AVIDly using Nearpod!

During a current Twitter chat with #nearpopdchat, I was asked to do a blog or webinar to explain one of my posts. In this post I stated that I tend to forget about the digital notes section that are infused into the Nearpod programming because I like to pair nearpod with AVID Cornell notes, and apparently this became a topic of discussion within the chat. So I have decided to add this blog space to my personal website for stuff like this. So here we go!

When I mentioned that I pair nearpod with AVID Cornell notes I didn't realize that it was not something that someone has already done, I am not that innovated when it comes to incorporating tech into my classroom, so I was shocked when i got several private messages and replies asking me to explain it. The concept is very basic in nature so I want to make sure I give nearpod its due respect in this manner.

For those who don't know what nearpod is it is an awesome (yes i am a little biased on this!) interactive platform that unites student learning with teacher ingenuity to create a fully immersive lesson that can be planned in one of two ways. Teacher paced allows the teacher to set the speed at which the lesson is covered since it allows total control on all the screens connected to the lesson through a code.

Student paced lessons are a great addition for teachers who want to really instill autonomy in their students, on the fly sub plans, or even just those days where teachers "literally can't" and need a break. Student paced lessons give the students the ability to learn at their own discretion and take notes how they wish or interact with the program in a way that suits their needs. This is achieved by giving the students a code and letting them go to town. (I can almost hear Ron Popeil saying "Set it, and Forget it!")

In order to really get into all the fantastic features of nearpod I strongly suggest heading over to www.nearpod.com and creating a profile so you can experience all it has to offer first hand.

At this point most people who are reading this (if any at all) know what AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is and how it helps students prepare for college by teaching skills in organization and proper note taking, hence the marriage of AVID Cornell Notes and my nearpod interactive lesson. (you can learn more about AVID here)

The lesson I created in nearpod was on European Exploration to the New World and included almost every feature I could think of to throw at them that was relevant to the lesson. This included open-end questions, collaboration, polls, and of course slides (like powerpoint!). It is these "slides" where Cornell notes come into play.

The lesson opens with an open-end question about the Columbian exchange and by engaging this background knowledge my students have a better understanding of how to write the notes when we get to the slide that talks about the Columbian Exchange. Since my school has "SMART boards" in every classroom the idea of taking notes becomes much easier, especially for my "on-level" classes. When a slide appears on the screen it sparks discussion, and together as a class we decide what the important information on the text is, the main idea if you will. and with the smartboard I can underline what we chose, that is what they write in their notes. (this all takes place in the "Notes" section of Cornell Notes)

As the lesson continues with the other interactive parts and using the slides to take notes I give the students the opportunity to add in what they find interesting, drawings (this is sketchnoting!), or anything else they picked up along the way that they feel will help them remember the important details when it comes time to be assessed on the topic. (This magic takes place in the "Questions" section of the Cornell Notes, as I like to leave that fully to them).

The particular lesson I created ends with a rousing game of "Time to Climb" and the kids just love that. They have an opportunity not only to play a game as a reward for finishing the lesson but it almost forces them to interact with their notes to get the answers they do not outright remember, this is an AVID strategy.

In the end the students have participated in an interactive, engaging lesson, they have interacted with their notes and they have satisfied a requirement of AVID by having Cornell notes with vocabulary, subtopics with pertinent information, and finally due to the interaction with the lesson and the notes they absorbed so much more than just listening to me jabber on and on about the Age of Exploration.