Bring Back The Fun! 5 (or more) Incredible Ways To Use Flippity With Students

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

    When I first started teaching I thought there had to be a certain level of seriousness in my classroom. If a colleague walked by and it looked like we were having too much fun I felt like I needed to explain. I have always been a fan of playing games to learn, even with high school students and yes, even with adults. That was many years ago. We now have loads of neuroscience research that tells us that fun and joy in learning is actually important for information transmission and storage in the brain. Think about your own experiences with learning something new. What do you remember? My most vivid learning memories are with teachers who were creative and allowed play to intermingle with learning. When you are able to laugh and experience joy, there is a certain comfort level that reduces stress and actually makes it easier to learn.

    While the tone you set in your class and the classroom norms that are created are ultimately up to you and your students, there are some fun tools that you can use to help. Flippity is definitely at the top of the list.  I knew that I had written about Flippity before but was surprised to find it back in 2017 and not sooner so this is a great time to re-introduce you to this very versatile tool.

    At its core, Flippity is a tool that takes information from a Google spreadsheet and turns it into something you and your students can interact with. For example, if you have a vocabulary list of terms and definitions in a Google sheet, it can turn that into a set of online flashcards.  The website is not flashy and each item has a demo, a set of step-by-step instructions, and a template for you to copy and use. Even if you are familiar with Flippity, they have added some new and exciting items. Now, there is even a tab where you can create these activities without a spreadsheet, which is perfect for those of us who are spreadsheet-phobic. Take a look at all of the activities you can instantly create and use!

My Ten Favorite Flippity Activities (In No Particular Order)

1. Quiz Show

This is just like Jeopardy and you get to be Alex Trebek!

 Sometimes a little friendly competition can help mix things up in your learning space. All you need are the categories and the questions with answers. Put kids on teams and have them rotate through who will be the spokesperson. They can set up a google doc to use as a backchannel for discussion. Did they get it right? The bell will ding and assign them points. Did they get it wrong? There is a buzzer for that. 

2. Self-Assessment Quiz

    We want our students to be thinking about their learning. I think that is why so many of us are drawn to the idea of standards-based grading. We want those measurements to make sense and paint a picture that shows where a student currently is in terms of their skills. We also want them to be able to accurately assess themselves and understand their progress. The Flippity self assessment quiz is new and it's a pretty slick way to ask the students some questions that will then give them a read out that explains where they are at. The demo tool was a Lord Of The Rings character quiz. Here's how I faired, apparently I am 50% of the way to being a hobbit. You can edit and add your own list of skills and learning objectives and determine the measurements that would be helpful to explain the picture of the students' learning. You then add your questions for the students to complete. At the end, you will get a link to share so they can do it themselves.

3. Scavenger Hunt

If you have ever used Breakout Edu then you know how engaging, exciting, and fun a breakout box/scavenger hunt-type activity can be. You also know that they can be cumbersome to create, though well worth the effort! Stay tuned, if you haven't heard of Breakout Edu that will be an upcoming post. The Flippity Scavenger Hunt is brilliant and can be tailored to any content level. The idea is simple, you need to unlock the locks to get to the end. Game on!  The demo has 8 locks, you can set up as many as you want.  Here is what it looks like.

4. Virtual Board Game!  

Board games are fun and there are so many different ways to take advantage of this online version. The hard part has already been done for you. There is a die to roll and on each space there is a piece of information, telling the player what to do. The game is set up to be played on one device by screen sharing so one person moves the pieces for everyone. This demo is set up for math and uses desmos, youtube, and equatio. This is a great game for incorporating multiple tools. 

5. Flippity Manipulatives- aka click and drag cards

I am including this one by popular demand. It seems so simple but it has been a little hard to find. Many teachers are looking for ways to make click and drag cards that students can manipulate. This is a wonderful way for students to show their understanding, to categorize items, or to put items in a specific order for study. You can use media on these cards as well.

 

There are a total of 25 tools that you can create with a spreadsheet. Several are featured specifically for virtual learning configurations and there are 11 that you can create without a spreadsheet. I would love to hear how you are using Flippity!