I am so happy to be here!  Happy to have fallen in love with my job so many years ago, and glad that all my teaching experiences have brought me to this place. 

As a teacher, I sometimes think about all the jobs that we have to do in just one day.  Some days I have felt overwhelmed with my duties being teacher, as we all have, I am sure. 

I have always been a classroom manager, an instructional planner, and a grader. But the one teaching responsibility that was always put on the back burner was grading.  I would always think I better be planned out and ready for tomorrow, and I can grade tomorrow or the weekend.

It was very common that I would pass out graded papers, a student gets a bad grade, they once they know the grade, and they immediately put the paper in the bookbag without learning how to do the math.  

One of my favorite things about using Smart Slides in my classroom is the immediate feedback that my students get when they complete a question.  Students will explore their mistakes and honestly that never happened when I would give back a paper.  

In Smart Slides, students can immediately see if they have the answer incorrect, they can get help and see the problem that they missed, then be presented with a new problem to Try Again. 

Here is an example of a Teacher Time. First, we present the problem to the students after direct instruction.

Depending on the answer, the student decides the branched google form will take them to the next step.  If the student misses the question, they are directed to watch a video to see how to work the problem correctly.  

After the student views the problem being correctly worked out and explained, the student is given a clean problem to apply what they just saw.  

The video is for the problem they missed, and they can see the pitfalls of why they missed the questions. But what if the student gets the problem right the first time, the branched google form prompts them to choose as shown here: 

The student can have the opportunity to view the problem being worked out correctly by the teacher even if they get the question correct   If they click no, they can submit the google form. In my experience, of using this type of practice, my students enjoy not having to wait on me to decide if they have correctly done the problem, and if they miss the problem they know that we are the only ones that know they missed it, their classmates can only see their work. 

This sequence has proven to work very well for all grade levels. The Teacher Time in the Smart Slides is the first slide after the direct instruction of the class, and it is the first time that Live Data is used to see if the students have understood and can apply what they have learned. 

As the teacher, after the instruction, I give my students a few minutes to complete this branched google form, and with my Chromebook, where I monitor the data, I walk around my classroom. Once I see a student has missed both the questions in the google form, I initiate a conversation about the concept and reteach one on one with that student the part they missed during the instructional portion of the class.

And at the same time, the students that correctly got the question right move along with their journey in the SMART SLIDE deck on the topic of the day. 

The student never has to raise their hand or ask for help, and my high school students are very typical in not asking for help even when they know they do not understand. I also make it a point to initiate a conversation with all my students daily, and they never know if I am reteaching, encouraging them or telling them, “Great job on the field last Friday night.”

Using Smart Slides allows me to be flexible with my time and able to communicate with all of my students and learn their needs while using class time. I find that fewer students need extra help outside the class.

Before, when I would work with an individual student, the rest of the class was waiting for the next part of my instruction. With Smart Slides, my class time is maximized to my student needs, my students get immediate feedback, and there are no papers to pack up in my teacher bag and take home.

I get to be a mom when I am home, and I do not have to feel guilty about the stack of papers that do not get touched.

If you would like a sample of my interactive SMART SLIDES, fill in the form below, and I will send them to you today!