostración a cargo de la clase d e Ms. Angela Brotherton, ahi los alumnos nos enseñaron que por medio de videos, juegos y series de preguntas responden con un sistema de “clicker” este aparato parecido a una calculadores de bolsillo, funciona como un teléfono celular, y la venfaja de este sistema es que los estudiantes pueden “textear” sus respuestas anónimamente pero le da acceso al maestro a comprender y saber de cada alumno.

Esta nueva tecnologia le da un impacto positivo, las estudiantes aprenden mucho mas y cada niño tiene una edacación especializada, incluso las tareas pueden ser hechas y mandadas via internet.

Con esta tecnologia que
la maestra Angela Brotherton que gano el ano pasado por la TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association ) por sus siglas en ingles, incorpora las herramientas necesarias y hace el aprendizaje mas divertido.

LPH

ABC affiliate KYMA News Team 11 went to Calexico High School in Imperial Valley to see first hand how Qwizdom is working in the classroom.

If you walk by a classroom at Brownstown Elementary School and hear the sound of race cars, it doesn’t mean that students in the class are watching a NASCAR race. It’s all of the students finding out how they completed a class exercise.

That’s one of the fun ways that students at the school are learning through the use of equipment that the school district has obtained through a grant program.

BES Principal Angela Reeter, Brownstown Superintendent of Schools Doug Slover and Regional Superintendent of Schools Mark Drone were among those on hand as BES Title I teacher Keri Buscher and fifth-grade students demonstrated the use of the SmartBoard equipment obtained through a federal Enhancing Education Through Technology grant.

The Brownstown district was awarded a three-year grant, and is now in its second year of receiving grant funds. Reeter said that to date, the district has been able to use “upwards of $500,000” of grant monies for educational technology equipment.

Through the grant program, the district has been receiving interactive digital chalkboards, desktop and laptop computers and a variety of instructional digital resources. The grant also allows teachers to participate in professional development sessions, during which they learn to develop and use the district’s new technology resources.

During the demonstration, each of the fifth-graders had a race car, and their position in a race was determined by how quickly – and correctly – they answered questions with their Qwizdom connect remotes during a class exercise.

Using the SmartBoard equipment, Buscher and the students were able to complete the class exercise in about 15 minutes. Doing the old way, with paper and pencil, used to take 30-45 minutes, Buscher said.

The time-saving aspect is just one of the many benefits of the new equipment, Buscher said.

Another is the immediate response that both teacher and student get. “They know right away how they did on a question or an exercise,” Buscher said.

“They don’t have to wait two or three days to find out their grade,” added Kathy Brown, Title I aid.

Buscher said the use of the equipment also “makes the students more attentive. It’s keeps their attention better.

“When we do exercises, they are ready for the next question, and excited about performing well against their classmates,” she said.

“The students love it, because everything is presented in a different – and fun – way,” Buscher said. “It also makes teaching more fun.”

And while the new equipment requires more preparation time, she and Reeter said, the grant funds have provided the equipment that teachers can use to do the prep work at home on nights and weekends.

Currently, students in grades 2-6 at BES are using the new technology equipment. At the end of each school year, however, students in kindergarten and first grade are exposed to it, learning how to use it.

And those younger students pick it up quickly, Reeter said.

“They are technology-surrounded,” she said, explaining that children are becoming increasingly exposed to a variety of
technology devices at all ages.

“Our students know how to use it without any problems,” she said.

And the SmartBoards and other equipment the district received this year is a vast improvement over that which was used last year.

During the last school year, BES classes used a “robot,” with students having to direct their remotes correctly in order to have their answers recorded.

“It was frustrating for the students, because they might have had the answer first, but it didn’t get recorded because they didn’t aim (their remote) just right,” Reeter said.

In addition to using it for many classroom exercises, she said, the district staff can use the equipment to prepare students for state tests.

“We can use it for every subject, and also for reward activities,” Reeter said. “We have found a way to use it in every aspect.”

But, she pointed out, that doesn’t mean that the faculty wants to use it all of the time.

“If we used it for every subject, I think it would lose something. If you use it, say, two times a week, the students know that it’s something special,” Reeter said.
–By Rich Bauer

Chelcey Adami/Imperial Valley Press Staff Writer

CALEXICO — Calexico High School is expanding its use of technology in the classrooms this year through a federal grant and is the only school in the district using digital learning at its level, schoolofficials said.

The school began incorporating technology four years ago using categorical funding for training and tools such as digital “chalk boards,” educational video games, wireless tablets and student-response systems called “clickers.”

Through an Enhancing Education Through Technology $50,000 grant awarded this year, the school can expand the digital learning into classes, Assistant Principal Isaac Estrada said.

Student response systems gives immediate feedback on student comprehension and allows teachers to frequently check on the students’ progress while some of the other tools keep them more engaged while learning, Social Studies teacher Eliseo Cerros said. He added the use of technology helps build students’ confidence.

He pointed out that technology already infiltrates teenagers’ lives in every other way.

“A lot of them feel very comfortable working with the technology,” he said. “They’re used to all this.”

Cerros said creativity and budgets are the only limits for digital learning.

Click here to see the full article.

Instead, Eggart’s 23 students are at work within a minute after the bell rings, solving “warm up” problems and entering their answers on a remote control.

A lot has changed in the classroom from Eggart’s middle school days. Not only did he not learn about parabolas as early as seventh grade, but he certainly didn’t use a remote response system to enter answers.

As a teacher, Eggart has embraced technology in his classroom and he said it’s made a huge difference in the engagement, accountability and ultimately the test scores of his students.

He said the traditional lecture, bookwork and homework scenario allows students to z one out.

“It’s impossible to see 28 kids and what their answers are,” Eggart said. “A kid can have his mind anywhere. But now, I can click a button and say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’”

Each student in Eggart’s seventh- grade math class has a red and silver remote control, part of a student response system called Qwizdom that Eggart received through a grant six years ago. Each remote has a number, which shows up on a projector at the front of the room along with the students’ answers.

Nine CMS teachers currently have the student response systems in their classrooms, all purchased through various grants. While none of them integrate them as fully as Eggart, co-principal Erika Burden said the systems are used in each teacher’s program as they see fit.

Eggart has been teaching for more than 30 years, and when he received the student response system, he said it adapted perfectly to his teaching style, which he described as “intense.” He likes to interact with students, and he found that the system facilitated that interaction, but the transition took some time.

“My commitment was after school pretty much every day working on these things the first couple years,” he said. “But it was worth it because I like what they do. I like how engaged it is. I like that I can spend my time teaching and designing lessons, not grading papers.”

In the classroom, Eggart keeps things moving, using his own remote to cycle through problems that the students work on in small groups. A timer on the screen ticks down the seconds as the students first work on the problem individually, then discuss it as a group. Eggart encourages the cooperation.

“Don’t just tell somebody the answer,” he shouts over the buzz of student voices. “Explain how you got it if they need help.”

The groups collect stacks of coins in a graphic on the screen, and the students share high- fives as their tally of correct answers grows.
Eggart asks, who got the answers without help from their neighbors? About two thirds of the class raise their hands and Eggart congratulates them. In the same breath, he thanks those who didn’t raise their hands for being honest about needing some help.

Later on in the 45-minute class, the groups split up and the students compete individually in a series of fast- paced problems. The fastest correct answers move race cars forward on the screen while the top students get to stand and celebrate.

CMS co- principal Mike Stark said the remote programs and games encourage competition in the students, which makes it fun.
“They have no idea they just answered 50 questions,” he said.

Eggart said the system also allows him to pinpoint which students are struggling with specific concepts and target them for extra help.

Eggart said the results of MAP tests over the years have proven his dedication to the system. Last year his class averaged a 14.5- point gain from fall to spring.

“That’s the average. We’ve had 28, 30 point gains,” he said. “That’s five year’s growth in one year. They come in as a third or fourth grade math student, they leave as an eighth or ninth grade math student.”

He said that while some students may be overwhelmed at first by the intensity of Eggart’s class, the vast majority come to love the remote system and the success they see on tests.

And when a student misbehaves in his class, Eggart has a solution.

“You know what the worst punishment is? They leave,” he says, pointing to the door. “Go right out there and do worksheets; do old school.”

Becky Thomas can be reached at becky@cheneyfreepress.com.

Teacher Marty Harrington said she actually found the Qwizdom software in a closet at the school where it had set for several years and quickly found out that it was a good teaching resource.

Qwizdom is interactive classroom software designed to engage and motivate students while giving the teacher tools to monitor and record student progress. The students each have a remote that allows them to choose an answer to a question on the big screen in front of the classroom.

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