Flashcard Factory- A POG Hero: 12/15/19

So when I was initially introduced to Flashcard Factory, a part of Pear Deck, I wasn't really sure how to use it or why others at the training liked it so much. But I took the words of others at the training and decided to try it.

My first experience with this program was in a fourth grade class at my school. They were studying Caesar's English and their teacher and I had decided this was a good way to have them practice their words. As we began the activity, I wasn't sure exactly how this would work- sure, I had done it as a training, but I was totally unprepared for the experience I was about to have.

It was a huge success. I loved watching my fourth graders as they engaged with the content. They were not only using their knowledge of the words, but were collaborating as they create their cards. Moreover, as we reached quality control, the discussions we had about each of their proposed cards was engaging for all students.  

After this, I used this program several times with my grade 4 and 5 students. Each time, the students loved the activity and were not only engaged, but also immersed in the activity. During a region School Based Technology Specialist meeting, I shared how much students loved this and @MsMeshover shared how one of her teachers, @Barrys_class decided to use this program in an open ended manner where students came up with story problems and illustrations for math problems. 

As December began, I tried this with one of my sixth grade classes. I was amazed at the results. All of my sixth grade students were completely engaged. Their discussions were fascinating as they used their critical thinking skills to analyze if their stories matched the expressions given. As we approached the quality control section, as a class, we were able to have some great conversations as we determined if their examples met their criteria set of having expressions match the story problems and illustrations.