What's Hot at #ISTE17 - @FlipGrid

I've caught #FlipgridFever. Flipgrid is a web-based tool for sharing a quick video. Grids hold the topics that can be responded to with a link and a browser, or the app on a phone. Follow the link to my ISTE17 Grid is below if you want to respond, or just lurk to look at others' responses. What's great for teachers is that the smart minds at Flipgrid have a free version for teachers, Flipgrid One with one grid, which is available to teachers.


So how could you use Flipgrid in a classroom? Here are some ideas:

• Welcome message to students and responses with their introductions
• Answering a question about a text, experiment, or math problem
• Stating a claim with evidence, for other classmates to respond to
• Getting teachers to respond to a concern within a school

There are plenty more ideas, I'm sure. What do you think? 

Respond to this link to a Flipgrid topic to share your ideas: https://flipgrid.com/bdc268

Maybe you will catch #FlipGridFever too! If so, you might want to become a Flipgrid Certified Educator. Check out this Flipgrid Blog Post for more information.

Gone #sketch50 Wild!

Have you heard about #sketch50 (website https://sketch50.org/ ), where educators are creating sketches using either digital or analog means to build skills at representing ideas. Check out the description of this challenge on the website or Twitter handle @sketch_50 and hashtag #sketch50.

In case you have missed it, #sketchnotes are all the rage. Sylvia Duckworth keeps creating them, demonstrating how to represent understanding visually. Now the rest of us can give the opportunity to stretch our growth mindsets and let go of the “I can’t draw” fixed mindset.   I have started and have a challenge for you: I’m adding my visual representations, day by day, to a Google Slides, which I am posting to a Padlet created by the #sketch50 team. Here’s the link! Can you join me on the journey? I am excited to document my growth over the 50 days. I may even redo some of my sketches, after I gain more skill and confidence. 

Here's a link to my Google Slide deck. Share yours on the Padlet and let's get #bettertogether! Thanks to +Cate Tolnai +Ann Kozma and +Lindsey Blass for their work on this great idea!

New Ways to Learn with a Book Club

Learning is Social

Thanks to the brilliant Ann Kozma (@annkozma723), I am participating in the #MLmindset book club. Bri Buck @bbucktech is co-moderating the book club. I really appreciate how they set it up. It got me thinking about what the elements help support adult learning, particularly in shared and open learning environments. This is a book club that is taking place on Twitter, using visual images!

Voice and Choice

The sign-up took place using a Google Form survey, inquiring how the participants wanted to connect and share learning. Options included Twitter chats, a Voxer group, and posting learning using visual tools. The group chose using visual learning tools. Sample results can be viewed at the Twitter hashtag #MLmindset. My own creation was done on Canva, a free online design tool that also has an app for mobile use. Allowing for a creative way to respond to the book club was motivating and fun. Using a visual tool allows readers to translate the learning into a visual expression. Here's a link to Ann Kozma Adobe Spark creation on Chapter 1 of Mobile Learning Mindset: The Coach's Guide to Implementation by Carl Hooker. Very impressive, Ann!

How to Bottle It?

Thursday, March 16th at 3:30 p.m. #CUE17

Just as legend has it that the way the creator of  Coca Cola was told how to make money on the fountain drink was to bottle it,  I wonder how to replicate this book club plan with teachers in my district. Not all teachers use Twitter, but we are a Google Apps for Education district, so creating  Google+ Communities is a way to create a safe and closed community. Would that work? I'm going to explore it more. Lindsey Blass and Amanda Haughes will present at the CUE National Conference on Mobile Professional Development with Voxer Book Clubs. There are many ways to creatively provide opportunities to connect and learn together. One of my favorite ways is to connect with others on educational Twitter chats, like #TOSAchat on Monday nights at 8 p.m. PST. I'll be moderating on 2-27-17, discussing blogging with the TOSAchat crew. I hope to see you there. Let me know if you have more ideas on how to creatively "bottle it"-- professional learning, that is!