Tech Solution: Edpuzzle in the Spotlight

I would like to welcome my colleague Emily Hine as a guest blogger. Emily is a 5th grade teacher at New Century International Elementary School.  I have asked her to share her experience flipping the classroom using Edpuzzle.  Neither of us receives any compensation for endorsing Edpuzzle.  This post is representative of her personal experience.

Looking for a way to incorporate videos into your classroom, and still hold students accountable?  Forgot to print the paper that goes with the video?  No problem, Edpuzzle is an awesome tool if you want to flip the classroom and still hold students accountable.  Edpuzzle  allows you pull videos from other people or include your own videos.  If you are looking into flipping the classroom and want to spend most of your time in small group, or even differentiate your learning with different videos, Edpuzzle  allows you to spend more time in small group then giving a lecture.

Now, if your anything like me, you are not always satisfied with videos from Youtube, so you create your own.  Yes, this does take time, however I was able to video tape myself teaching the lesson on the document camera.  This allowed me to pick exactly the material I wanted to use for the lessons, which way I wanted to teach it, and then students were able to follow along.  One of the best things about Edpuzzle  was that it was all digital.  Remember back in the day, when we use to watch a video and had to do the worksheet that went along with the video, while the teacher graded or caught up on work.  How many of you only paid attention to find the answers, couldn't record them fast enough, or copied off the person next to you because the sheet was due or you were not paying attention.  Edpuzzle , eliminates the worksheet, the video stops where you want to ask a question, and students are prompted to record/respond with their answers into Edpuzzle . 

Wow!  If they had this 20 years ago! Even better, the teacher doesn't have to look over every sheet to see if students have the right answers because Edpuzzle  will help you check the answers if it is multiple choice, or allow you to grade all of the open ended responses.  As a teacher, you could easily check who completed which videos, what questions they answered in wrong. There are options for both open ended and multiple choice.

How do I incorporate it, so that I can flip my classroom?  Good question! So many people are talking about flipping the classroom, but what does that look like?  While the district wanted us to add digital into our classrooms, I taught myself how to flip it and do nothing but small group teaching.  My students have a checklist they have to complete by Friday.  The checklist includes small group with me for an hour each week, an Edpuzzle  lesson where they are introduced to new topics, and then they could have any of the following: Ten Marks, independent practice, global scavenger hunt, task cards, Standard Mastery Assessments, games, etc...  This way I am making sure that in small group I am reviewing the previous standard with them, catching little hiccups/ trouble shooting along the way, so the learning gaps are closing by getting so much time with the teacher.  

Skeptical?  I had a variety of different students that really understood math, but when the final test came, even my struggling students blew the test out of the water.  This was my first year, truly flipping the classroom, and the results were worth it.  

Do you have a student that misses class all of the time, and they are so far behind?  This way they can do the lesson at home and they can still get all of the curriculum.  Have students that are more advanced? Pull videos on the next grade level content and allow them to work through lessons at a faster pace.  You can individualize the learning by assigning videos to certain students, or you can assign them to your entire class.  If you teach multiple different classes, you can assign videos to the class that it belongs with.  Going to be absent, or go to a conference?  I have video taped my lesson and the students did not miss any instruction while I was away.  

If you don't have the time to video tape lessons, no worry.  You can pull videos from Youtube, or even  Edpuzzle  that already have the questions embedded into them, so all you have to do is assign it.  Even with my compulsive need to do everything, I did pull some Bill Nye videos as part of their science centers, so that I could pull small group and do remediation.  

-- Emily Hine, 5th grade teacher

Do you use Edpuzzle?  We'd love to hear about your experiences. Have another tool you like to use for flipping your classroom? Please do share! Leave a note in the comments below.