#MysteryFlip in the Global Classroom

The Mystery Skype concept has been around for awhile, but what about those time zones? My students will be participating in a Global Literature Unit with schools in five different time zones. We can meet face to face with only one of the countries during school hours. How do we connect with the others for this fun activity that will get students thinking about different areas around the world, while also taking a closer look at their own unique surroundings? We use the magic of FlipGrid in what I call a #MysteryFlip! This year is the first time that I used a #MysteryFlip in my classroom and I must say it was more a flop than a flip for my first go-around, but I know what needs to be changed for the upcoming one.

In my first MysteryFlip attempt, I paired an entire class period with a small group in our partner classroom. This was too much. My twenty five students couldn't agree on the question. It was hard to hear the videos when I played it to the group. The class asking/answering questions format was disorganized. To remedy, the key to success is small groups, pre-pairing and a graphic organizer for the students to follow.

For our global unit, students are grouped into four different reading groups, meaning a group reading When Broken Glass Floats in Japan will be partnered with students reading the same book in another country. They will be given their own grid to interact with their partners. The groups will have creativity in their exchanges, but there will have to be structure. These groups will remain partners throughout the unit, commenting on each other's videos and blog posts so this is a great way for the students to start interacting.

Time frame: classes can't spend forever guessing the location because we have to start forming group bonds which will require the students to be able to share about their environment. Once the groups are formed, the classes should start the #MysteryFlip. At this point, the classrooms are just getting started with the project, so there should be time within the pre-reading activities to allow 15 minutes for Flipgrid listens, reflection, and guessing.

Groups should come up with cryptic clues to get their partner classroom curious. Ensure the clues aren't too obvious. For example, my students should not say that Japanese is the official language of our country. The groups should keep a record of the questions and answers and also record reflections. Here is a draft for the upcoming #MysteryFlip.

Some things to note: Remind students to not wear school gear or record under posters/banners that display the school name. My students do look up clothing brands when guessing their groups - that's fine. Just not a blatant display of the school or location name. Teachers: don't pull up the #MysteryFlips on your teacher account to display. It will show the email and my students figured out the last global flip via the email address alone.

Encourage students to show higher level thinking in the questions that they ask. For example, one of my students asked the question, "Was your nation involved in the G20 summit?" When the answer was "yes," my students looked up a list of the G20 summit attendees and started to narrow down the list. You'll also see your students learning about their own area. My students were asked if we live on an island. You should have seen us all pondering this and then one student announced, "I just looked it up. Japan is considered an island nation." So that is how they responded. I think you will be surprised to see the learning from this engaging activity.

I'm looking forward to trying this modified #MysteryFlip with my upcoming unit and will edit this post as needed.

Blogging with Padlet in Google Sites

Connecting Students to Share their Writing

Technology has really changed the Global Connections Game! Back in my youth, it took an  airmail stamp for me to connect with my pen pal, Gulianna, in Scotland. Even the authors of the best selling book, I Will Always Write Back, started their life-changing global correspondence with pen, paper, envelope and stamp. Postcard and letter exchanges are still amazing ways to incorporate some global exchanges, but the timing might not work for a dedicated unit. Insert classroom blogging.

I find that sharing student writing with peers is a super motivator in the classroom. Students step-up their writing when the audience goes beyond the teacher. Since educators know this to be motivating, how about sharing with peers outside the school community?  What venue can teachers use in the classroom?

In my past global units, I used weebly. Weebly is a great website platform as it's super easy and can be password protected. Google sites used to be a bit complicated so I just stuck with Weebly. Well, sometimes you are forced to change, explore and learn new tools which is exactly what happened to me this school year. My district blocked Weebly and I was super stressed as Google sites did not have an easy blogging tool that would be aesthetically pleasing and easy for students to find each other's postings. However, after spending hours on Google, I found a solution: Padlet!

I have used Padlet in my classroom often, but I couldn't imagine it working as a blog because the Padlets I typically created looked scattered and with 100 students posting a response on one wall, the blog has to remain organized. Well, the trick with blogging with Padlet is to set up your new Padlet with the "shelf" option. Because I have multiple classrooms in one project, each classroom can organize their student responses on one shelf. To share with multiple classrooms, you can embed your Padlet links in your Google sites. I create an image via Canva and then upload the image and link my my Padlet. Here is my example for a unit room 319 is doing with a class in Vancouver.

Each image links to a Padlet for students to share their written response

Students post their written response under their class period, school, book, or however the teacher wants to organize it

Padlet Positives

There are so many things that students can share via Padlet. The image above shows the simplest form of students sharing student work with others. We were in the practice portion of our unit and had not yet started the novel: The Giver. Students shared their written response on the Padlet and I was able to comment on each. Students are able to see each other's posts and read my comments to help improve their writing and literary analysis. The class periods are organized for easy viewing and the ctrl F feature works for searching for student names. But Padlet can do much more than just share writing. Students can color coordinate their post as symbolism. Students (and teachers) can also add images, videos, and links - to name a few! Students can also respond to their classroom or global peers with their comments, videos, images, etc. The Padlet can really come alive and be a colorful display of learning and connections.

Padlet also allows teachers to add collaborators. Using my paid account, I add my global partners and they can modify on the Padlet, approve posts (if you select that posts need to be moderated), and basically do anything that the Padlet owner can do. This makes it a great tool when teachers are in different time zones as any of your collaborators can fix problems as they occur.

There is a price for this amazing technology tool, but it's totally worth it in my opinion. For $12.99 a month, I have unlimited Padlets with the ability to use it in so many ways - from smaller daily uses like formative assessments and exit tickets to student portfolios, class discussions, curating websites and learning, a digital parking lot, to larger projects like global collaboration with the authentic audience.