Finding Flipgrid FANTASTIC!

Today was my inaugural launch of Flipgrid.  Having heard wonderful reviews on the platform, I made it my mission to give it a try, and the results were flipping great!

If you haven't seen/heard of Flipgrid, its billing claims that it is 'social learning for everyone' Essentially,  Flipgrid allows users to engage in video dialogue about a Topic.  For this dialogue, educators can establish 'Grids' that contain Topics for discussion.  For a Topic, you can record and upload video stimuli, embed videos, upload a high-resolution image for students to discuss, or add a little fun with GIPHY and Emoji. You can also feature an attached file or any website as the stimulus in your Topics.

Students log in by simply entering an access code and are then granted access to the grid (and Topics).  The power in Flipgrid resides in the response strategies.  Students are allowed 1 minute and 30 seconds to respond/discuss a topic that is provided and are encourage to provide feedback to each other about the topics.  Flipgrid houses ALL of the video responses for a topic together, and shares a thumbnail 'selfie' that students create to show that there are responses for a Topic.  As students explore, they can watch other video responses and give feedback to one another.

Flipgrid is free to educators and the free account has a great number of useful features, including:

• Unlimited student response videos (15-sec or 90-sec)
• Security, privacy + moderation settings
• Simple individual student feedback
• Private video sharing with families
• Custom Integrations (Microsoft Teams, Canvas) + embed anywhere
• Free iPhone, iPad, Android apps

For a fee of $65 a year, educators get access to Unlimited student response videos (15-sec up to 5-min)

• Unlimited student video replies-to-responses
• Customizable feedback + assessment rubrics
• Advanced Grid management + data exports
• Topic launch + freeze scheduling
• Exclusive webinars 
• More than 50 Classroom features

Lesson Example

PreHistoric Cartoon Analysis

Setting the Stage
Students were given 10 cartoons representing pre-historic times and were asked to analyze the cartoons to determine whether they believed the cartoon to be representative of  Paleolithic times or Neolithic times.  As part of their analysis, they had to provide THREE pieces of evidence to support their claim.  Students were also asked to identify any errors in the illustration that conflict with historical facts.

As students evaluated each cartoon, they were required to record a notesheet of their facts.

See detailed example of project here -----> Cartoon Analysis

The Flipgrid Experience

After the analysis was complete, students were provided access to a FlipGrid with individual topics that contained a link to each cartoon.  Within the FlipGrid, students had to choose 3 cartoons and provide a video response of their analysis of those cartoons.

Student Reaction
I launched FlipGrid with a small amount of trepidation; not sure if students would appreciate the platform and concerned that they'd be too shy to record.  Happily, I was wrong!  Students jumped eagerly into the process.  Within minutes, I'd explained the directions, provided the grid code and they were recording on iPads.

As you can see, students were ESPECIALLY fond of the 'selfie' option....

of course, I flipping hope you're 

A Vault of Inquiry...Inspire Exploration

Did you ever had that ONE lesson or that ONE activity in your classroom that clicks so well that you just want to shout it from the rooftops? Last week, for me, was one of those moments and I simply MUST SHARE!

I called it "YOU be the Archaeologist" and through some chance of enthusiasm, digital magic, inquiry based exploration or SOMETHING, my students spent a week exploring hominid fossils like PaleoAnthropologists.  Their little noses were enthusiastically buried in details about Australopithicus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Neanderthal (and of course, Homo sapiens)....but it was SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT!  They had a mission...a purpose...a puzzle to ponder.  I'd opened a vault of inquiry.

It all centered around Homo Naledi...a National Geographic archaeological find that occurred within the past few years that has revolutionized our understanding of what it means to be human. To my students, Homo Naledi was introduced as mystery fossil, and all they knew was this:

The hook, of course, was digital...I gave them 3D models of fossils to evaluate.  3D models that are publicly available for anyone to use online (PC only) OR you can write Duke University for permission to download the 3D models for printing or for use on iPads (which I did, of course)!!!    

Here's an example of the Homo naledi 3D Model:

http://morphosource.org/Detail/MediaDetail/Show/media_id/7300

On a PC, this model can zoom in, zoom out AND be rotated to any angle for viewing!

Armed with the question, data sheets on each early hominid, and 3D Models of each hominid to explore, the students discussed their findings, and gathered their data together on their field notes.

Their discussions were compelling and their observations were incredibly detailed.  Eleven year old students were considering physical traits of early hominid fossils and how those traits impacted the lives of those hominids.  They were discussing skills and abilities of early hominids, such as ritualized burial ceremonies and how such a skill represented a more or less sophisticated species.  

They discussed, evaluated, synthesized, compared...I could bury DOZENS of other Bloom words into the description, but the one most important to me was they were inspired!

Sixth graders evaluate actual 3D Models of hominid skulls

They worked with determination, and to finalize their query, they had to make a decision.  "Where on the evolutionary chart might this mystery fossil fit?"  They used their evidence to support their decision.  This was evidence based writing with a purpose.

After the big reveal of Homo naledi, we watched Lee Berger discuss the discovery of Homo naledi.  We heard his passion as an explorer and we were inspired by the five incredible women who risked their lives crawling through the chamber to retrieve the fossils.  Tom's talk ends with a call to future generations to prepare themselves to make discoveries and use technology to inform themselves.  He continued with a message that can apply to ALL teachers at ALL levels, for it will be the hallmark of successful, engaged, critical thinking classrooms, and when he said the words, it gave me chills.

We need to inspire exploration.

and that's Using Your Smarticles