Before the 2018-2019 school year ended, I had to opportunity to meet with my elementary partner teacher at the campus that feeds into my middle school. We are attempting to create a collaborative environment and continuity of services so our students will know what to expect from me in the future. My partner introduced me to a tool called Flipgrid which we plan to use for some of our goals.
It seems Flipgrid is designed to promote collaboration via short video recordings. My role as the teacher would be to create topics for the students to respond to, then the students can watch and respond to the other short videos. It’s similar to the discussion-style questioning that now rules the online education world, but with speaking into a camera seems more approachable to younger students who may not yet be fluent with typing. My partner described how her students used it to pen-pal with other students in Texas. I like that the platform mirrors other social media but with a protected twist. Students’ videos will not be available to the entire internet.
I’m still not quite sure what it will look like because school has yet to start, but my goal is to create a “back-to-school” task to be completed in the first couple of weeks then see where things go from there. I like the idea of students creating videos for a project cycle – an introduction to their problem and planned solution, a mid-point talk to reflect on their progress what challenges they have faced, and a final presentation. I feel the students having feedback on their ideas from their own peers will be more beneficial and authentic with this platform.
One more thought – Flipgrid does offer teacher training and certification, so I will definitely look at completing at least the first of three levels before school begins. Do you have experience with it? How have you used it in the classroom?
My STEM Journey 