This post shares the main ways teachers are using Plickers incorrectly in the classroom. Let’s dig into some fresh ways to use Plickers no matter what grade or subject you teach.
This post has Amazon affiliate links that will pay a small commission to this site when you use them. No gimmicks, weird hustles or tricks! If you don’t believe me, check out my disclosures here.
I love Plickers! (no affiliate link or sponsored post)
Some argue that they aren’t “rigorous” enough for student engagement. Those critics haven’t been in MY classroom yet.
But I will admit, I was almost a Plickers critic myself because I made many
Learning from those mistakes helped me turn Plickers into an engaging and effective assessment tool in my classroom.
If you want details on WHY you should use Plickers in the classroom, I have a more detailed post HERE on that topic.
But before you check it out, you’ll want to know the common mistakes teachers make with this free learning app.
Mistake 1: Using Plickers As Your Main Assessment Tool
As any good teacher knows, assessment doesn’t mean “testing.”
Assessment is using a variety of several things in order to find your students’ strengths and weaknesses.
When teachers use Plickers as the main way to assess learning on a certain topic, it falls into the category of “NO-NO-LAND!” As in, “NO-NO..do not do that again!”
Plickers makes assessment easier because it doesn’t involve a lot of teacher prep, but be sure to add other measures with it. This will give a better snapshot of what your students actually KNOW and CAN DO.
Mistake 2: Asking the Same Type of Question Each Time
This is another way teachers use Plickers incorrectly in the classroom. They ONLY ask multiple choice questions with Plickers.
Wait a minute, before you get snazzy with me and blurt out “That’s the only way you CAN use Plickers!”, let me stop you right there my dear. You do not have to use Plickers for the same type of question:
- If you teach Spanish, you can post an image of an object and have students choose the Spanish vocabulary for it.
- For math teachers, you can show a math equation and ask students to solve it on their whiteboards. Then they can choose the correct answer with their Plickers.
- Plickers allows students to choose a TRUE or FALSE responses.
- You can also use Plickers to take a class survey or to vote as a group.
These are just a few of the ways Plickers can be used in the classroom. Just remember that lack of novelty leads to a lack of engagement.
Mistake 3: Only Using Plickers for Multiple Choice Quizzes
Here we are again with that famous word “assessment.” Many people hear it and automatically think “quiz” or “test.”
Imagine me right now making that annoying buzzer sound in your ear! That’s my way of saying NOOO!
When I first started using Plickers, I only used them when I wanted to take a no-pencil-and-paper quiz. Then I could save time on grading. I also mistakenly took this as being “engaging.”
I quickly learned that my students built up a strong dislike for Plickers because they only saw them as another form of testing.
Which is the last thing we need more of in our classrooms!
Here are other ways you can use Plickers:
- Partner & Group Games
- Mimic a “Minute to Win It” style by timing students to respond
- Entrance and Exit Tickets
- K-W-L Activity (what you Know, Want to know, what you Learned)
- Surveys and group voting
- Attendance or Tracking for things like field trip forms
Of course you can still use them for quizzes, but don’t ONLY use them for quizzes.
Mistake 4: Not Connecting Plickers to a Learning Objective
When it comes to using any learning app in the classroom, there’s always the risk that students will become a little too playful.
Some teachers shy away from things like Kahoot, Quizziz, and Plickers for this reason. (again, no affiliate links–I just love ’em all!)
But let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water! A way to fix this mistake is to connect your use of Plickers with a learning objective.
I needed to help my students see Plickers as a learning tool, not just a classroom toy.
By incorporating our Plickers’ activities with other learning activities, students began to see them as important and good for learning.
If you only use Plickers for fun and silly activities, students will treat them like fun, silly objects.
Mistake 5: Failing to Pre-Plan How to Organize Your Plickers
My oh my! Organization…I always ask myself, “How much is disorganization costing me as a teacher?” Let’s save that answer for another post!
The final way that teachers misuse Plickers in the classroom is by NOT having a plan for HOW to keep them organized.
We underestimate how much time is lost in transitions over the little things.
You know how it goes: you tell students to take out a pencil. In your head, it should only take them a couple of seconds to do that. But in reality–because there isn’t a true pencil system in place–it ends up taking what seems like
Plickers leads to the same problems. You need a plan for where students will store them and how they will use them.
In this post, I talk about how I keep my Plickers stored & organized so that they last the entire school year! Maybe you can get some ideas from my system so that you don’t repeat this common mistake.
A MUST READ on Organization Hacks for Teachers! The fourth one is my FAVE!
Solving the Problem with Plickers
These 5 ways that teachers use Plickers incorrectly in the classroom are pretty easy to fix. Some tweaks here and there will allow you to use them in a way that IS fun, yet rigorous and engaging.
Have you used Plickers before? If so, tell me about it in the comments.
I have more “5” tips posts that you’d like:
- 1– 5 Reasons Your Pencil System Isn’t Working
- 2– 5 Ways Teachers ‘Encourage” Student Misbehavior
- 3– 5 Creative Ways to Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- 4–5 Easy Steps to Planning Your Full School Year in Advance
Feel free to pin this post for later 🙂
