Flipgrid gave teachers a way to bring student voices into everyday classroom activities through short video discussions. Instead of asking students to share every answer in front of the class, teachers could post a question or assignment and let everyone record a response at their own pace. Students could then watch their classmates’ videos, share feedback, and learn from different points of view.
Teachers used Flipgrid for much more than recording presentations. It supported reading activities, language practice, group projects, math explanations, classroom discussions, and even communication with guest speakers. Here are some practical ways teachers used it to make lessons more interactive.
1. Record Book Reviews and Book Talks
Book reviews are a simple way to get students talking about what they read. Instead of writing a traditional review, students could record a short video explaining the story, introducing the main characters, and sharing what they liked or disliked about the book.
Teachers could ask students to recommend a book to their classmates or explain why someone else might enjoy reading it. Other students could watch these reviews and leave comments or record their own responses.
This activity helped students discover books they might not have picked up otherwise. It also gave them a reason to think carefully about a story before sharing their opinions.
Some teachers even used Flipgrid’s augmented reality features to create QR codes linked to student book reviews. They could place these codes on book covers or library shelves so classmates could scan them and watch the recommendations.
2. Practice Speaking and Learn New Languages
Learning a language requires regular speaking practice, but not every student feels comfortable speaking in front of the whole class. Flipgrid offered a less intimidating way to practise.
Teachers could post a vocabulary question, pronunciation exercise, or conversation prompt. Students would record themselves speaking in the target language and submit their responses. They could replay their recordings before sharing them, giving them a chance to notice mistakes and improve.
For example, a Spanish teacher might ask students to introduce themselves, describe their daily routine, or explain what they did over the weekend. Students could also watch their classmates’ responses and learn from different speaking styles.
Teachers could connect with other classrooms or invite native speakers to participate in discussions, giving students an opportunity to hear the language beyond their usual lessons.
3. Create Student Presentations and Jigsaw Activities
Flipgrid made it easier for students to share research and explain what they had learned without requiring every group to present in front of the class.
Teachers could divide a class into small expert groups and assign each one a different topic. After researching their subject, students would record short videos explaining the key points. Their classmates could watch these recordings to learn about the other topics.
For example, in a science lesson about ecosystems, one group could explain forests, another could cover oceans, and a third could discuss deserts. Each group would teach the rest of the class through its recorded presentation.
This approach gave every student a chance to contribute while allowing classmates to revisit explanations whenever they needed to review the material.
4. Explain Math Problems and Share Number Talks
Math lessons often involve more than getting the correct answer. Teachers also need to understand how students reached it.
With Flipgrid, students could record themselves solving a problem and explain each step aloud. They could show their calculations, describe the strategy they chose, and point out where they found the answer.
For a number talk, the teacher could post a question and ask every student to explain their reasoning in a short video. Rather than hearing from only a few students during a classroom discussion, the teacher could review everyone’s responses afterward.
These recordings helped teachers identify common misunderstandings and decide which concepts needed more attention. They could also provide useful examples during parent-teacher conferences to show how a student approached a problem.
5. Record STEM Projects and Experiments
STEM activities involve building, testing, observing, and improving ideas. Flipgrid gave students a way to document these steps instead of showing only the finished project.
Students could record a model or experiment, explain how they built it, and describe what happened during testing. If something did not work as expected, they could discuss the problem and explain what they planned to change.
For example, after building a paper bridge, students could record how much weight it held and explain which design choices made it stronger. Classmates could watch the results, ask questions, and suggest improvements.
Teachers could also ask students to record a second video after making changes. Comparing the two recordings would help students reflect on what they learned from the process.
6. Build a Positive Classroom Community
Getting students comfortable with one another can take time, particularly at the beginning of a school year. Video prompts offered a simple way to help classmates learn about each other.
Teachers could ask students to introduce themselves, share a hobby, talk about a favourite subject, or describe something they were looking forward to. These short recordings helped students find common interests and gave quieter classmates another way to participate.
The platform could also support small classroom celebrations. Students might record birthday wishes, send get-well messages, or share compliments with a classmate selected as Student of the Week.
Teachers could set expectations for respectful comments and meaningful feedback before starting these activities. That helped create a positive environment where students felt comfortable sharing their thoughts.
7. Create Digital Student Portfolios
A single assignment does not always show how much a student has learned over time. Video portfolios gave students a way to collect examples of their work and reflect on their progress.
Teachers could create a dedicated space for each student and ask them to post recordings throughout the school year. These might include project explanations, reading reflections, presentations, or demonstrations of newly learned skills.
Students could look back at earlier recordings and compare them with their more recent work. This made progress easier to recognize and gave them a chance to think about what they still needed to improve.
Teachers could also share selected portfolio recordings with parents, helping families see more than just grades or written assignments.
8. Invite Guest Speakers to Answer Student Questions
Not every classroom has direct access to scientists, authors, engineers, or other professionals. Flipgrid’s Guest Mode allowed teachers to invite people outside the classroom to take part in video discussions.
For example, students studying marine life could prepare questions for a marine biologist. The teacher could invite the expert to view those questions and record answers that students could watch later.
This gave students a chance to hear from someone with real-world experience without arranging a live visit. It also allowed the guest to respond when convenient.
9. Help Students Who Missed a Lesson
Students who miss school can find it difficult to catch up, especially when an assignment involves classroom discussions or group activities.
Teachers and classmates could use short recordings to explain what happened during the lesson. A student might describe the main topic, go over the homework instructions, or point out important details from a class activity.
The absent student could watch these videos later and get a clearer idea of what the class covered. This approach worked particularly well for instructions that were easier to explain verbally than in a written message.
10. Make Videos Easier to Understand with Annotations
Flipgrid included tools that allowed students to add drawings, written notes, and other annotations to their recordings. These options helped students explain ideas that might be difficult to describe through speech alone.
For example, a student solving a geometry problem could draw on the video to highlight angles or mark important measurements. In chemistry, students could use annotations to explain the steps involved in balancing an equation.
Teachers could also use these recordings to see how students organized their thinking and where they needed additional guidance.
11. Collect Class Highlights with Mixtapes
Teachers who wanted to bring together memorable student contributions could use Flipgrid’s Mixtapes feature. It allowed them to select videos from different Topics and Grids and organize them into a single collection.
A teacher might create an end-of-year Mixtape featuring science demonstrations, class presentations, reading recommendations, and student reflections. The collection could then be shared with the class as a reminder of what everyone had accomplished.
This also gave students a chance to see their classmates’ contributions beyond individual assignments.
A Few Things to Keep in Mind
Video activities work best when they have a clear purpose. Teachers should choose prompts that connect directly to the lesson rather than asking students to record videos simply because the technology is available.
It also helps to keep recordings short, explain what a useful response should include, and set clear expectations for comments and feedback. Students should know how to communicate respectfully and what information they should avoid sharing in videos.
Accessibility matters, too. Captions, transcripts, and tools such as Microsoft’s Immersive Reader supported students who needed help following spoken or written content. These were part of the original Flipgrid experience, although their availability depended on the platform’s features at the time.
Most importantly, video discussions should complement classroom interaction, not replace it. Face-to-face conversations, group work, and direct teacher guidance remain important parts of learning.
Can Teachers Still Use Flipgrid in the Classroom?
Microsoft retired the standalone Flip website and mobile apps in 2024. The original Flipgrid experience, including its Grids and Topics, is no longer available as it was before. Microsoft retained the Flip video recording experience within Teams for Education, where teachers can use it for video-based assignments.
Teachers can still create many of the activities described above with other classroom tools, but the available features will differ. The best choice depends on whether the goal is collecting video assignments, encouraging peer discussions, creating student portfolios, or sharing creative projects.
Flipgrid showed how short video responses could give more students a voice in the classroom. Its biggest lesson for teachers is that students do not always need to stand in front of everyone to explain what they know. Sometimes, a simple recording gives them the time and confidence to share their ideas.