I’ve got it! It started a month ago when I became an Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and received a free subscription. I checked it out…played with it…created in it…and caught the Flipgrid fever! Since then, I have been on fire for Flipgrid!
I collaborate with teachers and administrators almost daily for work, so it’s only natural that I passed on the fever to them. Over the past few weeks, I’ve shared this tremendous platform with anyone who listened (and those standing in the background, too). One assistant principal set up a grid entitled Open House 2017. The topics in her grid included the names of all the teachers in her school. The purpose of her Open House 2017 grid was to get teachers, students, and parents to communicate and collaborate. Parents and students left feedback and love notes for the teachers. Another educator, a classroom teacher, wants to set up a grid for parents to send feedback and consent related to upcoming field trips and events. Since she works with students in a choir program, she can also make a grid for students to submit the recordings of the songs they sing. I even shared grid ideas with an instructor of the kids church my daughter attends; it would be a great asset for the children in youth group and Sunday school. They use Snapchat and Instagram, so why not use Flipgrid to capture their stories?
Just from these few correspondences, I saw the outstanding potential of Flipgrid. I needed a quick and easy way to share this terrific tech tool with the educators I encountered –something I could send to them in an email that has the key points they need to know. So, I started some quick research. And after reading tweets, articles, and blogs and viewing videos, this is what I came up with: a quick description of Flipgrid that’s an easy share
Flipgrid is a video platform to engage students in the content and offer unique opportunities for formative assessment. Educators create “grids” which are similar to a class/course and “topics” which are like lessons in that class/course. The “grids” contain discussion-style activities for students to respond to through recorded videos. The teacher shares the “grid” via a grid code, URL, or QR code.
31 Flipgrid Classroom Ideas:
Advice (e.g., from parents at Open House or from students to the next class)
Agreement/Consent (e.g., opening of school rules and procedures)
Author study
Book talk or Book trailer
Brainstorming task
Character journal
Critique
Debate
Discussion
Draw and tell (e.g., draw a diagram and explain)
Exit Ticket
Field trip (e.g., document and explain)
Icebreaker
Interview
KWL response
Love note or well wish (e.g., from parents at Open House)
Paper Slide (Don’t know what a Paper Slide is? Find out here)
Read aloud (e.g., fluency, second language, music)
Read and Say Something activity
Reading response/summary
Reflection (e.g., for a lesson, unit, experiment, experience, activity, end of year)
Research reporting (like a Ted Talk)
Role play
Socratic Seminar reflections (See an example here)
Shout-out
Show and tell or Show your thinking, knowledge, or actions (like a student recording their athletic moves)
Testimonial or “TAG” peer feedback (Find out more about TAG feedback here)
Thank you card or message
Think-Pair-Share task
Watch a video and share
Welcome message or Meet-and-Greet (See an example here)
FLIPGRID Must-Knows:
Flipgrid is absolutely FREE for educators! To get started as an educator, check out this vimeo.
If students and parents are using mobile devices, they must download the app before recording video responses ahead of time to make the process smoother. Have them watch this vimeo to get started.
References:
Flipgrid. “Using Flipgrid in Your Classroom: Fostering Meaningful Discussions.” Using Flipgrid in Your Classroom: Fostering Meaningful Discussions, Flipgrid, support.emcp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Flipgrid_Integration.pdf.
Karly Moura. “Catch the Flipgrid Fever! 15+ Ways to Use Flipgrid in Your Class.” Ditch That Textbook, Matt Miller, 2 June 2017, ditchthattextbook.com/2017/06/02/catch-the-flipgrid-fever-15-ways-to-use-flipgrid-in-your-class/.