New to Boom and don't know where to start? This article will take you step by step through the basics of navigating and using Boom as a Teacher. You can find a list of the terms we use and their definitions here: Boom Learning Terminology - Helpful Definitions.
If you learn better by watching than reading, check out the YouTube tutorial by Tiny Teaching Tube called Boom Cards 101 - How to Get Started on Boom Learning for a complete walkthrough from creating an account to finding and assigning decks and then viewing student progress and performance.
You can also connect with other teachers for ideas on how to use Boom Cards in our Teaching with Boom Cards group on Facebook.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Memberships, Boom Cards, and Points - what are they?
- Setting up a Teacher Profile
- Setting up Students
- Assigning Boom Cards
- Grading and Reports
- Creating Boom Cards
Memberships, Boom Cards, and Points - what are they?
Memberships provide the data processing, hosting, and related elements of the Boom Learning product, including student progress reporting and the ability to create a curriculum by creating your own Boom Cards. Only paid memberships have access to live and stored student success reports.
Each of the membership levels offers different features. To explore those different membership levels and select the right membership for you, please read through: Which Membership Should I Choose?
Setting up a Teacher Profile
Once you've created an account, you'll want to fill in some basic information on your profile. For steps on how to add a picture, name, and other profile details, take a look at: Setting up Your Profile.
Setting up Students
Create a new classroom by going to the "Classes" tab and clicking on "New Classroom." Then add an individual student by using the "New Student" button, or add all the students in your class with the "Add Many Students" button.
Google Classroom users can import students directly from Google by following the steps outlined in this FAQ on Setting Up Google Classroom with Boom Learning.
There are a number of ways students can log in to Boom Learning. They can log in using Google, use a Hyperlink to be automatically directed, or go to the Boom Learning login page and type in their username and password.
You'll find additional information on each of these methods in the FAQ: Getting Started with Student Sign in to Access Assignments.
Assigning Boom Cards
You can assign decks using Fast Pin or Hyper Links, or by Assigning them to a student from the Classroom or individually. We give instructions on each of these methods in our FAQ Assigning, Un-assigning, and Playing Boom Cards.
Grading and Reports
Boom Cards give students instant feedback as they play through the deck. For teachers with a membership that hosts student data, teachers can view progress and performance on the reports page. Data can be viewed either by an individual student or for the whole classroom.
Reports can also be viewed by deck by going through the Library tab to locate the specific deck you'd like to see a report from. Click on the blue "Action" button to open the drop-down menu and then click on "View Report" to open that deck's report.
From the classroom report, teachers can see assigned decks as well as who has not yet started on assignments, who has completed all assigned decks, and who is in the process of working through a deck. We also offer a Live Monitoring feature for just-in-time interventions with some of our memberships.
You will also see their score so far as well as the number of times they have played through the deck. Find additional information on how to understand and use Student Reports here.
Creating Boom Cards
To get started making your own Boom Cards, go to your Studio tab and open the "Get Started Creating Boom Cards" deck that we provide automatically. This deck will walk you through the basic tools and give you a chance to play around with them any time you need.
For more information and resources to help you get started making your own decks, check out our FAQ: Quick Start Guide for Boom Card Creators.