BACKGROUND

Doni Beaupre is a sixth grade science teacher going on her fourth year with the Campbell County Middle School in northern Kentucky, not far from Cincinnati, Ohio. She is one of 40 teachers at the school who teach about 1,300 students.

THE CHALLENGE

Doni says that in addition to the in-class quizzes, midterms and finals, she administers pre-assessment tests to learn what her 187 students from five elementary schools have learned before she launches into the next unit of study. Her integrated science classes cover topics in astronomy, physics, life science, and earth science. Doni wants to make sure that students start from the same base of understanding so she can build on that knowledge with each unit. In addition, she helps her students practice for the state’s required Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) for seventh graders. Sixth graders have a chance in September and February to practice for this exam through the state’s Predictive Assessment Series (PAS) – this is when Doni has employed the TurningPoint® solution.

Doni represents many teachers when she says she is always looking for ways to replace the time-consuming tedium involved in grading traditional pencil and paper tests with something easier and fun.

Doni also notes that teachers are always struggling with trying to engage 100 percent of their students 100 percent of the time. Doni’s challenge is no different. But her penchant for keeping her eyes wide open to new tools with new possibilities had her first in line when her Technology Leader introduced the Turning Technologies’ TurningPoint student response system.

THE SOLUTION

The Campbell County School district’s Technology Director strives to stay tuned to the newest technologies which can potentially enhance teaching in the District. The director purchased three class sets of 30 ResponseCards® for the middle school, and then introduced the technology to teachers through an interactive workshop.

“Needless to say, we were all excited, but had trouble scheduling the devices for our classes to use. I ‘borrowed’ a system for a few weeks and my students absolutely loved it,” said Doni. “We had several fundraisers throughout the year to offset field trips and lab expenses. When I saw the benefits of the TurningPoint devices and the excitement in the kids’ eyes, I let 89 students vote to either purchase a system for our class or use the money raised for the field trip and lab supplies. It was almost unanimous: they wanted TurningPoint!”

Doni used several TurningPoint slides to check students’ understanding at the end of each unit. While walking around the room clicking through slides with a remote control, Doni utilizes TurningPoint’s interactivity for approximately one third of her 90-minute class time. Because each student was assigned a numbered ResponseCard, Doni could, at the end of class, check which students had trouble understanding the material and pull them aside for remediation. She says she also uses TurningPoint to ask students five to six pre-assessment questions before starting a new teaching unit to immediately assess their understanding of fundamental concepts. She adds that it was much harder to get an immediate reading of this understanding through paper and pencil quizzes. Of the student response system, “Kids love it,” Doni says. “The students work as a team to distribute the ResponseCards – I get them passed out and returned quickly. They love the competition, too.”

CONCLUSION

Doni concludes, “I am AMAZED with the features TurningPoint offers educators! It is amazing that I can ask a question in class and have 100 percent engagement and participation – even from the quietest student. I know immediately if the concept was reached by the ‘masses’ or if I need to re-teach.” Of quizzes, she adds, “The students enjoyed the immediate feedback and the opportunity to explain to each other the correct answer. I was also able to set up ‘team’ play and had them not only competing against each other as teams, but competing against my other classes.”

For more information about purchasing Turning Technologies’ audience response systems for your organization, contact us at 866-746-3015.