Formative or GoFormative is the absolute best tool that I found to use in my Spanish classes during distance learning. I’m talking….GAME CHANGER. I loved it so much that I will be using it even when we return to the regular classroom.
I’ll give you a quick overview.
What is it?
Formative is an all in one online platform that you can use with your classes. It allows you to create assignments or assessments online that include a variety of question types. For example, in ONE Formative that I distribute to my class, I can have Multiple Choice Questions, Matching, Sorting, Short Answer, Essay Questions, Audio response, and more!
Another positive is it allows the teacher to input various types of questions. I can add audio, an image, text, a video, embed something OR a white board. For me, I have used the audio for listening comprehension questions, images for various questions, text blocks to input regular short answer/MC questions and video with comprehension questions.
Why is it so great?
1. We are a Google School so Formative will sync my created Formatives with my Google Classroom so it is one less thing for me to post and assign.
2. If you sync your classes there is no need for your students to create another username and password. Thank goodness because my students were getting really tired of all of the new “accounts” they had to create and passwords they had to remember. This was seamless.
3. Did you read the part about audio response? Students can answer questions with an audio response. This in itself is amazing! Just think about all of the extra practice they can get!
4. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. Formative gives you the options. You can upload your own content: a PDF, Google Doc or Microsoft Word Doc that you already have made OR you can search from an existing bank of Formatives and take what you need. AMAZING!!!
5. This may sound a little advanced but it’s not really that hard-you can embed things into Formative. Ok…what does that mean? If I assign a Formative to my students, I can embed a Quizlet Flashcard practice right at the top. This means that students can access the Formative that I posted and right on top (or wherever in the doc I put it) there will be a space for them to practice their vocabulary.
WHAT!? Yes! Another amazing advantage- students do not have to navigate outside of Formative to practice vocabulary in the Quizlet that you made. It’s truly awesome.
6. Keeping things in one place. As I said above, students do not have to navigate through five different websites in one lesson. I can start my lesson with vocabulary review (embed my Quizlet), then have students watch a video on the topic and answer some comprehension questions, then I can have some matching questions where they may vocabulary and definition and then I can have them give their opinion in an audio file on the topic.
I know I keep saying amazing but there is really no other word. This will make your life SO much easier and will really change how our students engage with our assignments.
What about when we go back?
Formative does not have to go away! You can use it to assign homework or in class assignments. No more losing papers- it will be all digital, easy to access and easy to hand in.
The fact that I can have my students go home and do additional speaking practice is what really sells it for me. I haven’t seen any other options that allow me to include audio along with all of the above mentioned.
Let’s say you have these amazing discussion questions for your unit but you just don’t have the time to get to all of them. Have your students complete the questions on Formative for homework. They can simple record their answers. This will save them time and give them a chance to practice. GENIUS!
Aren’t sold yet?
What if I told you that it can grade for you?! YES! If you utilize the Multiple Choice Questions, short fill ins, matching or sorting, you can assign a “correct” answer (or even multiple options for fill ins), it will then grade these for you!
Let me tell you, this made my life SO much easier at the end of the year. Even if you don’t create an entire Formative with short answer or multiple choice questions, if Formative can grade part of your assignment or assessment…why not? You will only save yourself valuable time.
Just to be clear…I am not a GoFormative affiliate of any kind; I just love it so much and need to share the amazing possibilities because I think this will really change how our students engage with our assignments during distance learning and beyond.
If you want to learn more, check out this awesome webinar that Lisa (La MaestraMcH) and Claudia Elliot (Growing with Proficiency) creating specifically for world language teachers. They will walk you through everything you need to know, specific to your world language class.
Do you need more ideas for distance learning? Check out this post on Back to School Activities and this post on My Distance Learning Takeaways.
