Week 11 - Pear Deck

We are so excited to share with you our new best friend from google... PEAR DECK! Some days (few and far between) you really just need to do some direct teaching. Well, pear deck (from google) allows you take a boring old powerpoint and turn it into an engaging and interactive lesson so easily. If you have a google account simply open up google slides and click on the "add on" tab... search for pear deck and install. If you've ever used Kahoot - the format is similar but it isn't set up to be a game. However, it is set up to give you real-time feedback on whether or not your students are understanding the material you are presenting. Let's walk through it...

Once you've assembled your google slides presentation (and added in assessment slides), you'll need to present it in pear deck mode. The students will log in and go to peardeck.com/join and enter the code. 

Upon signing in, students will rate how they are feeling... we've found this really helpful in knowing who is having a bad day and might need a little extra cheer. 

There are many features including a lock screen, which prevents students from moving ahead and draws their attention to your screen. As you move through the presentation, students interact with the slides. You can use multiple choice, drawings responses, drag items, short or long answer questions.

Here is the really cool part. You'll be able to see the responses in real time! You'll get immediate feedback on how well your students are understanding the information being presented. There is also this cool feature called "temperature check" where you can ask the students how they feel about the material (thumbs up/thumbs down style). 

This is an example of how the responses can be displayed. You can also see each individual student's answer. 

Our students loved it! They were active participants in a lesson that normally might have been kind-of drab. It also gave us the ability to spot check and problem solve with students immediately. We were able to clear up any misconceptions, correct any mistakes, and answer individual concerns immediately! If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to us! We'd love to help 😊