This is my never ending struggle to have students share out in middle school. There are always five kids who want to do all the sharing and the rest who avoid all eye contact in hopes that I don't look at them. While virtual I found using a pear deck with google slides was really helpful. I can ask questions and they can answer anonymously (well I can see who wrote it later but I don't let them know that), and they have been so much better at sharing authentic feelings and ideas. I am wondering if that will be something that I can bring back to in person learning this year and if it will work as well. 

This is my never ending struggle to have students share out in middle school. There are always five kids who want to do all the sharing and the rest who avoid all eye contact in hopes that I don't look at them. While virtual I found using a pear deck with google slides was really helpful. I can ask questions and they can answer anonymously (well I can see who wrote it later but I don't let them know that), and they have been so much better at sharing authentic feelings and ideas. I am wondering if that will be something that I can bring back to in person learning this year and if it will work as well. 

Same here.  I really like the dashboard feature so i could see who wrote what and block the crazy but it really tied me to my desk.  

My students love when they can be anonymous.  I have used Parlay (the site I referenced in the talk) for discussion that was not held during class, but done on their own time.  The students can respond anonymously and they are much more thoughtful and less hesitant to interact with each other.  I have to admit, I have only used Pear Deck a handful of times - I am wondering if I should invest more time into getting more familiar with it. What are your thoughts?

I have never used Parley so I want to attempt that.  I think Pear Deck has lots of possibilities for formatives.  Opening the dash board on a separate device really puts you in the diver seat but it took me a long time to figure that out.  If you decide to use it consider me a resource to help you troubleshoot.  A limit is students being able to put images into it but I was told "they" are working on that.  

I haven’t used Parlay so I’m not sure how they compare, but I do think that there are lots of possibilities with Pear Deck. I have used it for a classroom discussions, games and as an exit ticket. You definitely could also use it for assessment. My district offered a training on it at the beginning of last school year and I found it to be one of the most useful PD’s that I had offered to me for virtual school. I’m still trying to figure out  what role it will play now that we’re back in person. 

Hi Megan Suits -Such great insights, thank you. I have struggled with classroom participation especially moving up from Elementary to Middle School! Would you be willing to share some of the survey questions you asked your students as part of your Action Research Project?  I'd be interested in trying such a survey or modified survey myself just to increase my students'  self-reflection and metacognition. My email is "diehla@whitefishschools.org". Many thanks.

Hi Amina Diehl Consider it done! It was a simple survey but I am happy to share. Teaching students self-reflection is critical to their success, so I think having them complete a survey is a good step to supporting their metacognition.