Flipgrid! Where social learning happens.

 

A while ago I read an educational research article which discussed how to get students to care more about their writing. The authors concluded that the magic answer was giving your students an authentic audience. In other words, students need someone other than just their teacher to read their writing. This made sense to me because I recognized that I care more about my writing depending on who my audience is, and I increase my effort when I know the stakes are higher, as do some of my 6th graders. 

"When we establish authentic audiences for students, they can see the purpose for their work." - Edutopia 

Over the years, I have tried different things to create an authentic audience for my students. Google Docs helps with this task because they can easily share their writing with their classmates to receive feedback on how to edit and revise their work. However, I didn't notice the impact I was hoping for. 

Enter Stacey Van Heerden, a TOA from L&T. We met one day after school to discuss a different project, and she mentioned Flipgrid to me and how easy and powerful it was to use. Flipgrip is a social learning site where students record themselves sharing information from a prompt the teacher creates. I looked over the site and was instantly hooked. 

For my students to record a successful Flipgrid, they need to go through each ELA claim: research and read in order to answer the prompt in writing, then revise and edit, and finally rehearse their "script" multiple times and then speaking while recording their grid. Finally, students listen to their peers' Flipgrids and have the option of recording a video response. 

This video is of my students viewing their classmates' flipgrids while using a rubric to rate their peers. 

"As the educator, you are the Topic designer with specialized resources and attachments. Back-to-school intros, booktalks, reflections, expert Q&As, showcase STEAM ideas...the possibilities are endless for students to verbalize their learning!"- Flipgrid

Helpful tips for using Flipgrid:

1) Record one yourself before introducing the site to your class. The site is pretty user-friendly but, as with everything dealing with technology, it's a good idea to get a feel for it before you have your students dive into something new. 

2) Plan on the first one being something very low-stakes. For example, I had my students introduce themselves and share where they'd like to travel one day. This was just for them to get a feel for how to operate the site. 

3) Set up clear rules and expectations as you walk them through the site. Something that worked for my students was telling them to recite their writing aloud, at home, five to ten times, so they knew most of it by memory. Stacey (L&T TOA) suggested telling students they have a limit when recording. I decided to tell my students they had 7 minutes and/or 3 recordings max. This helped to move things along because some of the students were very self-conscience and would have re-recorded over and over if I didn't give them a time limit. 

4) Look over the teacher controls before you assign a new topic. There are some topics that I do not allow students to reply or react to each other's videos because the assignment doesn't call for those features. Also, you can moderate the video before they post to the grid. I like to do this to ensure students have completed the assignment according to the rubric specifications before students can view their classmates' videos. 

5) Allow students to record at home, if it's possible for them to, after the first one. This HELPS move the assignment along so much faster! Plus, they can record as many times as they want at home. 

Reach out to Stacey Van Heerden (L&T) if you need help setting it up in your class or set up a spotlight visit with me to see it in action! My students would LOVE to do this every day if I allowed them. 

Learning with you, 

Jenni Merry