This blog series has examined the how-tos of Pear Deck, digging into the process and the application in a variety of situations. To bring the series to a close we offer to you a variety of examples of Pear Deck in ‘real’ life. These examples have been gleaned from Twitter with the #peardeck hashtag and we offer them to you as a starting point.
Pear Deck and Student Reflection
Laurie Foss, 5th grade teacher, has paired Pear Deck with student reflection. This combination is a powerful tool to for individual student reflection as well as whole class understanding. Laurie introduced the "Learning Pit" to her students as a way of describing their own learning process. Using pear deck - students added a dot to their place in the pit. She followed that with a graphic of the 4 stations and asked which of the stations they struggled with the most. This data helped her plan as a teacher. It also helped students understand the learning process for the entire class.
 |  |
Finally, she asked for feedback from student about the process - which stations helped and which were a struggle.
 |  |  |
The options for reflection and discussion in pear Deck transformed this process. Being able to share student responses anonymously opened the door to conversations in a completely new way.
There are many, many different ways to use the drawing question with students. Check out these examples with an open mind. How could you use a drawing question in your own classroom situation?
Drawing Questions |
 |  Math teacher, Hannah Hale uses Pear Deck to ask her students to review and show their learning. The drawing response gives students that option. |
| Not every student has access to math manipulatives at home. The Irvine Math Project from the University of California, Irvine opens the door wide open with this group of 4th grade students - allowing them to solve with illustrations of their own. |  |
These two examples demonstrate different ways of solving the same problem. Giving students an opportunity to explain their thinking is key - and these illustrations show that progression perfectly! The one of the left is from 8th grade Math teacher David A. Trez, nd the right is from a Kindergarten classroom in Texas.
 |  |
| Drawing options are not just for math. This is an interesting take on a music lesson from Ms. Munson, a MS music teacher. Students add their own note drawings to demonstrate a percussion rhythm. |  |
 |  |
Drawing also adds to class discussions in Language Arts. Above are two examples of illustrations depicting student understanding of images from text. Ms. Burns teaches in Canada and the Cyclops drawings come from Strongsville, Ohio.
More than just Drawing
| Especially in Covid times, there is a heightened need for Social Emotional Learning options in our classrooms. Fifth grade teacher, Stevie Frank includes popular "either or" choices into a Pear Deck to help students get to know one another as well as checking in with them. |  |
And Finally...
Pear Deck brings out both the generosity and the creativity in teachers! This seasonal 'Find the Hidden Objects' activity was created by a 7th grade teacher named Karie. She used this image with her class as an attendance bell-ringer. And then shared then shared it as a google slide for anyone to use.
Dalton Tedder, a 7th grade math teacher, has taken this a step farther and created a series of slide deck templates. Some are timely, like this Grinch example, and others are more timeless. Each includes question placeholders and is very open for teachers to add their own content. Use this link to connect to the Google Drive folder
Our hope is that this blog series has provided you with food for thought and examples to move your use of Pear Deck forward. Do not be afraid to share your examples with the #peardeck hashtag on twitter. Or send them our way, we love to show off what is happening in classrooms across Grant Wood Area Education Agency!
Additional Resources
DLGWAEA's Pear Deck One-Pager
DLGWAEA's Pear Deck Handbook
Edtech Take Out: Episode 81: Perfect Pear Deck Presentations
Connect With Us
We'd love to hear how you are using Pear Deck. Please share with us in the comments!
~Amber, Beth, & Mindy
Additional Resources
DLGWAEA's Pear Deck One-Pager
DLGWAEA's Pear Deck Handbook
Edtech Take Out: Episode 81: Perfect Pear Deck Presentations
Connect With Us
We'd love to hear how you are using Pear Deck. Please share with us in the comments!
~Amber, Beth, & Mindy
RSS Feed
