I finally found a sensible and easy way to use video of me talking that my kids can watch again and again until they get it*.  I’ve flipped the rubric.

In MYP the rubrics for students can be complicated. And wordy.

For an assessment that is all four criteria (like the one above) there is a lot to process. If you’re a middle school kid or an English-language learner, the rubrics can look overwhelming. If you are a parent used to a score out of 100 points, this may look foreign. Even the official name — Task-Specific-Clarification— can be gobblygook to my students. But with that said, I really appreciate how these focus on mastery and ability to think critically, investigate and communicate. My students can assess their work accurately and my grading is much more consistent and easier with a detailed rubric. So I had to find a way to make it a little easier for my students.

Enter Movenote.

This is what I do. I open Movenote. I upload the rubric straight from Gooledocs, because it something doesn’t work with Googledocs, I won’t use it. And when I go through the rubric with my students in class like I always do, I record myself**. Movenote then turns my recording into a video that I can embed into my blog. My kids then go back and watch it again and again. Or they can go back to the parts they are not sure of. Parents can see what is required on an assessment. And most importantly: I have not created any extra work for myself and I have helped my students.

Like I said, a simple way flip my classroom. And with the exception of the awkwardness of watching myself on video, it’s a no lose situation.

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* I’ve talked about my hesitations with a “traditional” flipped classroom before.

**It’s important that I go over it in class instead of just making it something kids watch for homework. That said, I have used Movenote to explain assignments when I’m out-of-school, which I think is great.