I have a set of Promethean Expressions and what I love about using clickers is getting that instant data that students are or are not getting the lesson, and this drives my instruction. The Promethean clickers let me know more than just multiple choice so that information is particularly valuable.
Today though I realized one more benefit to the clickers is wait time. I find I wait probably 2 – 3 times as long (and sometimes longer) when I use the clickers since I can see that some students are still working on it. Of course when I say “okay…” and start to move forward not all kids are inclined to say “wait,” so this really helps me to realize that I need to give students more time to process and demonstrate their knowledge. Also, no one can hide behind the success of the other students. Instead of just hanging out and waiting for others to come up with the answer, students must engage in the problem.
