Flipgrid Video Discussion

Before I explain how I created my Flipgrid, I want to note that creating a video to be shared widely is way outside my comfort zone.  I was nervous to do it, I doubted whether I should, and I subjected my kids to being my dry-run audience before I actually posted.  I mention this only because this did feel like taking a risk and one I wouldn't have taken if I didn't see all the possible ways students could benefit. If I had the opportunity to share this with students I would certainly start by acknowledging how I struggled to make this and how unsure I felt posting it to help ease their discomfort and hopefully encourage them to take risks.

Flipgrid
When I first came across Flipgrid, it  instantly prompted me to think about all the ways I would love to try integrating this with students.  Flipdgrid is both a website and an app that can be downloaded on iPads and phones.  Basically, Flipgrid is a tool where you pose a question, either through video or typing, to a community of learners.  Those who've viewed your Flipgrid then have the opportunity to respond to your prompt by creating their own short  response. It took me about 3 minutes to create a teacher/admin account using my email and a password and within 10 minutes I was creating my Flipgrid video!

Groups 

Groups are basically the classes or communities of viewers you want to reach. You might create Groups for each of your class periods, or create one grid for all your students.  Since I don't have any particular classes, I created a Group called ELA PLG.  To create a grid you just click the +New Group, give the Group a name, and upload a picture if you choose. 

Privacy: You can choose who can access your group and how. If you select Student Email, simply input @_____(your students' address) and this will require students to enter their school email to access and participate in the group.  

Topics

Once you've created your GROUP, you can think about creating Topics--the questions you want to pose to generate video responses from your learning community.  I created the ELA PLG GROUP as a way for our PLG to stay in contact during this time.  I added a Topic titled "Idle Hands..." to hopefully start a discussion and for us to share some personal victories in the midst of such uncertainty.

I made this Topic Active so people who have the code are able to view and respond.  You can also set your topic to FROZEN (view only) or HIDDEN (won't be visible or open for responses until you change the setting). Another feature is that you can create a topic and then "set a launch date" to Activate your topic and accept responses. 

Setting for Student Response:

There are many settings you can use to control what students can share, whether or not you moderate and see videos before they are posted, whether or not students can respond to peers, and other responsible use parameters you might consider putting in place depending on the ages of your students.

Alternative to Video:

Students can also respond using the WHITE BOARD feature (visible when they add to the dicussion) which allows them to write with a voice over explanation. This is similar to Explain Everything but will also appear in the grid response.  

Flipgrid in the Classroom

Whether you're already using this or are just hearing about it now, I'm positive you have many creative ways to use this with your students.  Here are just a few I've thought about. :

• Book Talk/Review: Create a Topic(s) dedicated solely to reading and ask your students to post a Book Talk/Review for a book they've recently read or even just make a quick post about a book they are currently reading.  Again, ask students to reply to peers to expand students' exposure to different books and learn from classmates.
• Answer Explanations: This could probably be for any subject but I was thinking about a different way to "show your work" and make students' thinking visible in math.  Pose a question to students and ask them to respond with their answer and explanation.  If it were a HW assignment the first to reply with correct answers could be rewarded.  With the moderate tool, you could wait to post students' videos to the Grid until you've received many answers to avoid "giving away" the answer. 
• Getting to Know You: As a beginning of the year activity pose a question (nothing intensely personal) to your students and ask them to share their responses.  Additionally, have them watch at least two of their peers' videos and respond.  You get to know your students but they get to know each other.
• Read Aloud: Students could record themselves reading aloud sections of a book they are enjoying or the text you've assigned and share their response to the text. One of the challenges with incorporating the reading standards into remote learning is that we're often assessing students' reading through writing.  While writing is often a solid measure of a students' comprehension, it sometimes creates more barriers for students who struggle to write.

These are just a few of the ideas that have surfaced for me since learning about this tool.  If you are interested in learning more I highly suggest following @Flipgrid and checking out the hashtag #FlipgridFever. Both will provide you with many ideas for how teachers all over the world are integrating Flipgrid into their classrooms. There are also a number of articles and other posts about Flipgrid in the classroom.  I recently read one titled, "5 Strategies for Using Flipgrid in the Language Learner Classroom," in which a Language Learner shares his successes and struggles using Flipgrid with his students.