I love the idea of randomizing learning and giving students choice by using cubes and dice in the classroom.  I recently began thinking what it might look like to use Flipgrid as part of this idea and now I can't turn my brain off!  

I shared the idea of creating Kindness Cubes as an easy way to weave SEL into the classroom on Twitter.

After sharing, I kept thinking of different ways that you could use cubes and Flipgrid to design meaningful learning experiences for the classroom.  Here are some of the additional ideas that I came up with:

So often my children will bring home work that they need to complete.  The problem is that I have no idea how to help and don't want to confuse them by doing something totally different than what was learned in class.  

As a teacher, I remember wishing that I could just call each parent before sending anything home and explain what they could do to help rather than coming in to 15 emails the next morning sharing that they weren't sure how to help their child solve the problem.  

How many times have you gone to do Station Rotation only to spend most of your time repeating the directions for each station?  What if there was a way to manage the stations almost as if you cloned yourself to be at each station?  Sounds crazy, right?  Using FlipgridAR, not only is it not crazy, it's easy and very practical.  Here's how you do it...

I was super stoked to hear that Flipgrid has made augmented reality available on their platform!  Yes, you heard me correctly...FlipgridAR is a thing and I can't stop thinking of ways that this will enhance the learning experience for so many students!

In order to use FlipgridAR, you just need to make sure that you have updated the app and that you are using a device that supports augmented reality.

I'm sure that you can think of so many ways that this can work in your classroom but just in case you need a few ideas to get started, here ya go...

​As you can see in the image above, I created one grid and a topic within that grid for each of the 6 P's.  In the topic description, I asked questions that students might answer when they posted their video to the grid.  

Passion - What do you want to learn about? What do you think is interesting? What can you get excited about?

Students could also share their Thrively results here or even post a picture of their Passion Bracket.

Plan - Who will be your outside expert? What materials will you need to complete the project? What will you need to do each day to reach your goals?  How much time will need?

Pitch - How will you share your idea with the class? How will you get us on board? 

What do you know?  What do you want to know?  How will you find out? (KWH)

Project - What did you learn today?  What connections did you make and what would you like to share?

You might include the link to the Reflection QR code here so that students can respond to the question that they randomly receive.  You could also attach the QR code as an image and students could scan to receive their question.

Product - What did you create? What can you show us to demonstrate your learning?  If you were unable to create a product, what could you have done differently?

Presentation - How do you plan to share your learning? Can you share your idea or project with others? What tools will you use to make your presentation engaging for the audience?  

What did you learn?  What action did you take?  What questions do you still have?  (LAQ)

In creating the Flipgrid, I realized that it's important to put the 6 P's in backward so that they will be in the correct order.  In other words, when creating the grid, create Presentation as the first topic and Passion as the last topic.  This way, when it's complete, Passion will be on top with Presentation at the bottom.

As students move through the process, they can post their thoughts, reflections, and responses on the grid.  This gives them the ability to pitch, present, and reflect any time from anywhere.  This takes away the need for the teacher to always keep up with who needs to pitch and who needs to present.  They can simply do so on Flipgrid whenever they are ready instead of waiting for a time in class that works for everyone.  

Using Flipgrid also gives everyone an opportunity to respond and give feedback on Genius Hour projects.  It allows us to share pitches and presentations beyond the walls of the classroom, giving students an authentic audience.  

In my classroom, the QR codes on the image above linked to the website that walked them through what to do for each of the 6 P's.  I had to create a website, add all of the content, and then link the QR code to the different pages within the website.  Using Flipgrid, you can simply put all of this information in the Grid by clicking Actions, Share Topic, and choosing QR code.  Copy the QR code, paste it onto cardstock, create the bulletin board, and it's done!  Crazy cool!

I cannot express how excited I am about sharing this.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Every student deserves an opportunity to pursue their passion and Flipgrid makes Genius Hour even more manageable for teachers and more meaningful for students.  

If you'd like to know more about the 6 ps of Genius Hour, please feel free to check out my book, Genius Hour: Passion Projects that Ignite Innovation and Student Inquiry or the ONLINE COURSE!