My name is Kathrina Mendez and I am a 4th/5th grade teacher from San Diego, CA. I have been teaching for 15 years and humbly admit that joining the @Flipgrid community has been a game changer for my career. I previously never bought in to any form of social media but was convinced by a dear friend to check out Twitter.

In no time, I came across Flipgrid and wanted to try it out as a vehicle to practice oral language with my English Language Learners. I knew it would serve as a safe place for students to express themselves using an academic register. The results totally blew me away! I never expected that the videos were going to turn into so much more than just time for vocabulary and language practice.

The unexpected outcomes are an endless list of positive results. First of all, I was completely, yet pleasantly, surprised by my students' confidence and presence on screen. The video format allowed me to see another side of my students that I surely would have missed if I had stuck to just pencil and paper. Another benefit was that it motivated my students with special needs to want to participate. Instead of dreading another another writing task where they tried to hide or blend in with those who "got it," they couldn't wait to talk and express themselves visually and verbally. Lastly, it reaffirmed the importance of offering multiple forms of assessment. Viewing videos was a much more engaging and informative experience for me because it explicitly revealed the successes and short coming of my lessons. These videos served as customer feedback for a service that many times does not receive "reviews." The list of benefits goes on and on! Most importantly, this video format has provided equitable access to my diverse group of learners, and I can't say enough about how Flipgrid has enhanced the educational experience and relationships between me and my students.

Scroll through some of my Tweets and links to examples of my students' work! Please do not hesitate to reach out to me @kathrina_mendez on Twitter if you'd like support in any way! I am more than happy to pass on the fever!

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