Working in an environment and online community where students have the ability to create posts and comment on one another’s post allows students to practice there online social skills while also teaching students digital citizenship. But the challenge comes when it is time to teach students how to comment properly and appropriately on each other’s posts.
This is the first year that I am using Flipgrid. I love Flipgrid because it is easy, students don’t need accounts, and it really gives authentic practice for the students for interacting online and via social media. Because this is my first time using it and my first year with this group of students, I find it incredible important that I teach students how to comment appropriately so that the groundwork is set up for future assignments and future years. As I searched through the internet for some ideas on how to teach comments. I found information on using proper punctuation and grammar, which is great advice. In an educational community, “Hey Bro, I liked your video.” is not necessarily teaching students what they need to learn and certainly not engaging them in deep thought.
What I have decided to do for their first lesson in commenting is to give them comment starters. Ideally, I will eventually like students to be able to craft comments on their own, but as we are learning, I think giving them the structure and modeling will work best.
The students first assignment on Flipgrid was to create a video of themselves stating two truths and a lie, so for their first lesson on commenting, I gave them this guide to follow when commenting and “liking” the posts.
The end goal for my students is that they are able to develop meaningful, appropriate comments on their own without my prompting, but as this is my first year with these students, I have decided to play it safe and begin with comment starters and phrases!
