This is a guest post from Caroline Schaab.

As a 4th grade teacher, I’m always looking for creative ways spark curiosity, promote student voice, and keeps students engaged and to want to continue learning outside of school. Last year, with a few weeks left in the school year, I was introduced to Flipgrid. Fligrid is an easy to use video discussion platform, that allows students and teachers to record video responses anywhere from fifteen to 90 seconds. My students can record videos on their Chromebooks or if they have another device at home they can do this as well. At first, I was a bit hesitant about using Flipgrid, however, I stepped outside my comfort zone and watched the magic happen with these assignments:

• Math Songs – We learn a song to reinforce the concept being taught in class. Students would then go home and record themselves singing the song, and learning the concept.

• Math in My World – This is a favorite of mine. Students will find math in their life that illustrates the standard/skills we are working on in class. They will then take a video on the topic, explaining how this concept applies to THEIR real world example.

• Reading Logs – As alternative of writing down their reading life for the evening, sometimes we mix it up with LIVE reading logs! Students record their video talking about the skill we are learning in class, and how it helps them understand their books better. When studying character, students have even pretended to be their character and shared why they made certain decisions.

• Monthly Book Reviews – students can post their review of what novels they are reading. This is great practice for students writing summaries as well as keeps an easy to access library of our favorite books.

One of the reasons I really love this product is that it has a lot of safety measures built into it to keep students work private. It’s easy to use, because students do not need accounts, however, unless they have the code for your grid, they are not able to access the material. I’m able to share this easily on Google Classroom for students to access as well as can email the link to parents if they’d like to see what we are working on. I am able to monitor the videos as they are posted, and intervene if necessary if someone is using this tool inappropriately. This has been a great tool for my students to practice being a good online citizens as well as let their voice and creativity shine through in the magic of video. I am also able to provide individualized feedback right to their video, which they have access to immediately. Some students will choose to submit another video to ensure they are meeting all standards that are being addressed.

The Flipgrid site itself has some amazing resources for getting started with Flipgrid, including a quick video to get started. One that I tackled this summer was becoming Flipgrid certified. This meant learning how to use the tool using their resources. In three easy steps I was able to earn a badge that let the world know, I have #flipgridfever! My students love this resource and are always begging for homework using Flipgrid. I hope you find this tool helpful and I’d love to hear how you choose to use Flipgrid in your classroom. Leave me a video response by clicking here so I can see if I sparked your interest!

Quick Walkthrough Video from Flipgrid on Vimeo.

About the author:
My goal as an educator is to empower all of my students to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, enthusiastic readers, and skillful researchers. I embrace the whole child valuing intellectual, social, emotional, and physical well-being. I want to inspire all students that enter my classroom to be life-long learners and create a safe environment for students to takes risks with their learning. Currently, I teach 4th grade at Field Elementary School in Park Ridge, IL, where I’ve spent my fourteen year career teaching 4th grade, 5th grade, and having been an instructional technology coach at a another school in District 64.