😱 New MirrorTalk app (with templates)

🙏🏻 And help us support more teachers!

Author

Matt Miller
September 10, 2024

😱 A no-prep app to get students thinking

This new MirrorTalk app is blowing my mind. 🤯

It’s developed for students, but it’s so good that I’m using it FOR MYSELF. (Forgive my caps … I’m just excited.)

It’s super simple …

  • It asks students to describe what they’re working on (projects, research papers, a new lesson in class, personal issues, etc.).

  • Then it asks students smart follow-up questions to get them thinking further about their work.

  • When done, it creates an analysis of those student responses for you and the student.

It’s like the student sitting down side-by-side with the teacher to talk through their work. We love when we can do this, but there’s never enough time. MirrorTalk asks the questions for you — with no prep.

(You know you want to go sign up and give this a try. Oh, and use my special link and you’ll get the premium paid version for FREE for a whole year.)

(Oh, and because I know you want to know … yes, the free version is very good even if you don’t pay for the premium version!)

Below, in our 💡 Big Idea, I’ll show you MirrorTalk’s new Library and Example Activities — kind of like templates to get students started on activities quickly.

Social media questions, part 3

Looks like a higher percentage of you use LinkedIn than TikTok …

Most report using it for professional networking. I’ve revived my LinkedIn profile over the last couple weeks and am loving all of the teaching ideas and collaboration there!

You can find me on LinkedIn here. Would love to connect!

Time for another social media poll … and I’m guessing the numbers will be higher on this one!

Let’s talk about Instagram. Tell me if you use it!

Do you use Instagram?

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Inside:

  • 📧 Share the newsletter with colleagues

  • 👀 DTT Digest: Cell phones, PBS LearningMedia, Gemini, Classroom

  • 💡 The Big Idea: 10 ways to use MirrorTalk in class

  • 🗄 Template: Emoji Reaction on Diffit

  • 😄 Smile of the day: Ohhh, this teacher mug …

  • 👋 How we can help

📧 Share the newsletter with colleagues

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👀 DTT Digest

4 teaching resources worth checking out today

💡 THE BIG IDEA 💡

🪞 10 easy ways to use MirrorTalk in your classroom

This post is sponsored by Swivl.

So, you probably just got done reading as I gushed about how easy and powerful MirrorTalk is to use.

  • Students open MirrorTalk on a laptop, Chromebook or device.

  • They describe what they’re working on.

  • MirrorTalk asks them smart questions about it to get them thinking.

  • Teacher and students get an analysis of student responses.

But how — and when — and where?!? — can you use this?

The MirrorTalk Library has you covered. It has dozens of pre-made activities you can quickly assign to students to get them talking about their learning. They include:

  • End of day reflection

  • Creative booster

  • “Body melting” brain break

  • Would you rather?

  • Foreign language practice

  • Pictionary

Mirror is a DEVICE, too: See that white rectangle in the image above? A Mirror is a durable tablet that leads students through MirrorTalk activities. It’s great for small groups and station rotation.

Want to try one out in your classroom? Fill out this demo form and you can have one within a week.

👀 Learn more about MirrorTalk: Check out our first post how to use it — Build meaningful reflection into class in minutes with MirrorTalk

🗄 TEMPLATE 🗄

🤩 The Emoji Reaction template on Diffit

The emoji reaction template is part of the DTT templates in the Diffit activity library!

Students will express their reactions to a text by selecting an emoji, creating a hashtag, and writing a brief comment.

Why this template works:

  • 🎨 Encourages Creativity: It encourages creativity and critical thinking by having students visually and textually summarize their thoughts.

  • 🙋🏽‍♂️ Engagement: Keeps students interested and motivated by expressing their reactions to a text using emojis, hashtags, and written comments.

  • 🤔 Promotes Critical Thinking: Selecting the right emoji and creating a relevant hashtag requires students to think critically about the text and their reactions to it

📹 Learn more about the Diffit activity library in this video How to create Google Slides Templates with Diffit

😄 Smile of the day

☕️ Never have I felt a mug so strongly in my soul

h/t @teacherskind via Instagram

👋 How we can help

There are even more ways I can support you in the important work you do in education:

  1. Read one of my six books about meaningful teaching with tech.

  2. Take one of our online courses about practical and popular topics in education.

  3. Bring me to your school, district or event to speak. I love working with educators!

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