How a first year teacher is taking his classes to the next level with Kahoot!
Recently we caught up with Cory Degidio, a high school World History teacher from Houston, Texas – and a veteran Kahoot!’er. Cory had a lot to share with us from his short time in the field, seeing around 180 10th grade students a week and teaching them a HUGE range of historical periods. Starting with ancient man and going right up to the 21st century as the year goes on, Kahoot! helps him keep it fresh.
How does he do it?
Cory uses Kahoot! at the beginning/middle of his lessons to gauge his students’ understanding – and to keep them on the ball during dense lectures. The immediate results help pace his lesson plans, and make sure everyone is participating – he even plays against the students himself for extra competition!
Speaking of which – that’s his (and his students’) favorite part. The leaderboard is the wall of glory, and everyone’s hooked!
Leveling up your Kahoot! game:
- Cory uses Kahoot! alongside other applications, such as ClassDojo and NearPod. “The scores from Kahoot! feed nicely into ClassDojo points”, motivating his class even more.
- The download results feature is great for retrospectively reviewing lessons, which compares the outcomes of different lessons and classes – which is especially handy when you have nearly 200 learners like he does.
- Keep your Kahoots consistent (say that five times fast!) – Cory uses a 10 minutes/10 questions format, which is a breeze to drop into any lesson plan. It also means that his Kahoots are a wonderful asset to other teachers, as you know what to expect!
Cory’s Mega World History Kahoot Playlist (created for 10th Grade: 14-17 year olds)
World War 1: Causes and Characteristics
Lastly, a huge thank you for Cory taking the time to chat with us – and for being such a Kahoot! rockstar from day one. We are huge fans, and can’t wait to feature more inventive user stories – make sure to get in touch if you have one to share so we can spread the love!
Best,
Team Kahoot!
