PearDeck Love

One of my awesome colleagues Evelyn showed us how to use PearDeck.  PearDeck is presentation system that also allows interaction and questions.  You can use your Google account to start.  Once you are in, you can either import an existing powerpoint or you can create a new powerpoint.  You can add slides with text, images or videos.  Then, you can also add feedback slides.  You can add free response, multiple choice, a draggable dot or a drawing slide.  This way you can make your presentation much more interactive.

Once I created my slideshow, I had students sign in with their Google account.  They go to http://peardeck.com/join and they will see a log in code on the screen to take them to your own account.  From there, you can choose presentation mode if you are projecting your screen, or you can see a teacher view which shows you what everyone is doing.  As you click through the presentation, the students see the same slides on their screen.  Once you hit an interactive slide, they can put their answers in on their own device.  They can also change their answer until you “lock” all answers on your screen.  You can project answers and lock answers through the presentation mode.

My students really loved it!  I used it to review vocabulary by putting up pictures on the screen and asking questions in Spanish.  I also used a story by Martina Bex (Las chicas no juegan al fútbol americano) and then used the question slides to ask comprehension questions as well as personalized questions.  It was also great to throw a couple of drawing slides into the mix.  I had them draw a girl playing football.  They also answered questions like who is the best football player and team.  You can see some responses below:

I would encourage you to use it to increase your comprehensibility in class and the amount of time that you spend in the TL.  My students were even talking about how much they liked this in the hallway!  I am sold!