Student Feedback: Maximize with Mote

Awhile back, I wrote on my ESOL blog about the importance of providing meaningful feedback to students. Thankfully, ever-evolving technology makes it easier and easier to provide feedback that's not only meaningful, but also more accessible to special needs and English language learners. That's where Mote comes in!

Mote is a Chrome extension that allows you to leave audio-feedback in the comments section of Docs, Slides, and Sheets. Let's face it- we may spend lots of time typing in thoughtful feedback, but do our students truly take the time to read it? Do our ELLs or differently-able kiddos fully understand the comments we are making? 

Being able to leave audio feedback saves teachers from typing the same comments (be honest- how often do you resort to copy and paste during a grading marathon?) and allows teachers to give feedback that is more personalized and of higher quality. For students, its almost like having a one-on-one conference with the teacher.

How much is it? Which version do I need?

The free version of Mote is great, but it does limit each comment to thirty seconds. I actually think if the comments get much longer than this, you'll lose the student's attention anyway. Also, you can use Mote to add multiple audio comments in a document. If you do want to be able to leave longer "motes", the yearly plans are totally reasonable at $19-$40.

Are you already using Mote in your classroom? Tell me more about how you're using it. 

Five Creative Ways to FlipGrid

One of the most popular tech tools in education is FlipGrid. If you're not yet familiar- check it out! It's a FREE platform that allows your students to record videos (up to 5 minutes) that are then saved to your grid. You can choose to allow students to see, comment, and upvote one another's videos. 

Today, I wanted to share five creative ways you can use this awesome tool in your classroom!

#1- Book Reviews

FlipGrid allows you to create a QR code for each individual video. After students read a book from the school or classroom library, have them record a book review*on your Flipgrid. You can then print out those QR codes and put them in the book (taped inside the cover or as a bookmark). That way, students who are interested in the book can scan the QR code and hear the reviews of classmates to help them make their choice. 

*Tip- For ELL students provide sentence frames, word banks, or guiding questions to help them with voicing their ideas

#2- Draw Me In

Many students (especially those in middle and high school) don't like to have their faces on camera. If that's the case, have them draw a self-portrait to hold up while doing their recording. Another option is to have them draw a picture or diagram related to the topic to hold up during recording.

#3- Knowledge Spark

Allow students to create a video (no more than 3 minutes) showcasing a skill or talent, sharing facts about something they find interesting, or teaching how to do something. For example, a student may do a video showing how to draw a person, make a grilled cheese, sharing facts about the mantis peacock shrimp, or whatever catches their fancy*. This is a great opportunity to offer "extra credit" while building community in the classroom. Make sure you participate too- you and your students will have a blast learning about one another. 

 *Tip- Set up the topic to moderate responses so you can be sure that student videos are appropriate before they are posted

#4- Living Word Wall

Assign each student a keyword from the unit/topic vocabulary. Have them work alone or in small groups to create a small video teaching their classmates the meaning of the word. Encourage them to act out their word or share a sample sentence using the word. Attach the living word wall to assignments for students to refer back to

#5- Virtual Help Desk

Not all students are comfortable asking questions in class. Set up a moderated topic, but don't actually post the videos for others to see. You can answer student questions in private by adding comments or recording a response video. You can also give parents the link so they can ask questions too!

BONUS-Learn Name Pronunciations

One of the most important facets of a person's personality is their name. As teachers, it's important for us to learn to say (and spell!) our students' names correctly. Flipgrid is a great tool for this! Set up a topic called "Say your name" (or something more snappy if you prefer). Have students record a short video pronouncing their first and last name and sharing any nicknames they prefer. Make the videos visible to all students, so they can learn to say each other's names correctly. 

Digital Word Walls: Supporting Language Growth with Technology

Recently, over on my ESOL blog, I talked about the importance of creating dynamic word walls that students can really use during learning. That post focuses primarily on physical word walls in face-to-face classrooms. 

However, I know the pandemic has and is continuing to change how we do things, even as we move ever closer to a post-COVID world. One big change is that technology is now even more deeply rooted in educational practice than ever before. With that in mind- I thought I'd talk about how to create digital word walls for your ELLs.

Benefits

One obvious advantage to incorporating digital word walls into your practice is that they can be more easily differentiated. In a classroom, it would be impractical, in terms of space and time, to try to maintain differentiated word walls. Technology makes it easy!

Additionally, you can add media- like audio, video, and images- to digital word walls that are difficult, if not impossible to add to physical word walls. Technology also allows students to return to word walls from previous units as needed, unlike a physical word wall that gets changed out regularly. 

Digital word walls can also allow for students to work collaboratively to build word walls according to their own needs. When students help to create the tools for learning, they take more ownership over that learning. 

Tools

My two favorite tools for this purpose are Padlet and Jamboard. I like Padlet, and it can be a little more organized, however, they do charge a fee for more than three Padlets. Jamboard is free as part of Google Workspace for Education accounts (if your district has not disabled it). But, Jamboard can be a little more chaotic for collaboration. 

• Padlet word wall
• Jamboard word wall

These are two examples, but the word walls you create can be simpler or more complex, depending on the needs of your students. Do you use different tools to create digital word walls? Tell me about your favorite tools!