❤️🖤💚 Black History Month: A Celebration of Voice 💚🖤❤️

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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

🖥 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

💚 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

🗺 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!

🕺🏽Disco 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, “never 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! 🚀
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!

🖼QR 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

📰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

👨‍👩‍👧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 L💚VE to hear them. Share on Twitter using #FlipgridFever!

See you on the grid! 🚀

💕Jornea, Ann, and Jess

End the Semester with Flipgrid Fun ❄️💃👨‍🏫💕

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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? 🤔

🤗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

🙌Tip: 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 “former 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

🙌Tip: 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 “spark” 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

🙌Tip: Ready to start sparking? Just look for the “Spark” 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

🙌Tip: 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

🙌Tip: 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:

🙌Tip: 📼Create 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
💕 Brian Romero Smith - The Captain Kindness Challenge
🎙Claudio Zavala Jr. - Sing-A-Song

🙌Tip: If you wish to partner with another educator for a collaborative grid, then add them as a CoPilot to your grid! 👩‍✈️👨‍✈️

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

#GridTip: The Perfect Pair, Flipgrid + Adobe Spark

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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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Magic and meaning have collided during Appsmash Innovation Month for an explosion of innovation! Anytime students are able to think critically, collaborate, create, and communicate, great learning experiences are bound to occur! Let’s explore the magic of student creativity when the perfect pair, Flipgrid and Adobe Spark, combine to create sparks in your classroom.

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What is Adobe Spark?

Adobe Spark is comprised of three free online and mobile visual design apps, Spark Post, Spark Page, and Spark Video to help students visually communicate their ideas easily and quickly.

Spark Post allows students to create beautiful graphics including event flyers, social posts, collages of their best work, and visual storytelling.

Spark Page brings student ideas through words and images to life as they create web stories.

Spark Video turns the combination of various media, including video, text, narration and music into a beautifully crafted video that can be shared with others.

How might we promote creativity within content using Adobe Spark?
The possibilities to create using the Adobe Spark apps within each content area are endless. Below, you will find a few ideas & activities, which can be modified for any grade level, using each Adobe Spark App to inspire your own creative ideas.

📝Make Thinking Visible using Quotes and Annotations using Adobe Spark Post: After students participate in close reading of a text, have student share a quote from the text that made them think or an annotation they wrote. Combine the quote or annotation with a visual they find or create a post that captures their thinking.

🧕🏽Create Engaging Biographies or Reports: Using Adobe Spark Page - encourage students to engage others through graphics and captivating facts to tell about the life of a person they are learning about or someone they admire or to report on a book, place, destination, or event.

👨‍🏫Create Instructional Videos or Flip your Class Instruction: Using Adobe Spark Video - create the educator or a student can create a visually appealing video which may include the title of the lesson, learning targets for students to achieve, the instructional content, and an activity for students to complete to show their understanding of the content.

A plethora of other ideas can be found with the Adobe Spark Teaching Resources , on Twitter by following Adobe Spark and engaging with fellow educators at #CreateEDU, as well as the newly released 40 Ways to Inject Creativity into Your Classroom with Adobe Spark by Ben Forta & Monica Burns. Click here to learn more about our friends at Adobe Spark for Education!

Why is Adobe Spark & Flipgrid the Perfect Pairing?
The power that each app holds creates ✨M✨A✨G✨I✨C✨ of students attaining essential skills for success and creativity in school, future work, and life when combined! With the creation of visual storytelling, the organization of sharing ideas and the opportunity to engaging in meaningful ongoing discussions while also providing feedback, a myriad of student learning needs are met.

🔮 How to make the #FlipgridAppsmash ✨M✨A✨G✨I✨C✨ happen? 🔮
Appsmashing increases the possibilities of transformational technology use. First, consider your learning task and objective. Next, explore the end product available within each app and the sharing capabilities. In the end, you will be able to connect the dots to appsmash your favorite apps! Here are my recipe cards and ideas for the perfect pairing of Adobe Spark and Flipgrid.

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The import option is highly important when appsmashing Adobe Spark Video as well as other video platforms into Flipgrid! Check out this awesome graphic and tweet from Tony Vincent!

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#Student Voice Ambassador, Claudio Zavala, is a very creative and innovative educator that is highly engaged in the #FlipgridFever community. Bonus: He is also an Adobe Ed Leader!

⚡”Adobe Spark apps opens the world of creative expression for students with video, graphics, and text.”

⚡“Students can use Adobe Spark videos to create compelling videos that share their voice!”

Have fun with this awesome #FlipgridAppsmash, add your very own appsmashing fun to our Student Voice is Magic Grid and follow #FlipgridFever and #CreateEdu for more inspiration!


See you on the Grid!
Jornea

#GridTip: Flipgrid + Screencastify

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The following post is written by Educator Innovation Lead Jess Boyce. 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're celebrating Appsmash Innovation Month and it's time that we discuss a perfect match that’s getting a lot of buzz… Flipgrid and Screencastify!

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Screencastify is a tool that allows students and educators to personalize their learning experience through sharing their voice via a screen recording. The app is a Chrome extension, meaning the tool is always at the ready whenever you want to capture some magic!

How does it work?
Simple! In Chrome, click on the Screencastify icon, decide if you want to record your browser, desktop, or just webcam - and press record!

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The camera will capture video of whatever screen desired while recording audio narration. The masterpiece is then saved into Google Drive and can be downloaded as an mp4 file.

How do these two apps work together?
With Screencastify, students can create screen recordings of whatever it is that they'd like to share - showing their thinking as they ink in a OneNote, walking through a presentation, or showing step-by-step directions.

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In this example, my student was able to give his presentation without the fear that sometimes comes with standing in front of the class. Consider how this could shift time management during traditionally time-consuming class presentations.

To share Screencastify projects in Flipgrid, students will choose to import a video rather than recording a video. The process for accessing the Grid is the same, but instead of clicking on the red record button, students select the “Options” gear and then “Import Video.” They then select their Screencastify video from their camera roll and import their video into Flipgrid.

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Corey Mathias (Instructional Tech TOSA and #GridGuide from California) on Appsmashing Screencastify + Flipgrid:
💭 I love appsmashing because "It gives [students a] voice. Their response[s] become resources for the entire class instead of just living somewhere on the teacher's computer... authentic audience.

🤔 When students give presentations, it’s amazing to have them present their learning to their peers, however there is frustration with the class time it takes. Feedback is given, but students are unable to practice until the next presentation opportunity.

💡 With Flipgrid and Screencastify, students can do a presentation "rough draft." They can then use my feedback to improve their presentation in front of the class. In addition, I can have students upload their Screencastify presentations and they become a repository for the rest of the class to use.

Dr. Michael Harvey (a STEM teacher in Malaysia and #GridGuide) on Appsmashing Screencastify + Flipgrid:
💭 You can provide your students with creative and inspired ways to showcase their learning. Appsmashing allows more creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication of content mastery; all 21st century skills we want our students using along with integrating technology seamlessly.

💡 Using Screencastify and Flipgrid personalizes the experience for the student, rather than a YouTube video of someone they don't know, it is someone they have a relationship with - their teacher. In terms of the difference to my teaching, it allows students to feel connected to the content and also makes me aware of how I am communicating information to them.

Michael’s advice for those just starting out: “Do not try to be too overambitious at first, just try a short simple video of say voice-over of a short power point and go from there!”

There are countless ways to combine the magic of Screencastify and Flipgrid! Share your ideas on Twitter using the hashtag #FlipgridFever. And give me a shout with any questions, any time!


See you on the Grid!
Jess
@jessxbo
jess@flipgrid.com