Websites and Apps for a Classroom with One Device to a
1:1 Classroom There are some websites and apps that can assist or give you ideas on what and how to assess. Here are a few that have been very successful in elementary music classrooms:
Music Tech Teacher (
musictechteacher.com) There are numerous websites that can assist in assessing elemen-
tary students in general music class. One of my favorites is Karen Garrett’s
musictechteacher.com. Karen is the 2006 Technology for Music Education (TI:ME) Mike Kovins Teacher of the Year Award winner. She created this website years ago and keeps it up-to-date. It was originally intended to accompany her grades 2-5 music classes. However, many music educators visit the site daily to utilize her lesson plans, quizzes, and games. Her games are based on musi- cal concepts such as rhythm values, musical terms, instrumenta- tion, rhythm math, and more. Some of the students’ favorite games are “Instrument Soccer Challenge”, “Rhythms HoopShoot”, and “Rhythm Quiz” where you can “Fling the Teacher.”
Plickers (
plickers.com): Plickers is a successful tool for a music
classroom with limited devices. It requires one device with the app (iOs and Android), the Plickers cards, and a free account that you create at
plockers.com. In your account, you can create multiple choice or true/false/ yes/no questions. Currently, your questions can include pictures. Once you input the names of your students into a class list (you can cut-and-paste them in), Plickers will assign the students their card numbers. Once you create an assessment, and print out the cards and the class list with the assigned numbers, you give each student his/her assigned card and begin asking the questions. You can click “LiveView” from your computer screen (when in
plickers.com) and the questions with the pictures will appear on the screen. When you ask the students their questions, they will turn the card with their corresponding answer facing up. For example, if they believe the answer to be “A”, then the letter “A” is facing up. Through the app on your mobile device, you click on the question you are asking, click “Scan” (it connects to your camera), and then you can see who is answering correctly and who is answer incorrectly. Click the check button on the bottom of the screen and it records their answers. Through your website account, you can review the answers in the “Reports” section. No two cards are the same and it is difficult for them to look at someone else’s answer because the letters are printed in a small font size. I usually line my students up in three rows (standing, kneeling, sitting) so that I can assess them in one scan. I also mounted my cards on construction paper so that they last a long time. You can purchase matte-laminated Plickers cards on Amazon as well. I have used Plickers with the students in grades kindergarten through three to assess high and low sounds, as exit tickets, and to assess how they are feeling when dancing with other children. It has been tremendously helpful with my assessments.
Socrative (
Socrative.com) I have used Socrative for years to
give my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders pre- and post-assessments. Socrative is free, but you can purchase the upgrade to Socrative Pro. With the free account, you can set up a public room for your classes. You then create your assessment. The assessment can include pictures and be
set up in the forms of space race (game-like quiz), multiple choice, short answer, exit ticket, or true/false. From your device, you launch your assessment. When the students need to access the assessment, they do not need an email address to login, just a device. On days that I know that I will use Socrative, I have asked other teachers if I could borrow devices such as laptops, chromebooks, and iPads. Since Socrative runs from a web browser, it successfully works on many devices. Now that my school is 1:1, the students bring their devices with them. The students go to
socrative.com (or click the app on our iPads), click on “STUDENT LOGIN”, type in your public room name (i.e. Music Room 17), and then type in their name. The pro version allows you to skip these steps by uploading all names and giving a link to quickly access the assessment. The students then begin the assessment. On your device, you can see their progress, if they left any questions unanswered, and when they finished the assessment. Their answers are now recorded and you can export them via download, email, or Google Drive. They will also stay in your account. Other similar tools that have been very success- ful with educators are Kahoot! (
getkahoot.com), Google Forms, and Quizlet (
quizlet.com).
iDoceo (currently iOS only) Though this is a pric-
ier app, it is well worth the price. From my iPad, I can launch this app and see all 17 of my classes’ seating charts; access all of their assessments in- cluding video and audio assessments; export the assessments through a va- riety of ways from Google Drive to OneDrive, have the app select the next student with its built- in teaching tools; and so much more. I adore using this app to record my students’ singing and playing assessments from the youngest to the oldest of students. I love that I can print out all seating charts with pictures and leave them for my sub when I am out. This app assists greatly with my assessments and my organization of them.
Seesaw (
web.seesaw.me)
Seesaw is a student digital learning portfolio, which can be used as an self-assessment tool for the student. The free version allows the teacher to set up 10 classes. If you have more than 10 classes, you can set it up per grade level instead of by class. Once you set up your classes, you or your students can add their student work into their individual digital portfolios. For example, if they sing an assessment in a 1:1 classroom, you can ask them to open their Seesaw page, go
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