4 Ways to Engage Students with Today's Meet During the #Last5

Let's continue with our series titled #LAST5 and explore several ways to keep your students engaged during the last five minutes of class. Here's what we have covered so far:

1. Part 1 - Provide students with an audio version of summarizing learning through AudioBoo. 
2. Part 2 - Provide students with multiple ways of using post-it notes through Padlet. 

So far, we have talked about different ways to say it and show it. What about changing the way that students engage with one another? 

Engage Your Class Differently with Today's Meet:

If you want to create your own temporary chatroom or discussion forum, Today's Meet is the site for you. You can easily create your own chat with a customized URL without a username or password. You can customize how long your chat is open and best of all, you can download a transcript of the entire conversation. 

In the past, I have mentioned Today's Meet as a popular tool for back-channeling. Today I would like to show you other ways to help students learn!

Ways to Incorporate Today's Meet into the #LAST5 (Minutes of Class)

1. K - L - D Charts 

What does K-L-D stand for? "Know," "Learn," and "Do." Begin class by having students work individually or in small groups to post something they "know" about today's topic. As you progress through today's lesson, you can easily share URL's of resources with students through Today's Meet. At the end of class, have students post something they "learned" and one thing they will "do" with what they learned.

2. The Last Word

Maybe you or someone you know always has to have the last word. Why not use this concept in the classroom? Give students the opportunity to use one word to describe what was learned today. State a vocabulary word and have students use one word to describe or define.

3. Quick Review

Assign each student a vocabulary term or concept covered in class. Have students give a quick synopsis of what it means, provide any examples, or share resources with the class. Save the transcript of this conversation and you have a study guide!

4. End Class with a Question

The Common Core emphasizes the need for students to reflect. Questions are an excellent way of driving reflection and learning. Why not have students reflect on what they learned by posing a question to their classmates? You can require students to ask one question and answer one of their classmate's questions.

Conclusion:

Don't have a one-to-one initiative? Students can use it on any device. Students can't bring their own device? Have students work in small groups with laptops, tablets, or other devices. 

Technology is changing the way that our students interact and engage with content and each other; therefore, it is essential that we use this tool creatively. Do you have any other ideas to engage students in the last five minutes of class? I'd love to hear your ideas!