There are some school years when I’m sad to see my fifth graders leave at 
the end of the school year. Then there are those years when I can’t wait until the school year end so I never have to see them again! If you’re reading this blog post I’m sure you can relate.
Although I’ve been teaching for eighteen years I’ve had my fair share of students who have either made me rethink my career choice or adopt the mindset it’s me or them!
Last year, I had to adopt the mindset it’s me or them because I had one class with a mutant strand of students in it. Every day they would come to class it was like an out of body experience. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around their behavior. Nothing worked until I found my secret weapon, Nearpod.
What is Nearpod?
Nearpod is an interactive platform that takes Google or PPT slides and allows teachers to create engaging lessons for students.
Until recently the only way that slide shows could be made interactive if you had a Smart or Promethean board.
With Nearpod you can take your ppt slides from bland to grand! It’s just that great of a resource.
I had heard about Nearpod before I actually started using the platform, but I didn’t think it was something I needed. Boy was I wrong!
Two years later it was my lifesaver. When I first introduced Nearpod to my students I controlled the slides. My students were shocked to see the slides move that it instantly captured their attention. They were hooked and my behavior concerns were history.
Student Engagement
There’s a difference between student fun and engaging lessons. Fun lessons are entertaining while engaging lesson invoke interest in learning more about the topic. Nearpod isn’t fun, however it does provide a vehicle for you to increase the engagement of your lessons.
In addition to being able to create highly engaging lesson for my students I also was able to better manage this one particular class. Even though the students in this class were two to three grade levels behind they still wanted to learn. I just needed the right tool to reach them.
Getting Started With Nearpod
Nearpod has a free version if you want to get started right away. Click the arrow to watch a short video on how to start using Nearpod.
