Nearpod
What is Nearpod?
Nearpod is a great way to engage your students... whether lessons are online or in-person.
Offers both teacher directed learning (whole class) or can be used independently at the student's own pace.
Lessons can include videos, web pages, PDFs, drawing pages, images, polls, multiple choice, open ended questions, etc.
Students can actively participate in the lesson while teachers get valuable feedback on student learning.
Nearpod works really well with iPads... all you need is the Nearpod app installed.
All of K-4 teachers have access to our paid Nearpod account.
👇 Watch the video below for a quick intro to Nearpod:
STEP #1
👉 Setup your Nearpod account
Sign up with your Mt. Sinai Google username and password.
Contact T. Davidson if you are not connected to our school account.
👉 Nearpod Dashboard / Homepage
Once you login, you will be brought to the Nearpod dashboard.
On the left side, you will see:
MY LESSONS/LIBRARY- holds the Nearpod lessons that you created/saved
SCHOOL LIBRARY - share your lessons with other Mt. Sinai teachers
NEARPOD LIBRARY - choose from over 7500 standard aligned lessons. You can search by standard, subject, grade level, etc.
STEP #2
👉 Search for Lessons
Click on the 'Nearpod Library'
Search the pre-made lessons
Click 'Add to My Lessons' for ones that you want to save
You can then customize the lesson to fit your needs
👉 Create Your Own Lessons
Click on 'My Lessons'
Click on 'Create' and choose 'Lesson'
Type in your new title where it says 'Untitled Lesson'
Next click the + to add your content and activities
Continue to add as many as you need
💡💡💡 Nearpod Content / Activities Explained 💡💡💡
Want to learn more about each element that you can bring into Nearpod? Click the link below to view an interactive website that explains each tool that you can use.
HERE ARE MORE VIDEOS ON CREATING LESSONS 👇
STEP #3
👉 Launch a Lesson
Once you have your lesson ready to go, you have three options on how you are going to use it with your students:
Live Participation - The teacher controls the lesson and decides when they will move to the next slide. This works well for in-class use, but could also be used remotely if the teacher 'shares' their screen during a live session. Click here to learn more.
Student Paced - Students complete the lesson on their own. This works well for homework assignments or remote learning. Click here to learn more.
Front of Class (videos only) - Teacher projects a video on SmartBoard; students do not use devices. Pause the video at key moments for discussion and exploration.
STEP #4
👉 How Do Students Access the Nearpod Lesson?
The instructions for students are slightly different depending on if they are on a desktop computer or an iPad. See below for more details.
Option #1: Students Use iPads and Nearpod App
Students open the Nearpod app and enter the Nearpod lesson code to begin.
Option #2: Google Classroom Assignments
Students can use Google Classroom to open the Nearpod lesson.
Both the 'Live Participation' and 'Student Paced' lessons will allow you to share the lesson in Google Classroom. Students do not need a code when using this method.
🎬 Watch the video to see how teachers add a Nearpod lesson to Google Classroom
🎬 Watch the video see how students access a Nearpod lesson from a Google Classroom assignment
* OPTIONAL *
If using Google Classroom, students should mark the assignment as 'Complete' in Google Classroom
After students complete a Nearpod lesson, they should exit the lesson, go back to Google Classroom, and then choose 'Mark as done'.
* This is optional... K-2 teachers especially may want to skip this step. However the 'Mark as done' step is useful so that both you and the student can keep track of which assignments have been completed in Google Classroom. It is good practice for them to do this since it will be more important as they get into the older grades.
STEP #5
👉 View Student Responses
When running a 'Student Paced' lesson, you can view student progress at any time.
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Check out the videos below: 👇
Share lessons to the School Library
Once you create a lesson, you can easily add it to the School library to share it with your colleagues.
Adding a PDF Worksheet for Students to Annotate
How to Add Audio to your Lessons
You can add audio files or record your own audio and add it to your lessons.
If you are recording yourself, be sure that you are on a device that has a microphone (such as a laptop or tablet). You could also attach a mic, use airpods, or headphones with a mic (like the ones that come with an iPhone).
After recording, you can trim the beginning and end of the audio clip
There is no time limit, but you can only have one recording per slide.
Student Audio Responses
You can set up your Nearpod lesson to have students submit an audio response.
Students will also need to be on a device that has a microphone to record their audio (such as a laptop or tablet). You could also attach a mic, use airpods, or headphones with a mic (like the ones that come with an iPhone).
Add Flipgrid to Nearpod
Using the Nearpod Add-on for Google Slides
Learn how to create Nearpod lessons directly within Google Slides.
Require Student Responses in Nearpod
In student paced lessons, you can make certain Nearpod activities "required" so that students can't skip ahead.
Please note this only works when students are in Nearpod on a computer, not when using the app.
Using Nearpod for Math
Learn how to add math symbols to write equations for your students to solve.
How to use Nearpod to create Sub Plans
Make printable copy of your Nearpod lesson
Make a Folder to Organize Your Lessons
Click on 'My Lessons'
Then click the '+ Folder' button
You can move lessons into the folder by dragging them
🎬 Watch the video to learn more about folders and to check out some activity options
