Published Feb. 2013
I usually have a few students that are dying to speak out in class. Then I have the other situation. I know you all know what I mean. The fear in the eyes of your students that says “Don’t make me go first!” or “Don’t you dare say my name, ain’t nobody got time for that!” while the rest avoid eye contact like you are Medusa.
Well, here’s a great solution. I stumbled across this app from some tech resources @ http://spanishplans.org/2012/02/20/participation-apps/.
The app is called PIKME and it has 3 really great features.
- You can randomly “pick” a student. You can organize your students in alphabetical order or random. When you swipe the screen, the next students name/face will pop up. I connected my phone to the projector so my kids could see who was next without me having to call them. Instead of that “you’re picking on me” look, they seemed to be okay with being “picked” since my phone did the deciding!
2.) You can randomly select groups! Yeah!
No more counting through the class and having half the kids forget their number 🙂
3.) You can rate responses and track absences/tardies.
Nice info to have for parents. You can rate responses on a 5 star scale. I think rating EVERY response is a little tedious and it’s not natural to always respond in paragraphs but I do like this feature. I’m thinking the 5 stars can be the proficiency scale (no response* Novice Low** Novice Mid*** Novice High**** Intermediate Low*****).
Check out Pikme app at your iTunes or Android store! It’s got a lot of potential for the world language class! Gotta love anything that makes our lives easier! https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pikme/id433668399?mt=8 – Note: It is not available on an iPad, but it is on an iPhone.
I wish I had known about this earlier today…I used the number my students were in my gradebook to pick groups with a number generator online. With this they could see the picking…in real time it appears.
Been there…I tell the students that I’ll always pick on the students who look like they don’t want to be picked. Sometimes, if we doing responses from the book, I do what I call “round robin” where I pick the first student, and when he answers the question/solves the problem, he gets to choose the next person, and so on. They can’t choose someone who has already been chosen, and they have to choose someone from the opposite side of the room. I divide my room in half, 12 on one side and 12 on the other facing each other, with a center aisle free and clear from desks. Otherwise, the phone app sounds great and I like how you can rate them. If I had one, I’d probably use it. Gracias por compartir.
I like your “round robin” idea too, Loly!
Thank you, I love all of yours!!! 🙂
Thank you, truth be told, even though they are a little hesitant at first, they like picking on their friends, making them the next target. Also, on those activities where there is a sí/no question involved, they get to practice their question lilt…..I call it “the wedgie pull” because they have to pull up the tone of their voice in order to make it sound like a question. But seriously you ladies are amazing with all of your ideas. I wish our dept collaborated in a similar fashion. Keep up the good work!
Thanks ahhhpoetry! 🙂
Lo siento….me llamo Loly, short for María-Dolores 🙂
I have also used a little program called “The Hat”. I have to plug in student names, and then it randomly selects and generates groups. These programs are awesome.
I know! It’s one less think we have to think about! I can’t always remember WHO I call on!
Great idea. ¡Gracias!
LOVE it. How do you connect your phone to a projector? I connect my laptop, but not sure how to do the phone connection.
This is the iPad projector cord I have! I use it with my iPads, my phone, and my students’ phones sometimes too!
I just entered a class and I love the concept. Now, same question as Beth (02-07). How do I connect my iPhone 5 to the projector?
Here’s the cord I have… http://salestores.com/applemc552zm.html?gclid=CJ2Y_avfpbUCFYtaMgodz0MAWw
Thank you so much for your prompt answer. Good luck to both of you!
Another
If you are using a laptop to connect to your projector, another convenient way to use Pikme from your mobile device, is to purchase and download (around $10) the “Reflector” app to your computer.
Follow the steps and you can project from your mobile device to your computer and finally to your projector board (I have a Smartboard). I hope I am clear. I got help from our Tech department and it was easy to do. Now I don’t need to buy a $30 dongle. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions if necessary.
I bought this and it’s crashed twice. I’ll give it one more chance…
Ok, I found a connector that goes from my phone to the cord that normally attached to the computer & it seems to work ok in my test run. Trying it in class on Tuesday!
I use Classtools.net – the fruit machine.- name randomizer. I keep ea. class’s roster on my desktop and copy and paste. Kids love it, especially when a student is randomly selected 2x in arow.
Great idea! I will definitely be using this.
Hello again,
How do I edit the name of a class. I made a mistake and typed the wrong name. I seem to be able to edit the students’ name but not the class name. Thanks for your help.
Have you tried ClassDojo? http://www.classdojo.com/
I first heard about it on Edmodo. I’ve been experimenting with it this week and am getting really positive reactions from the students. It has a companion phone app, so you can either project it on your smartboard or walk around and use it on your phone. Very easy to set up – I was able to quickly copy & paste class lists of my 175 students and voila! it was ready to go! Best of all, it’s free!
Reblogueó esto en CLASE DE ESPAÑOL.
Hi Megan & Kara!
Just curious as to how/if you grade participation in class? If it’s not graded, what kinds of things do you do to encourage it in the TL?
Is there a way to input an entire class list to this ap?
I can’t find the app… is it still available?
Still available for iPhone: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fpikme%2Fid433668399%3Fmt%3D8&h=GAQFtPp3r
I ant find the app either. I’m guessing it’s no longer available
Hmm, I see it in the AppStore (apple) still. I searched with “pikme”–all 1 word & no c 🙂
Still available for iPhone: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fpikme%2Fid433668399%3Fmt%3D8&h=GAQFtPp3r
Must be gone, or rebranded. Who developed/published this app?
SB Apps https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fpikme%2Fid433668399%3Fmt%3D8&h=GAQFtPp3r
I can’t find it either– looking in Google Play store.
Been looking for it as well (I also searched by developer) and it’s not showing up. Bummer. I really liked it! I left a comment on their Facebook so I’ll let you know what they say.
Still available for iPhone, but not iPad: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fpikme%2Fid433668399%3Fmt%3D8&h=GAQFtPp3r