Stick Pick: A digital spin on a classic

    While doing research for my final blog post of the year I started to think back on the year and what I can improve on heading into 2021. The biggest obstacle for me this year was with out a doubt organization, something that I know I'll need to improve before I have my own classroom. With this in mind I had a jumping off point for finding a focus for the week. That led me to Stick Pick, a paid app available for around 3 dollars on most app stores. Stick Pick takes a timeless teacher organizational tool, popsicle sticks with student names turned upside down in a metal can that allow teachers to pick random students for questions and then track which students have been asked, digitizes it and brings a handful of other useful tools to the concept.

    Perhaps most useful of these new tools is the ability to customize each "stick" or student with a type of questioning that's based on Bloom's Taxonomy, and then after the stick is chosen the app with present the instructor with a line of questioning that can aid in differentiating questions to fit specific student's learning styles. Along with these prompts, Stick Pick has an easy to understand UI and allows for quick on the fly adjustments to questions and resets for students who might need a second chance. Finally, after all the questions are asked, Stick Pick will track responses from each student and provide feedback to instructors about which question stems were most effective for that student or how often they were correct.

      I believe that Stick Pick certainly has a use in most classrooms, especially for those of us who might struggle with organization. Its a great reinvention on a classic with cool support features only possible on a digital platform. An expansion on these support features could really bring Stick Pick from Good to Great in my eyes.