Tips & Tricks for Flipgrid in PreK-2 Classrooms πŸ§ πŸ’­πŸ’‘

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The following blog post is written by Flipgrid Educator Innovation Lead Ann Kozma and members of the #FlipgridFever community.

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As a former first grade teacher, I know that with additional supports, creative workflows, and specific instructions, even the littlest learners can be successful when using technology to share their voices. I reached out to some amazing primary teachers to drop their tips, tricks, and best practices for leveraging Flipgrid. Here’s what they had to say…

Joe Merrill is a 1st Grade Teacher in Naples, Florida.

Joe Merrill is a 1st Grade Teacher in Naples, Florida.

Brandi MIller is a 1st Grade Teacher in Auburndale, Florida.

Brandi MIller is a 1st Grade Teacher in Auburndale, Florida.

Eric Garcia is a 1st Grade teacher in mcfarland, California

Eric Garcia is a 1st Grade teacher in mcfarland, California

Sara Malchow is a Digital Learning SPecialist in Pulaski, Wisconsin

Sara Malchow is a Digital Learning SPecialist in Pulaski, Wisconsin

Michael Hughes is a Kindergarten teacher in Corona, California

Michael Hughes is a Kindergarten teacher in Corona, California

Susan Stewart is a tech coach and started the #k2cantoo movement in fresno, california

Susan Stewart is a tech coach and started the #k2cantoo movement in fresno, california

If you teach young students, please feel free to reach out to any of these incredible educators. They all share generously and are willing to help you take the next step with Flipgrid in your primary classroom! For even more tips, check out the PreK-2 Integration Docs. Moreover, as always, reach out any time if you have any questions.

See you on the Grid!
πŸ’š Ann

Community Spotlight: Empowering English Learners πŸ’ͺ

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The following post is written by Flipgrid Educator Innovation Lead Jess Boyce and inspired by discussions with Katie Toppel and Sarah Said, creators of the #Flipgrid4ELs Twitter Chat.

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A few months ago we started seeing educators use the hashtag #Flipgrid4ELs as they tweeted how they were using Flipgrid to help English Learners share their voice. What started as a Twitter chat quickly became a movement. Creators Katie Toppel and Sarah Said sparked an important conversation: how can we as educators do more to empower our English language learners?

Here are some ideas from Katie, Sarah, and the inspiring #Flipgrid4ELs community!

😎Boost Confidence: Speaking aloud in the classroom can be intimidating for ELs. Flipgrid provides a space for students to share their thoughts and ideas without feeling as if all eyes are on them dissecting mistakes.

⌚Allow for Wait Time and Repetition: Students can practice without penalty - they have the opportunity to think through responses and come up with a plan before recording. They can record as many times as they want until they are satisfied with their pronunciation and the points they are working to get across.

πŸ“Test Preparation: Many language exams take place on computers. Flipgrid allows students to practice in ways that mimic these exams. Set the Video Response Length to reflect the length of time students have to record on the exam. BONUS: Check out the handbook put together by educator Lydia Croupe on using Flipgrid to assist in preparing students for the TELPAS Exam.

πŸ—£ Practice Speaking and Listening Skills:  Students can use the Student-to-Student Replies feature to respond to one another, giving them additional conversational practice. Use Mix Tapes to curate a student portfolio, allowing students to see their oral language growth over time.

πŸ‘¨β€πŸ‘¨β€πŸ‘§β€πŸ‘§ Increase Family Engagement: Guest Mode is a super simple way for families to hop into a Flipgrid Topic and view/reply to their scholars! Families can record at home together, bridging the gap and potential language barrier between home and school. BONUS: families that speak a different primary language can use Immersive Reader to translate content!

🌍 Connect with Students Worldwide using #GridPals:  Flatten the walls of your classroom and increase global empathy with #GridPals! Students will make connections, converse with peers in another city/state/country, and broaden their perspectives! What a great way to enrich the learning experience of ALL your students.

If you have other mic drop ideas for implementing Flipgrid in the classroom, especially with EL students, we would love to hear them. Share on Twitter using #FlipgridFever and #Flipgrid4ELs! And if you want to learn more about Katie and Sarah’s Twitter chat, check out their blog post here.

See you on the grid! πŸš€

πŸ’• Jess

PS: Keep scrolling to check out some of the amazing ways the #Flipgrid4ELs community is empowering their learners. I’ve also included an epic Sketchnote from the incredible Omar Lopez!

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β€οΈπŸ–€πŸ’š Black History Month: A Celebration of Voice πŸ’šπŸ–€β€οΈ

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The following post is written by Educator Innovation Lead Jornea Erwin. In the #GridTip Series, Flipgrid Educator Innovation Leads Ann, Jess, and Jornea will share tips and tricks to help you explore ideas and possibilities with Flipgrid. Looking for more inspiration? Check out the Educator Innovation Station for tons of ideas!

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As a member of the Flipgrid community, we know you celebrate and amplify diverse voices every day! We’re so grateful and proud to be part of your empowering practices and, especially this Black History Month, we want to champion your glorious ideas.

Black History Month is a testament to the power of voice: Carter G. Woodson started the movement in 1925. In 1976, President Ford proclaimed the month an official celebration to recognize and honor the amazing contributions, achievements, and impact African Americans have made in the United States and around the world.

Read on for five ways Flipgrid can help you celebrate voice and integrate Black History into your curriculum this month and every month throughout the year!

⚑️ Spark Conversations about Equity
How can we ensure everyone is treated fairly? How might we create opportunities for all?

Disco Library Topics
Diversity by Amelia Knuth
Ruby Bridges by Jornea Erwin
Jackie Robinson BIO by Jornea Erwin

πŸ–₯ Enrich Curriculum
Research and share contributions of African-Americans across subjects.

Disco Library Topics
Unsung Heroes #BecauseOfThemWeCan by Megann Lock
Black History Bio-Poem Appsmash by Ashley Peterson
Nobel Peace Prize by Jornea Erwin

πŸ’š Understand Diverse Perspectives
Explore various genres of literature, photos, videos, and lyrics.

Disco Library Topics
Turning Point in American History by Adam Topliff
1920s Clue by Stephanie Bean
The Blues by David Wickham

πŸ—Ί Walk in History
Immerse your students in the lives and events of the past to demonstrate affects on life then and now. Take your students to a museum of on a virtual tour.

Disco Library Topics
Our Children Can Soar by Richard Masso
Virtual Wax Museum by Tamara Letter
Lenses of Diversity by Andrew Fenstermaker

🌏 Connect with and Learn from Others
Welcome guests into your community to share their passions, perspectives, and pride in what they do. Toggle-on Guest Mode or connect with another class via #GridPals!

πŸ•ΊπŸ½Disco Library Topics
Heroes Inspire Others by Jornea Erwin
Famous African Americans by Heather Negley
Virtual Field Trips Around the World
by Laura Krenicki

In the words of Mae Jemison, the first African-American female astronaut, β€œnever be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” I encourage you to engage and inspire your students to always learn from diverse perspectives as you support your students to achieve their dreams!

See you on the grid! πŸš€
Jornea

#GridTip Party: Family Engagement with Flipgrid

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The following blog post is written by Flipgrid Educator Innovation Leads Jornea Erwin, Ann Kozma, and Jess Boyce. In the #GridTip Series, Jornea, Ann, and Jess will share tips and tricks to help you explore ideas and possibilities with Flipgrid. Looking for more inspiration? Check out the Educator Innovation Station for tons of ideas!

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Learning loves community, so let’s invite families and other stakeholders into the classroom as we engage our learners and celebrate success!

Whether you are planning parent-teacher conferences or looking for ways to engage families throughout the school year, here are some dynamic ways educators are leveraging the power of Flipgrid to get everyone involved!

πŸ–ΌQR Code Displays: Bring your student displays to life by adding Flipgrid QR codes. Each code links to a student sharing the magic behind their project. Families can scan, watch, and enjoy at any time! Explore more ideas on Twitter

🎟Engage Families with Guest Mode: Activate Guest Mode on any Topic to provide a super simple way for families to hop into the Grid and view/reply to their scholars! Explore more ideas on Twitter

🏫Parent-Teacher & Student-Led Conferences: Celebrate achievements, encourage growth, and support continued learning by sharing Flipgrid videos with families during conferences. Ask learners to use MyFlipgrid and choose the videos that best represent their learning, and ask families to Reply and leave a special message for their child! Explore more ideas on Twitter

πŸ“°Newsletter Grids: Keep families up to speed with important dates to remember, curriculum content, resources, and learning strategies via a newsletter Grid. BONUS: Families that speak a different primary language can use Immersive Reader to translate content! Explore more ideas on Twitter

πŸ‘¨β€πŸ‘©β€πŸ‘§Class MixTapes:  Curate a view-only collection of Flipgrid videos to showcase the learning happening in your class. Families can Follow your MixTape to get notified when you add new videos! Explore more ideas on Twitter

Check out the tweets below to see these ideas in action. We hope you have fun engaging your families and community in the learning process with Flipgrid. If you have other mic drop ideas, we would LπŸ’šVE to hear them. Share on Twitter using #FlipgridFever!

See you on the grid! πŸš€

πŸ’•Jornea, Ann, and Jess

End the Semester with Flipgrid Fun β„οΈπŸ’ƒπŸ‘¨β€πŸ«πŸ’•

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The following post is written by Educator Innovation Lead Jornea Erwin. In the #GridTip Series, Flipgrid Educator Innovation Leads Ann, Jess, and Jornea will share tips and tricks to help you explore ideas and possibilities with Flipgrid.

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We had fun learning, met goals, and grew too, since a break is near what more can we do? πŸ€”

πŸ€—Educators are championing #StudentVoice all over the world. Whether you are gearing up for winter or enjoying a midsummer’s day, the end of the year is the perfect time to engage your community with Flipgrid, creating experiences and memories that will last a lifetime! The beauty of Flipgrid comes from the experiences you craft for your learners, promoting the ✨M✨A✨G✨I✨C✨ of learning, which is always R.A.D.I.C.A.L.! Here are a few ways to have some fun with Flipgrid before, during, and after your break, inspired by educators around the world!

Flipgrid for REFLECTION
Creating moments for self-reflection helps students make it a common practice, infusing critical thinking skills and fostering a growth mindset.

Quarter 1 Reflections by Sarah Foster
Flipgrid Fridays by Trisha McLean
Goal Setting + Reflection by Bryan Dulmage

πŸ™ŒTip: Have students watch a past video they have created. Have them reflect on their knowledge and skills then vs. now. Use Replies for students to share a message with their β€œformer selves” (previous Flipgrid video).

 

Using Flipgrid to Show APPRECIATION
A person who is appreciated will always do more than expected! Continue creating a positive culture in your school by showing appreciation. Take a moment to thank a room parent, school staff member, other educators, students, families, community members, district board members and school leaders for what they do on a daily basis to create the conditions for excellent learning in your school.

Author Visit Thank You by Sara Kash
Inservice Thank You by Laura Ebersole
Staff Appreciation by Heather Renshaw

πŸ™ŒTip: Blend student creativity and artwork with a heartfelt message by allowing students to create a greeting or holiday card for someone they wish to thank and also have the students share a special video message on Flipgrid. In your Educator Admin Dashboard, click the share button to obtain a specific QR code for your student video. Print out the QR Code to add to their greeting card for a special surprise! This idea is sure to put smiles on a lot of faces!

 

Engage with Flipgrid to β€œspark” a DESIRE for continued learning
Recognizing, honoring, and giving feedback to student voice empowers students to continuously learn. When students share an idea that generates wonder, excitement or awe, let them lead the conversation by sparking their response into a Topic of their own!

Genius Hour Project Pitch by Pricillia Heredia
Discussion Sparks by Stephanie Deskin
Teach the Teacher by Stacy Weber

πŸ™ŒTip: Ready to start sparking? Just look for the β€œSpark” fire symbol next to your student video or under Actions - Spark a Response! Your students, as the expert, will be more invested, leading to increased social learning in your class!

 
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Topics that inspire students to share INSPIRATION with others
The expert in anything was once a beginner and inspiration can come from anywhere! Check out the Flipgrid Explorer Series for a fun way for students to be inspired by experts sharing their passions. Encourage students to also share their passion and knowledge to inspire others.

Coding Series: What is Coding?
Aquarium Series: Design Your Aquarium
MatheMagic Series: We’re Mathematicians

πŸ™ŒTip: Appsmashing is a great way to empower students to use mixed media to communicate ideas. You could set up a Grid for student podcast stations like Andrew Fenstermaker. Or add visuals to voice by screencasting! Check out this awesome #GridTip by Educator Innovation Lead Jess Boyce showcasing how to appsmash Screencastify with Flipgrid.

 

Showcase students’ and their achievements with a CELEBRATION!
Recognizing student success and celebrating school accomplishments helps to create a positive culture for your learning community.

MixTapes are the perfect way to celebrate an amazing semester of learning. They’re view-only and super shareable. Just choose the best Flipgrid video from each student and share with their family!

Additionally, you can create a new Topic for your students to celebrate their achievements.

Let’s Celebrate Success by Angie Koser
Celebrate and Remember by Karalee Nakatsuka
Warm Fuzzies by Heather Anderson

πŸ™ŒTip: If you’re setting up a new Topic, 🎟Guest Mode provides a super easy way to invite families to witness your students’ greatness. With your power to control access, you can select to have guests leave positive messages and words of affirmation for your students!

 

Take a moment for your community to have fun and look into the future with ANTICIPATION!
When there is joy in learning environments, everyone involved is more committed to the process.
A Flipgrid Topic can be ANYTHING, a game, a message to Santa, 12 days of Flipgrid for families to participate in fun activities, Sing-A-Songs, dance moves, snow day fun and more! So have some FUN in your classrooms and beyond by creating Topics all will enjoy! With holidays approaching you can also tailor your Topics to the season.

Flipgrid Fever the Game by Donna Schies
Family Caroling by Amanda Gilchrist
Holiday MadLibs by Amanda Funk
Holiday Wishes by Vannessa Fowler
Holiday Music by Teresa Ducassoux

Here are a few other topics I created for some holiday/ winter break fun:

πŸ™ŒTip: πŸ“ΌCreate a MixTape of your responses collected to share with your learning community! Have fun highlighting favorite memories from the semesters, blooper MixTapes are fun too!

 

Build global empathy and spread kindness with words & actions filled with LOVE
Cultural, global awareness, and inclusive communities encourage students to seek ways to create impact for others. At Flipgrid, we believe together we can create global empathy!
Check out ways amazing educators are spreading kindness, togetherness, love, and fun while building global empathy and join in the fun!

🌎 Bronwyn Joyce - Our Global Classroom
Our Global Classroom Advent Calendar
✈️ Bonnie McClelland - Inspiration of GridPals
πŸ’• Brian Romero Smith - The Captain Kindness Challenge
πŸŽ™Claudio Zavala Jr. - Sing-A-Song

πŸ™ŒTip: If you wish to partner with another educator for a collaborative grid, then add them as a CoPilot to your grid! πŸ‘©β€βœˆοΈπŸ‘¨β€βœˆοΈ

Enjoy every moment wrapping the gift of learning with your students before the break and let’s make learning R.A.D.I.C.A.L!

See you on the grid,
Jornea

#GridTip Party: Dancing Through the Disco Library

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The following blog post is written by Flipgrid Educator Innovation Leads Jornea Erwin, Ann Kozma, and Jess Boyce. In the #GridTip Series, Jornea, Ann, and Jess will share tips and tricks to help you explore ideas and possibilities with Flipgrid. Looking for more inspiration? Sign up for one of the Engage & Amplify: Flipgrid 101 Webinars!

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Boogie on over to the Disco Library, a place where educators are sharing their best ideas and finding their next great Flipgrid discussion prompts.

What is the Disco Library?
With 5,000+ community-generated Topics, the Flipgrid Disco Library is the perfect spot to find inspiration from fellow educators! From exit tickets to book clubs to reflections to word problems and more, the Disco Library is full of ready to use discussion prompts that are sure to get your students talking!

Find Your Next Topic

When you head to the Disco Library you will notice a few things. Near the top, Featured Topics: these are hand-selected timely and especially wonderful discussion prompts, such as the Explorer Series! Below Featured Topics you’ll find filters, which allow you to search by Audience, Topic Subject, Topic Goals or any criteria you choose.

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Once you have found a Topic you want to use with your students, click on the blue dropdown "Select a Grid" and choose which Grid you want to host the Topic. Then you can add/change/update any element of the Topic in order to personalize the content for your classroom.

Remember, you can edit every aspect of the Topic and customize settings such as Video Response Length, Video Moderation, Topic Attachments, Features and more! When you are ready to engage your learners, just flip the switch from Inactive to Active and you're ready to roll!

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Share with the Community

By contributing to the Disco Library, you’re helping your fellow educators learn unique ways to implement Flipgrid as they seek to transform learning and amplify student voice! And because you're sharing only the Topic template (and none of your student content), you're free to share to your heart's content.

  1. Login to your Educator Admin Dashboard to find the Grid and then the Topic you wish to share

    • Click the "Actions" dropdown menu and choose Add to Disco Library.

  2. Add Topic Discovery Details

    • Choose your Audience, Subject, and Goal

    • Add Integration Notes so that your fellow educators will understand how best to use the Topic you shared. Include details, tips, tricks and any information you think would be helpful for your colleagues to know. Additional supporting resources can be added as links for the educator to explore in conjunction with the Topic.

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Remix Topic Details, Resources and Attachments

  • Remix or update the Topic Description as needed. Remember to remove any personal information that pertains to your learning community.

  • Edit and update Topic Attachments if needed to support and extend the learning. Attachments could include links such as videos, articles, or graphic organizers.

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We are always here to join the party as you create, remix, and share ideas within the Flipgrid Disco Library! Give us a shout anytime with any questions!

See you on the Grid!
Jornea, Ann, & Jess