Using Poll Everywhere

I must admit that I am resistant to using texting in the classroom.  It's not that I don't see an application, or that I don't acknowledge the interest my students have, I do.  In my current view, which admittedly needs to be broadened, I think that using cellphones in the classroom presents more problems than solutions.  I'd rather focus on incorporating other technology into my classroom.  Problems I see are: a) not all students have phones, b) the administration that I taught under had a strict cell phone use policy in the school which seemed unshakable.  The readings from Session Three have shown me that there is, indeed, great potential for using mobile devices.  I am more inclined to use mobile devices that can do MORE than simply text.  That being said, I did try out Poll Everywhere and found it simple and easy to use.  This doesn't mean that it has a huge value in the classroom however.  I thought about how I might use it effectively in a Spanish classroom.  Here is what I came up with.

One struggle second or third language learners have is thinking about how to express themselves when they don't necessarily have the exact vocabulary.  For instance, say you dropped your pencil on the floor and you need to say that but you don't remember how to say the words "dropped" or "floor".  This is where my students hit a roadblock and I try to help them think about what other words they have to express the same thing.  Can they say "My pencil is by my foot" or "My pencil is down there"?  In the brain, the learners are already doing so much, that taking that moment to think creatively to come up with a different way of saying something is very challenging.  Enter Poll Everywhere.  I could feasibly see myself adding a phrase each week, or day, with a statement or scenario and asking students to come up with other ways to say the same thing in Spanish.  This I like.  This is not necessarily part of the ACTFL guidelines or even part of the syllabus, but it IS a real challenge to learning how to apply language skills and I believe that the extra effort would result in improvement for everyone.  Now, I need to go process what I read about using cellphones in the classroom again as I know I am biased!