In our latest ClassPoint User Insights chat, we spoke with USA teacher Kami McLaughlin. Kami has taught Math at Falcon Cove Middle School for 14 years. This year in addition to teaching, she will be the head of the Math Department. We were so excited to chat with Kami and hear her experience of using ClassPoint with her middle schoolers.
During our chat, we got to learn a lot about Kami’s teaching experience and how ClassPoint has made a difference for her students. Her biggest takeaway from using ClassPoint this past year was that it has helped hold and build student accountability in the classroom. Read on for a short summary about why & how this was possible in Kami’s classroom, and watch the video for the full details!
Difficulities Before ClassPoint
Kami began using ClassPoint while she was online teaching during Covid. She continued using it while her school transitioned into a hybrid approach, some students in the classroom and some online. The hardest part of this process was keeping her students engaged.
The hardest part was keeping the kids engaged.
Kami
Before Covid when Kami was teaching in person, she used Response Clickers to hold her students accountable. But then, with the transition to online learning, students would disappear, clearly not pay attention, or disrupt the class by muting themselves or others. Kami knew she needed to find a tool to help bring back that accountability with her students while giving them all the opportunity to answer questions and participate in class. Enter ClassPoint!
ClassPoint’s Transformation on Students and Teacher
One very important aspect of ClassPoint is the opportunity for students to see where they are at compared to their peers. Kami uses ClassPoint’s Hide Participants Name feature so that students only know which answer they submitted, not which answer their classmates have submitted. This gives students the chance to see if they are doing well, or if they are falling behind and need some help.
Kami’s teaching style has been improved because she can use ClassPoint to see if she should slow down or speed up on a topic depending on the responses of her students. Because she is able to get a full overview of her whole class, she no longer needs to wait for a quiz or homework to determine how well her students are understanding her teachings.
Suggestions for New Users
Kami suggests that new users of ClassPoint take it slow. Learn all the features and use them to their max capabilities so that you get the most out of ClassPoint for you and your students. Soon enough, your classroom can be transformed as well!
3 Main Takeaways
- ClassPoint has helped to keeps students attention focused on the lesson
- ClassPoint responses give you a full class view of students’ understanding rather than just having a few students raise their hands
- Teaching style can be adapted on the spot because of real-time instant feedback
For more insights on how ClassPoint can transform your classroom, take a look at our other ClassPoint User Stories: