I think Socrative was a great pre-assessment tool for this lesson. Within 5-10 minutes, I had already gathered the data I needed to implement an effective lesson to those students who needed it. If the pre-assessment had been on paper with pencil, it would have taken even longer for me to collect the papers and grade them before grouping the students. Socrative gave me real-time results and immediately gave me an idea of which students needed practice with the skill. This way, I wasn't delivering a lesson to the whole class, since clearly a lot of students did not need the lesson. The students who showed mastery on Socrative were able to then practice independently on Wixie. Socrative was very user-friendly for both teachers and students. I had no difficulty creating an account and making a quiz (I think it took me about 5 minutes to make a 3 question quiz). I also love that I did not have to create an account for each student. Students simply login with your class code, then enter their name. It still gives individual data to the teacher without the hassle of creating 26 accounts. None of my first graders had difficulty entering the code, typing their name, or completing the quiz.
If I were to make any changes to this lesson, I would re-create the independent assessment on Wixie. I feel as if the students that proved to understand the skill could have been challenged a little more when it came to the independent assignment. If I were to re-create the assignment, I would consider having the students apply this skill to solve a different type of problem. Another change I would make is after working with my small group, I could have had those students choose a partner that was already on Wixie to explain the assignment and work together. This way, the students from the small group would also be learning from the students who were working on Wixie.
I am glad I chose to use Wixie for the independent assignment, because I was able to go back and look at the projects the students completed. I was able to see how they were solving the problems and whether or not they solved it correctly. Even the students from my small group were able to complete at least one of the pages of the Wixie project. It was rewarding to see their correct answers on these pages. Looking at these Wixie projects, I am able to tell who (if any) still need more practice with this skill before testing.
Considering the way I used Socrative in this particular lesson, I would categorize Socrative as "Augmentation" on the SAMR model. This tool was a direct substitute with functional improvement. Before using Socrative, I would have had to look at previous assessments to form groups for a lesson. Or, I would have had to administer another pre-assessment with paper and pencil or whiteboards and markers. Socrative allowed me to pre-assess without collecting and grading papers. It also gave more specific feedback for each student immediately. I did not have to waste any instructional time to grade or observe in order to form groups. I was able to decide right away which students would benefit from the lesson and which students did not need it. In order for this tool to get "above the line" on SAMR, it would need to be used in a way that was previously inconceivable. I am still new with using this tool, and am still brainstorming ways it would benefit my students and my instruction. This was our first time using Socrative, but I can definitely say that it will not be our last.
If I were to make any changes to this lesson, I would re-create the independent assessment on Wixie. I feel as if the students that proved to understand the skill could have been challenged a little more when it came to the independent assignment. If I were to re-create the assignment, I would consider having the students apply this skill to solve a different type of problem. Another change I would make is after working with my small group, I could have had those students choose a partner that was already on Wixie to explain the assignment and work together. This way, the students from the small group would also be learning from the students who were working on Wixie.
I am glad I chose to use Wixie for the independent assignment, because I was able to go back and look at the projects the students completed. I was able to see how they were solving the problems and whether or not they solved it correctly. Even the students from my small group were able to complete at least one of the pages of the Wixie project. It was rewarding to see their correct answers on these pages. Looking at these Wixie projects, I am able to tell who (if any) still need more practice with this skill before testing.
Considering the way I used Socrative in this particular lesson, I would categorize Socrative as "Augmentation" on the SAMR model. This tool was a direct substitute with functional improvement. Before using Socrative, I would have had to look at previous assessments to form groups for a lesson. Or, I would have had to administer another pre-assessment with paper and pencil or whiteboards and markers. Socrative allowed me to pre-assess without collecting and grading papers. It also gave more specific feedback for each student immediately. I did not have to waste any instructional time to grade or observe in order to form groups. I was able to decide right away which students would benefit from the lesson and which students did not need it. In order for this tool to get "above the line" on SAMR, it would need to be used in a way that was previously inconceivable. I am still new with using this tool, and am still brainstorming ways it would benefit my students and my instruction. This was our first time using Socrative, but I can definitely say that it will not be our last.