We’ve all been there. Blank faces staring back at us. Zero students willing to answer the question. Complete silence. While these classroom scenarios come with the territory, it still can be very discouraging for teachers. More importantly, teachers need to know what students think so they know what students have learned. REACHUM has a solution- SafeAsk.
REACHUM’s SafeAsk Discussion Tool provides students with a way to anonymously answer a question, offer a comment, post a picture, or upload a file. The anonymity of the SafeAsk tool allows students to share their thoughts without fear of judgement from peers. Even better, it’s very easy to use with almost no prep time. All you need to do is add a SafeAsk slide, type a question or prompt, and it’s ready for the classroom. A great use of this tool is to keep a folder of ready-to-use SafeAsk slides that can be used over and over again across many lessons or different classes, such as “Any questions?” or a KWL chart. However, it’s just as quick and easy to create a new SafeAsk with a question specific to a particular lesson. Even if you think of a new question to ask in the middle of a lesson, you can quickly add another SafeAsk slide.
In my classroom, I have used SafeAsk to generate discussion during pre-reading activities. When reading, students use SafeAsk to post a list of questions they have or words they don’t know. SafeAsk can also be used as an exit ticket at the end of the class. Additionally, students can post answers using SafeAsk or take pictures of an assignment, such as a graphic organizer, and upload it so it can be reviewed by the teacher.
How can teachers gauge student understanding if posts are anonymous? SafeAsk is anonymous for the students but not for the teacher. Student names and emails associated with each post are available to the teacher by clicking on the drop-down menu and selecting “show name” or “show email.” If I want the class to focus on a particular student response, I can spotlight it by clicking on it. The spotlighted post will immediately pop up on the teacher screen and the student devices. If I want to share my screen to show all student posts, I can easily revert to the anonymous answers by using the same drop-down menu and selecting “hide names” or “hide email.”
Sometimes I want to delve deeper into student responses after class. To do this, I can download a spreadsheet of SafeAsk posts that includes names and email addresses. Alternatively, if I’m just using the SafeAsk tool to do a quick check of student understanding, I can use the drop down menu to instantly clear the responses when I’m finished viewing them. This quickly allows the activity to be ready for the next class.
SafeAsk is a quick and easy way to keep students engaged, to encourage participation, and to provide a way for students to share without fear. All of this can be done while also giving teachers a way to assess student understanding. The ways SafeAsk can be used in the classroom are truly endless!
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