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Watch this short video on how Fairfield Elementary is using Qwizdom to instantly grade tests and engage students. Story brought to you by KTBS Shreveport

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.

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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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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.

By CARYN GRANT – cgrant@macon.com

GRAY — Peek into Marty Harrington’s Gray Elementary School classroom and you’ll see some kids playing video games on their computers while others are busy figuring out math problems on their screens.
Those gamers aren’t troublemakers goofing off in class. Quite the contrary. They are the students who have completed the math problem and answered the question correctly using a new free online learning system called Qtopia.

Their reward — a short, fun video game.
If a student answers a question incorrectly, the program will show them the answer and how to get it right next time before moving on to the next question.

Gray Elementary is a pilot school for the Qtopia program, started by Qwizdom, which allows students to use remote control devices as they race to punch in answers to multiple-choice questions displayed on a projection screen.
The school has used Qwizdom for years, and Principal Cecil Patterson said the system has “made a huge improvement in student achievement.”

A student favorite is the Qwizdom “Fast Track” game, Harrington said.

Looking around the room, there are wide eyes and even wider smiles as students wait to see how they fared against their classmates, followed by fist pumps from those whose “Fast Track” race cars appear among the top five on the screen.

“There’s no discipline problems. There’s no daydreaming,” Harrington said. “They are into this.”

Fifty teachers in Jones County currently use the program for classes of all subjects and all grade levels in K-12, she said.

The Qtopia system is a newer addition, implemented at Gray Elementary in January, but it’s already a hit with students.

“I like playing with the games and getting stuff on my character,” said fourth-grader Cameron Rockmore, speaking of his avatar.
Along with games, students are also rewarded with credits, which they can use at an online store to create and re-create their personal avatar, which is a graphical representation of each user on the Qtopia system.

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ARDMORE, OK– The Plainview School District is taking your child’s education high tech using interactive technology that allows students to be more involved. Meredith Saldana takes a look at this unique system.

Remember the days of blackboards and projectors?

Well, at Plainview Primary School they’re taking kids out of the old days and firmly in the 21st Century.

The days of pencil and paper quizzes may soon be a thing of the past.

Thanks to a new technology called Qwizdom, students are finding learning much more exciting.

Second grade student Madie Turner says, “Yeah, I look forward to doing it every day.”

The Plainview School District purchased one set of the hand held devices that cost about $2,500.00.

The technology allows students to use a remote control to answer multiple choice questions pre-programmed by their teacher.

It allows for instant feedback.

“They get to see their feedback immediately and then as a teacher I can go and get their report,” says second grade teacher Laurie Ramsey. “It saves the report and I can individually see which student I need to reteach or how I need to adjust my instruction.”

It’s a program that students can’t get enough of it.

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Reviewer:

Position: 8^th Grade American History Teacher

School: Raa Middle School

Location: Tallahassee, FL

Number of Students in School: 900+

Products: Qwizdom Q2 & Q7s

Goals:

The Q2s and Q7s allowed me to bring a higher level of technology usage into the classroom. My goals in the beginning of the year consisted of mastering the technology that I currently had, and taking it to a level in which students would interact with technology and want more knowledge. The Q2s and Q7s did just that.

Response:

Administration loves the excitement in my classroom. They see higher student learning energy. Teachers have been very receptive to Qwizdom’s Q2s, because they get instant student feedback, and teachers are getting the mobility that the Q7s offer.

Learning Curve:

Qwizdom Q2s and Q7s were extremely easy to use and incorporate in the classroom. Just as no two students learn in the same way, staff teaching styles are different, too. Q2s and Q7s give us complete flexibility to personalize teaching styles. Technical support from Qwizdom is fast and efficient.

How We Use It:

Q2s and Q7s come with built in games, such as Fast Track, Mission to Mars, and Quandary. These games make learning content exciting. With the games, students get immediate feedback on right or wrong answers. Learning is fun regardless the topic. Students compete within their own classroom, as well as with all 8th graders in the school to see who has gotten the highest game scores. Students rush to class to use the Q2s, and get focused for lessons quickly.

Whats Ahead?:

I think the biggest step that needs to be taken is for teachers to just try out some of these new forms of technology. Teachers need to play with them, use them, and experiment. Incorporating them into daily lessons and learning is important.

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