Today I started to present my first lesson using Nearpod.  The theme of the lesson was Versailles and how Louis XIV and his efforts to centralize the government affected French society.  My ninth grade students have not yet discussed the Louis XIV in their western civilization class, so I was interested to see what they knew.  One students knew quite a bit about Louis XIV and Versailles, a few students confused Louis XIV with Louis XVI, but most did not know much, if anything.  I really liked the sticky note activity where students could share what they knew anonymously and we could discuss it.

When I asked the students what they thought about the activity, they gave it a thumbs up.  I am looking forward to using Nearpod to introduce new grammar.  I really like the idea of being able to receive immediate feedback from students.  Additionally, I find that they are more engaged.

This year my school district adopted Canvas as our new learning management platform.  I warned my students that, as with anything new, it would be rocky at the beginning, but that in the end, it would change the way they learn.  Four months into this new venture, there are still some rocky days, but there are more successes than failures!