So, a super techy teacher at my school site turned me on to Flipgrid recently. It's a website where students can easily make up to 90 second videos. The cool thing about Flipgrid is that as the teacher, I can set up "topics" and record my own short video explaining what I want the kids to make their videos about.
Last week, I taught a 5-minute lesson on how to make a Flipgrid video. I'm serious! 5 minutes! Go here...type the code...click the big green plus sign...make your video. That was it! By the way, did I mention I teach 2nd grade?
Then I sent home a "homework" assignment for the kids to make a Flipgrid video about their favorite animal/pet. Take a look at Neo and Natalie's flipgrid.
Then I sent home a "homework" assignment for the kids to make a Flipgrid video about their favorite animal/pet. Take a look at Neo and Natalie's flipgrid.
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I know these videos are very simple and some can even make you seasick! But I love the level of excitement/interest the kids have when they make their videos. Now, I'm not going to lie...with this "favorite animals/pets" homework assignment, there were a few (well, really just one amazingly enough) who thought he was a full-fledged "You Tuber". His video showed him doing handstands, talking like a Youtuber, and in general just showed him messing around. Flipgrid has a very simple way of dealing with kids who make videos that are shall we say, "less than desirable"...all you do as the teacher is DELETE them. It's very simple. I go to my Flipgrid teacher dashboard and find the off-topic video and click "delete".
Another really cool thing about Flipgrid and using it for Homework is that I can get a little peek into a part of my students' lives that I don't ever get to see. I have a student who can be somewhat challenging (oh, let's get real here...I have about 4 or 5 "challenging" kids!) and his favorite pet video was adorable! It was a chance to see a softer, gentler side to this guy that I don't get to see at school. After watching his video, I am reminded that as teachers we sometimes miss things that seem insignificant and unrelated to the business of "school" but are extremely important in the "business" of dealing with children everyday.
There is a wonderful educator named Holly Clark (follow her on Twitter @HollyClarkEdu) and she wrote a very clear blog post about her Top 10 Reasons she loves Flipgrid.
I also stumbled across this very detailed Padlet with TONS of Flipgrid ideas.
I also stumbled across this very detailed Padlet with TONS of Flipgrid ideas.