Let the Wild Rumpus Start: Lessons from a Wild School Year and a Little Boy Named Jordan

A teacher's life is measured in bells, grading periods, and seasons. As a speech coach, my professional life is defined by my in-season and not in-season paces. My 204-day season ended. Cue the feeling of lightness and the creative energy flowing back into typing fingers. I've recently entered my first "free" weeks of the 2022-2023 school year. Speech team starts the first full week of August and ends the third Sunday of February. No longer having to rush between picking up my three littles from the bus while coaching 30ish of the best wild things around, I took a deep breath and felt a new sense of calm before being jolted back into the roaring world of Cystic Fibrosis.

Jordan started feeling fatigued and had no appetite at the end of February. These past two weeks have kicked me into high alert. CF impacts all organs and can impair the digestive system. Without pancreatic enzyme supplements - Creon - Jordan cannot absorb his food and, more importantly, does not have the fuel to function properly. My heart has been heavy worrying about his health and watching for signs that the bowel obstruction needs more intense medical intervention. As a teacher and instructional coach, I navigate rocky waters with joy and a more focused approach. I could be called home at any moment, so I am compelled to have all of my organizational systems in place in case I need to be absent.

Parenting a child with health concerns has helped me to pause and reflect on how I can better empathize with my students and colleagues, especially as we approach spring break. Transitioning out of the winter months into spring is a difficult time for all. From season shifting and staffing changes to restless students - we are all navigating and fighting our own battles. I realize that whatever beasts we face, we have the power to guide the narrative. No matter how dark the jungle gets, we can find the positives and shine a light on the lessons our students and colleagues must face. Inspired by my precocious son, who is braver than anyone I've ever met, I reread Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are. We all have a little curiosity in us, and our perspectives can sometimes make our challenges feel insurmountable. But again, we can shift the story to gain powerful insights.

When change happens, we should approach it with curiosity.

Just like Max in the book, curiosity can lead to adventure. So often, when changes occur in the school system or even in the curriculum, we become consumed by negativity or resistance, but changes can bring new insights and perspectives. They can shift the landscape of what we learn or how we might learn it. Working with high school students, I have noticed more senioritis as we approached a challenging, research-based unit. The skills they learn in this unit involve:

• Critically analyzing sources.
• Finding and applying information.
• Engaging audiences - all skills that will help them pursue higher education and be more active citizens in the world.

Instead of dismissing their complaints about "how much work they had" for this particular unit, I worked with them to shift their outlook. Getting excited or asking them to seek out topics that sparked their curiosity made an arduous task more approachable and ultimately left them saying, "Huh, that was actually fun."

In addition to sparking curiosity about change, we need to create spaces where people want to belong.

Even in the most ideal places, morale is still low. Navigating a post-COVID world has brought shifts in student behavior, new social-emotional needs of both students and staff, and gaps in knowledge/executive functioning skills. To produce the best environments for kids, we need to ensure staff feels supported and safe to fail. Teachers must feel appreciated and seen, especially as we redefine "normal." Even though there are fewer mitigation procedures to deal with and COVID is not impacting us daily, the effects of pandemic learning and the fatigue that was brought on because of it will be felt for years to come. When teachers feel valued and are given space to cope with their challenges - whatever they may be - they can create the best learning experiences and opportunities for students.

I have cultivated a supportive work culture by creating targeted professional development. This professional development revolves around topics that work in any classroom. More importantly, it is led by outstanding teachers across the building. Giving teachers a voice, celebrating their excellence, and helping them believe in their excellent work has helped spark conversation and encourage people to get involved. My fantastic colleague Cori and I have also started a podcast to amplify the voices of great teachers across our district. These small acts of lifting teacher-leaders boost morale, celebrate excellence, and unite teachers on the most critical cause in education - elevating our students.

We can let the wild rumpus start when we feel safe and have a strong sense of belonging.

No matter what comes our way - whether it be a global pandemic, a shift in learning management systems, ransomware, or challenging students - we can embrace change when we feel like we belong. Teachers need to be supported, they need to be recognized, and they need to be allowed to be authentic. Everyone comes to the table with unique strengths, talents, and passions. When school leaders can see the best quality in each person and use those qualities to create a dynamic team, we all benefit. Education is a journey and not a destination. Even if imminent threats are not filling our newsfeeds or causing us to quarantine, the challenges will still arise. The path may become overgrown and dark at times - even when we least expect it- but our teachers can navigate any adventure when we have support.

These systems involve morale committees, frequent and clear communication, and transparency. They involve weekly emails to bullet point and highlight key changes or needs and necessitate an open-door policy. As a coach, it means that when someone says, "Do you have a second..." I am available and ready to support them. If I cannot at that moment, I set a specific time and make myself available if something is absolutely needed. It also means that I anticipate the bumps and turns in the narrative before they occur so that teachers feel safe, valued, and ready to be their best selves for their students. I know I must be ready to take action and lead in any wild condition.

I need to find time to be still and reflect. My son is early to rise and loves being silly in the morning. Holding a wiggly Jordan whose body is trying to regulate itself has forced me to laugh. Sometimes, life just stinks (literally). More challenges are inevitable. I wonder if it will involve students, staff, computers crashing, or bowel obstructions that force us to journey to Lutheran General. Whatever the challenge is, I will find a way to let my imagination run wild, have hope, and roll with whatever adventure comes next.

 

Fostering the Four Cs of 21st Century Learning During Pandemic Learning

This summer, educators were asked to prepare for many scenarios and possibilities, and because of the state of the world, we knew we'd have to be ready for anything. I found myself on more Zoom calls than I could count, creating professional development that met teachers' needs across disciplines and technology skill levels. To make working conditions and family life more effective, we converted our basement into a bedroom and my son's room into my new office. This office quickly became my daughters' favorite place to play as they came in to borrow the good pens and notebooks. Preparing my almost kindergartener for online learning was a priority this summer, knowing that her school would decide to start the year with e-learning or that we would elect for her to learn remotely. She often joined me while I worked, coloring at my side or, even better, creating and editing videos with me. 

While connectivity obstacles and technology limitations have created occasional challenges, we are collectively learning so much. No, experiencing a global pandemic is not how any of us want to live life. Still, I genuinely believe that we will have learned so much about technology, education, and empathy by the time we reach the other side. 21st-century skills often shared on slides at the beginning of the year during a professional development meeting are being thrust into practice this year. While we might sometimes fall a little sort (or have to shut down the computer and restart Zoom during the middle of a lesson - it happened to me on Friday), being able to apply the 4C's with our students will set them up for success far beyond our virtual walls. 

Communication

Communication during a pandemic is not easy. In years past, I have struggled to get my students to check email. Especially as seniors in high school, they often receive too many notifications, and instead of deleting or filtering the spam, students ignore it all. Important messages go unread. This year, I have tried to leverage our new learning management system to teach them to message through the platform and check for announcements. This year, my district is using Canvas, and what is nice about this platform is that students can set the frequency of their notifications to once a day, instead of every time a teacher updates the course. Empowering students to organize their Gmail inboxes and explaining the importance of creating a less daunting email inbox reminds them that communication is key. They cannot overlook messages, but they can control the workflow within their own challenges of communication. 

In addition to Gmail, students also need to be empowered to seek support. They have to speak up; they have to unmute. While talking on a digital platform like Zoom or Meet can feel intimidating, now they are aware of when they are silenced, and more importantly, they are being tasked and empowered to take a stand and speak up. We can create spaces and opportunities for all students to turn on their mics. Whether it is in a whole group conversation, smaller breakout spaces, or even one-on-one, we have to be intentional with inviting all students to speak up and create opportunities to do so. 

Talking about intentional communication with our students teaches them how valuable their voices are and how they can (and should) always make a choice to speak up! For my students who are more apprehensive about speaking up, I need to provide assignments that use videos (such as a private Flipgrid assignment or a WeVideo screencast) to feel open to sharing their thoughts on a  lesson or life in general. Again, we have to remember to create safe spaces for them to speak up! 

Collaboration

Students are working from home most of the time now, and as a result, it is easy to feel disconnected. As the weather turns colder, it will become harder to see people and socialize safely. While this winter may be challenging, we can still provide opportunities for students to be collaborative synchronously and asynchronously. 

Using breakout rooms is a must! Students will share in smaller groups, and giving them reasons to talk even about silly icebreaker questions opens the door for more meaningful discussion and collaboration for the period and for the rest of the semester. Google Suites, Padlet, Pear Deck, and other tools that allow for real-time responses and communication can also make the classroom community more interactive and provide students with opportunities to share their voices and see/hear their classmates' ideas as well. Using these documents to create collaborative spaces encourages them to use their voices, relate to others, and know that they are not alone in their learning and that they are a part of a community that cares. 

Discussion threads, collaborative Google Slides projects, creative video creation are all ways to promote the interactive learning process. While not every group project may find success online, remember that group projects can be a challenge in-person, too. If we scaffold group assignments and activities, we can forge more meaningful connections among students and will see more successful results. Collaboration should happen during every synchronous class meeting in a small way so that students are prepared for more extensive and more collaborative summative assignments later in the semester. 

Critical Thinking

A common frustration and challenge that some disciplines have faced come with assessments. When students are not in the classroom, they can use Google or their phones to find answers to quizzes and assessments. Multiple-choice assessments, which are used in elementary school to AP classes, are not the most effective way to assess students in a digital learning environment. To test mastery, we want to know that our students see the content and skills that will lead to success later in the course and beyond our time with them. As such, I have encouraged teachers to start to shift how they assess students. Instead of merely using a multiple choice quiz, teachers have begun asking students to answer a prompt on Flipgrid or record a video of them answering a math problem. Students are writing more and clicking less. 

That is not to say that multiple-choice assessments no longer have a place in learning, but rather, we need to find ways for students to apply their critical thinking skills to demonstrate mastery. I love a quick multiple-choice quiz after completing a reading assignment to ensure that students understood the passage's gist! The out of classroom assessment challenge has given me time to pause and reflect. While we shift and redesign our curriculum, the multiple-choice challenge has given us time to reflect on our assessments and their role in student learning. We need to find opportunities to challenge our students to think critically and apply their knowledge. In an online environment, they are in the driver's seat of their learning. We have to give them the keys and the avenues to drive on to stretch their comprehension and understanding. 

Creativity

The final C being challenged during pandemic learning is creativity, which every educator has to exhibit. The traditional learning modalities are not available to us, but the time doesn't stop as a result. We are in a new normal, and while elements of the old routine will come back, perhaps some working environments and technology will be adopted permanently. We are teaching students to communicate, collaborate, and critically think in a digital environment, and to do that; we must foster their creativity. Education cannot be passive; students cannot merely consume facts and dates. They have to be writing the narrative themselves. To amplify their voices, they need to be sharing, speaking, writing, and connecting with others. Preparing them for a post-pandemic economy may necessitate an increased understanding of digital communication and creation skills. Editing videos, writing, and engaging people through various digital platforms will be their reality beyond our walls. Why not find ways to have them teach us a thing or two about how innovative, inventive, and creative they can be? 

Remember, our students, like our own children, are always watching and learning from us. How we tackle the 4C's during pandemic learning is how students will perceive these 21st-century skills and their relevance to students' lives. As my daughters colored, they learned that it is more than okay to fail with technology because while it may not always work as we want it to, we can use 21st-century skills to foster strong relationships and forge new pathways to learning today and well beyond the pandemic. 

App Smashing Tech Tools: Breaking the Mold

Ever run into a brick wall? My senior year of high school's final theatre performance ended with a high-speed collision between a brick wall and my head during the end-of-the-year senior one-act plays. A freshman boy tasked with flying me across the stage, unintentionally pinned my arms to my side and then failed to realize that my head would hit the wall before he stopped running full force. Naturally, my head produced a resounding thud, and I was left with a concussion. Ouch.

Sometimes, my eyes still see stars when I consider the countless number of educational tech tools that are available to us. That headache reappears whenever I attempt to navigate uncharted educational waters and help teachers determine what tools are worth our time, energy, and money. With a plethora of webtools and educational apps at our fingertips, implementing and using these tools in our classroom feels overwhelming. Which tool is right for each learning target and objective we set? Will students navigate these tools with ease, and how do we utilize them to ensure engagement with course content is possible?

Often, I see teachers feel overwhelmed by the number of tools available and worry that when implementing tech tools in their classrooms, students will focus on how to use the tech instead of how to access the content. The secret to discerning what tech tools to use is to implement a few tools purposefully and use them to their full capacity. My go-to's for remote and online learning were Flipgrid, Pear Deck, Padlet, and EdPuzzle. 

While each of these tools is powerful and assists in making learning visible and more interactive for students when used in tandem, the lesson becomes more than just a way to disseminate information; The lesson becomes an experience. Much like my head smashed against the walls behind the auditorium stage, app smashing leaves a lasting impact and can give teachers a bigger bang for their instructional buck.

App smashing allows you to gather formative data at the moment. 

Delivering content often necessitates partial direct instruction and time to put new information into practice. Remote teaching involves utilizing webtools such as readings, slide decks, and pre-recorded videos can become passive if students are challenged to demonstrate their learning while reading or watching a lesson. One of my favorite app smashes involves running a Google Form through Pear Deck. Students can take quizzes while participating in Pear Deck, with a slide on the left that contains content while completing the formative quiz on the right side of the screen. Kahoot can also be embedded to provide students with practice implementing content as well. Data produced by either of these platforms can measure student comprehension and progress. 

App smashing makes lessons more interactive. 

Another one of my favorite app-smashes involves running videos created by Screencastify and WeVideo through EdPuzzle, an app that challenges students to be active. The more students interact, the more likely they are to retain the information gathered.

 

Padlet is another tool that is versatile and has countless uses. Padlet is a curation tool that several contributors can post and share resources, documents, pictures, videos, and ideas. Padlet can be used as a backchannel chat, collaborative brainstorm, or a formative review. The shelf mode in Padlet can challenge students to engage with and apply content in several ways. They can participate and reply to several questions or prompts, and at the same time, they can see their peers' ideas and resources. Learning comes alive with Padlet. Turning on the comment and liking feature can take that student engagement even further. This tool has so many applications and can fit any content area, too. 

App smashing allows students to collaborate. 

Collaboration was a challenge during remote learning. Unlike in a classroom where students are physically brought together, working together online may mean that students are working at different times and are unable to speak face-to-face. Should we be engaged in blended or remote learning during the fall, collaboration is an essential part of the education process that needs to be enhanced. 

One way to enhance collaboration is by providing face-to-face (or screen) opportunities. Flipgrid is an incredible tool that allows students to respond orally and see their peers. While I often used it as a quick formative assessment to hear every student respond before quarantine, it quickly became how I had my students talk to each other and foster asynchronous discussion. Students craved connection. Challenging them to engage in a discussion via Flipgrid makes them feel a sense of community, comradery, and accountability to their peers.

Flipgrid also embeds into learning management systems or Pear Deck for in the moment reflection and discussion. Videos can then be downloaded and edited together using WeVideo to create a highlight reel, a class message, or even spark a further discussion. These videos can also be curated onto webtools like Wakelet to create a viewing gallery that students can access and reflect upon after a given lesson or activity. The more visual their learning, the more natural collaborative work will become in any learning format. 

App smashing allows for differentiation, and lessons become experiences. 

Hyperdocs are my favorite ways to differentiate for students. Hyperdocs are digital docs, slides, or websites that involve navigating through a series of links. Pear Deck Student-Paced Mode is excellent for developing a hyperdoc lesson in which students can progress at their own pace, revisit course material as needed, and demonstrate their learning in a way that suits their skills and interests. Students can take ownership of their knowledge and progress in a way that makes sense. 

Breakout EDU/WebQuest How-To

I love utilizing formative quizzes to test students' prior knowledge and then suggest moving forward to a specific slide based on their scores. In this lesson, students can choose their adventures, complete EdPuzzles, Padlets, and finish embedded assessments based on a series of links and challenges they complete. Students may move forward through the lesson or return to a video or reading that reviews material that they have yet to master. When crafted correctly, every student may have a unique experience tailored to their strengths and interests. Students will have many opportunities to acquire knowledge and master essential skills. Students may even have fun as they feel like they are actively involved in their learning and have some autonomy as to how they grow as learners. 

Next time you feel like you are running into a brick wall, remember that app-smashing can take the best features of your favorite tech tools and revolutionize the learning experience for your students. Do not allow technology to give you a headache. Instead, consider what you want your students to learn, and then think about how these tools can help you to transcend the challenges we may face this fall and make your classroom connections stronger than ever before. 

Creating Padlets that Pop: Tech Tool Deep Dive

In the educational technology field, a new tech tool appears every day. During this semester, my first question to any teacher that I am fortunate enough to work with is what your learning target or goal is? Focusing on what we want learning to look like at the close of a lesson or unit can guide us in creating better learning experiences for our students along the way. Utilizing the backward design (or Understanding by Design) method can challenge teachers to focus less on the tools and more about the learning experiences that their students will encounter and complete as they develop skills and acquire essential content knowledge.

As I sit at my computer processing through my latest professional development presentation, I realize that staring at a screen for a majority of the day makes it difficult to remember to look past the technology and focus on the learning outcomes, but it is essential. The right tools need to be chosen to complete the job - not the other way around. I love witnessing teachers experiment with new tools and methods of engagement. Using a variety of strategies with students is powerful, but again, the tools and the means of arriving a curricular goal should be carefully considered.

Through the past few school years, Padlet has been a tool that I have loved using and watching evolve. This tool is a digital corkboard with endless possibilities. As it has evolved, so too have the opportunities to encourage students to drive their learning. Students can curate, communication, and create powerful learning artifacts and post them all in one page to which other students can comment, rate, and like. Contributing to a Padlet is fast and easy, and the information is quickly organized and preserved to drive future instruction.

Yes, Padlet has been an excellent corkboard tool and particularly useful when creating an entrance or exit ticket, but there are abundant uses for this tool! Taking a tool that students are comfortable using and evolving with the features can make a positive classroom experience even more impactful. Here are a few of my latest experiments with Padlet

Group Curation Tool

Group projects can be tricky. Communication among a group of more than two students can be challenging to navigate as they travel from class to class and/or swamped with after school commitments. As such, Padlet can create a useful curation tool that allows students to communicate asynchronously. Students can share links, leave notes, post videos, and even draw pictures to each other as they build a group project or complete an assignment. Students can also vote on or leave comments to each other, which provides clarity and increases the collaboration.

Notetaking Log

In subjects such as math and science, in which notes are taken regularly, have a notetaking log can help keep students organized, and also provide them with an opportunity to organize a variety of mediums. Images can be uploaded onto a Padlet and are easy to snap at the end of a class with a student's phone, Chromebook, or iPad. Saving notes that were taken in class ensures that students have access to the notes and can review them with ease. Those notes will automatically be arranged in chronological order. I recommend using the stream feature in Padlet to ensure that notes remained organized and easy to follow. Students can use the control find feature to find essential concepts and ideas faster, they can link in any digital activities, and they can even leave voice/video feedback for themselves.

Student Template

Whether students are brainstorming for an upcoming paper assignment, completing a vocabulary activity, or building a map, teachers can create a template for students to remake and use individually. For a long time, I never had students make their own Padlets, but now I love building templates and having students create portfolios or complete reflection activities using a template. When students remake the Padlet, they do have to be careful with the share settings. Having students make their Padlets challenges them to work independently and take control of their learning. It also provides a space for them to demonstrate mastery of a skill or objective in a variety of ways. Their growth can be documented, charted, and shared quickly with a link.  This tool is also relatively simple to use, which emphasizes mastering the content, not the tech tool itself.

Note: Padlet will default to "read-only" at times, which can cause frustration, but that feature can be corrected with a change of those settings.

Blended Learning Lesson

Another great use for Padlet is creating a space for students to demonstrate mastery when learning online or in a blended format. Using the shelf feature, teachers can outline a step-by-step process with their students to complete a variety of activities, connect with their peers, and reflect on their experience. Because Padlet can be accessed at any time and from any location, students can work at their own pace, use each other as resources, and post evidence of their work. I have loved playing with this structure and will be using it next semester when I take on a blended course for the first time.

Choose Your Own Adventure

I loved reading Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid. While I inevitably would perish tragically, I loved turning back to the beginning to chart my progress in the fictitious world within the pages. To pay homage to this process, I played with creating a Padlet within a Padlet as a way to give students a choice in how they might show mastery. Linking Padlets to other Padlets allows students to make connections. In my setup, I provided students with two paths that required writing and video creation. On both routes, students had to do similar activities in a different order, thus ensuring that they were showcasing their skills in a variety of ways but also helping them feel autonomy. The final Padlet took all students back together and required reflection. Being creative with Padlets can make a familiar learning environment fun and even a little exciting.

With thousands of tech tools on the market, this is the one tool that I would endorse because it is versatile and intuitive. The features replicate multiple other tech platforms, and aesthetically it is appealing. If you have great ideas for using Padlet in your classroom, I'd love to hear them! We grow most when we support and connect with one another.

A Ticket to Exit

And that's my cue to exit. The five-minute bell for gym sounds throughout the whole school, and teaching seniors sometimes proves to be a challenge once that Pavlovian sound echoes quietly outside. The question becomes, "How do I motivate seniors the period before their lunch or gym period once that bell chimes?" More importantly, how do I use that time in a meaningful way to evaluate student growth and gather information to drive my instruction?

Exit tickets and end-of-period challenges are great ways to review valuable course content and keep students engaged as the clock ticks closer to the bell. The information generated from these tools can also drive future lessons in which material may need to be retaught, revisited, or revised.

Get Techie

Formative assessment tech tools are always a hit. Gamifying the student experience is a great way to motivate and re-engage at the end of the lesson. Students often become competitive and eager to participate. My favorite end-of-lesson review games are Quizziz and Quizlet Live. While Kahoot is a classic, Quizziz allows for more individualized pacing, and Quizlet Live tasks students with talking about the content as they rely on their group to succeed.

A Google Form survey quickly gathers data that can be projected to the whole class. Checkbox questions create a bar graph, and multiple-choice response questions become pie charts that help both teachers and students understand the class's progress with specific concepts and learning targets. Free-response questions can then be used to gather more individualized data and feedback.

If a teacher is hoping for more individual feedback, a tool like Padlet can quickly create a place in which students can share their reflections, links, resources, and videos. This tool can become a Flipgrid, a survey, an idea board, and more. With so much flexibility, the use of Padlet as an exit ticket provides teachers with a full picture of what students accomplished in a given period or what they might need work within subsequent lessons.

Another tech tool I have been recommending to colleagues during observations is Socrative. This webtool is older, but the auto-generated exit ticket works well in a short time frame and can gather a comprehensive look at student progress. This tool does have a quiz feature, and teachers can pre-build more extensive formative assessments, but it also has quick questions that teachers can push out at the moment. Having the data collected electronically makes it easy for teachers to reflect on the outcomes and use that information to create instructional choices for the next lesson.

Get Crafty

 As winter approaches, creating a reason for students to become active can liven any classroom. Giving students a specific prompt and a small piece of white paper, have them respond, crumple that paper, and throw it. By throwing a "snowball" around the room, students will not only have an excuse to let out a little energy but also can learn from someone else's experience. Once they catch a snowball, students should read and reflect on what another person said. Teachers could even craft a second-round snowball fight by having students read and write a response.

Another crafty strategy to evaluate student learning is to create exit bins in which students place a name tag, paper, or other items in a folder or bin that indicates whether they've nailed a learning target, are still working, or need additional help. Having a physical exit activity can encourage students to talk and reflect on class content while they leave the classroom.

My favorite crafty exit ticket is customizing post-it notes. Customized post-it notes have so many uses. I have printed rubrics or questions to consider on my post-it notes. I have also made a generic, "What stuck today?" post-it note. Students can then place these post-its on a board, on the door, or in a specific column or location to indicate mastery of the day's learning target. Students love the customized post-it, mainly when I use my Bitmoji as part of the process.

Get Talking

An active class increases engagement. Have students get out of their seats in the last few minutes and vote with their feet. Using the four corner method, students can vote on their progress of the learning targets, their opinions on course content discussed, or even share what they are in the learning process.

Students can also talk by delivering a one-minute elevator pitch selling a concept, idea, or connection they have made throughout the period. This elevator pitch is a persuasive exercise that could become a competition with students voting on the best response. It could also be a great way to share out group work or final thoughts on a debatable topic. Whatever the case may be, a quick one-minute sales pitch can make learning memorable.

If there's an extra moment in any class period, taking the time to have a social-emotional check-in with students can be helpful. Have students check in with a peer, share a highlight from their days outside of class, or celebrate positive events happening in the school community. Taking time to talk to students and build relationships will enhance the classroom climate and lead to more productive, positive experiences moving forward.

Whether we teach students all day or for only 45 minutes, sending them off in an engaging and energized way leads to wonderful conversations and classroom learning in the future. Every moment with students is valuable and should be utilized, but the manner in which those precious closing minutes are directed can vary based on the needs of the students and the class climate. It is okay to talk, have fun, and connect with one another; it is okay to build community. Planning these activities with intention can make any end-of-lesson experience a hit!

Flipping for Flipgrid

Recently, I have worked on creating asynchronous professional development for both the high school and the college where I teach. In doing so, I continued to ask, "How might we...?" How might we revolutionize learning that's happening in our classrooms? How might we engage our students? How might we motivate students to be the drivers of their own learning?

These questions challenge us to reflect, identify learning objectives and design meaningful experiences for our students. When we dream beyond what was once possible in the classroom or simply what we have done before, we enhance and innovate. Our students then have the opportunity to do the same.

Since the start of the school year, I have worked with teachers to create a tech goal to enhance how students are listening, speak, communicate, collaborate, reflection, and more. Together, we have been working through a backward design process to establish what teachers want students to accomplish by the end of the year. From that information, we have worked to envision how students might achieve those goals. Conversations have been inspiring and motivating - as teachers process what is possible.

To support teachers' endeavors, we have paired what they want students to achieve with tech tools that will enhance and transform how they might reach and exceed these benchmarks in their respective classrooms. Technology for the sake of technology is not useful - a point I have stressed a great deal this year in the setting of these goals. Picking a tool and then determining a goal is not the way to implement transformative learning in the classroom. However, tech tools can be useful in challenging students to redefine their responses to "How might we?"

For my next few writings, I want to explore and focus on specific tools in more depth. After working with, playing alongside, and exploring the possibilities these first few weeks of school with some inspiring and engaging teachers, I feel confident in turning to the tools to take their amazing ideas and put them into action.

The first tool I want to hone in on is Flipgrid - one that prides itself in amplifying student-voice and connecting classrooms and people from around the world using face-to-face communication and engagement. At times, this tool resembles a social media platform, as it allows time and space for every student to respond and exchange messages with one another. However, this tool also allows students to receive feedback, reflect, and connect in meaningful ways.

Within the first two weeks of school, a teacher approached me with all the enthusiasm in the world. He knew he wanted his students to engage in self-assessment and reflection, and he knew that he wanted to use FlipGrid to do it. So we began to talk and imagine how might his students achieve this goal, and how might this goal evolve in his classroom.

Flipgrid is a video creation tool in which students can post responses to prompts, videos, images, etc. Typically, students then watch and respond to their peers, or the instructor watches the videos and provides feedback to their peers.

We started by reviewing how to set up Flipgrid. My recommendations for teachers who are new to Flipgrid is to jump in and start. Seeing Flipgrid in action can help teachers to understand the possibilities.  The homepage of Flipgrid prompts users to "Add New Grid," which I view each grid as a place to house "Topics" or individual assignments for a course or specific class. When a new grid is created, an introduction topic is automatically created, which can be assigned to students without making any changes. The blue "Share" button (with a picture of a rocket on it) is available on the grid and on each topic, which can be shared with Google Classroom. The link can be copied and pasted onto any platform on which students access coursework.

Once a teacher has played with Flipgrid in the classroom, my next suggestion is to start playing with the topic features. Again, I would create a grid for each course and use topics as individual assignments. Teachers can set video lengths from as short as 15 seconds to five minutes, add written prompts, add a video prompt (already created or created by the teacher), attach files, allow feedback and liking, and build a customized rubric.

After students respond to a topic, the teacher can choose to SPARK a conversation (by selecting the flame icon) or create a new topic from one student video. Also, a teacher might challenge students to watch and provide feedback to each other. Teachers can also generate a mixtape or a playlist of student work to be shared with their peers. Students have loved viewing playlists that highlight the best-of work produced by classmates. I used this feature last year when completing a Visual Valentine activity in my senior English class and students were pumped.

World language teachers have also loved making Gridpals, a feature that allows teachers to connect their classes to other classes around the country and world. This tool would be incredibly helpful for language acquisition and practice. I have heard teachers using this tool to partner high school and elementary science classes in which the students demonstrate and teach each other essential concepts. While I have not used this feature, I have used the Disco Library, a place to post creative grids and even engage in professional development with other teachers.

When it comes to viewing student work and assessing it, Flipgrid does an excellent job of creating a running log. Once students have submitted, it is easy to go down the line, open a video, and grade it. The feedback is immediately emailed to the student, and a grade can be synced with an LMS platform if desired. The dashboard has been updated. It is even easier than last year to view each topic board as a student and navigate how to share videos. Individual videos can be shared and posted. I love the idea of sharing videos with parents, especially at the elementary level.

Indeed, there are so many possibilities with this tool. When students cringe at the notion of creating a video of themselves, I remind them that they send dozens of Snapchats each day. Here is their opportunity to take their messages a little more meaningful and make a "snapshot" of their learning. This tool does not let anyone hide and also encourages the quieter student to take time to reflect and process information before being asked to speak. It allows for asynchronous learning, peer feedback, parental engagement, and interaction with an authentic audience. Did I mention that this tool is currently free and syncs with student gmail accounts?

Yes, I have caught Flipgrid fever and am excited to hear about teachers using it in their classrooms. The teacher I have been working with wants to ask students to solve math problems and then have their peers watch and learn from each other. He is also hoping to empower his students to teach key concepts and skills. As the passionate person he is, I know he loves the ability to hear from and provide feedback to each of his students. Sharing these videos, I know they - both students and teacher - are going to learn so much this year!