Uncategorized Archives - Swivl https://www.swivl.com/category/uncategorized/ Mon, 01 Jul 2024 17:06:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 97173492 Find your school’s ideal Flip replacement https://www.swivl.com/2024/06/25/test-post/ Tue, 25 Jun 2024 14:37:36 +0000 https://www.swivl.com/?p=88975 Big news: Flip (formerly Flipgrid), a beloved edtech tool for sharing, interacting, and reflecting with video will be discontinued soon. Teachers who’ve depended on Flip are now looking to their school leaders for a seamless transition. That’s a lot to handle, but don’t stress—we’ve got you covered. To make this process smooth and straightforward, we’ve […]

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Big news: Flip (formerly Flipgrid), a beloved edtech tool for sharing, interacting, and reflecting with video will be discontinued soon.

Teachers who’ve depended on Flip are now looking to their school leaders for a seamless transition. That’s a lot to handle, but don’t stress—we’ve got you covered.

To make this process smooth and straightforward, we’ve put together a quick, four-question quiz. This will help you pinpoint the best Flip alternative that fits perfectly with how your teachers have been using this tool.

Ready to find the perfect replacement? Take the quiz now and stay ahead of the curve!

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Where to find funding for Swivl solutions https://www.swivl.com/2024/03/20/where-to-find-funding-for-swivl-solutions/ Wed, 20 Mar 2024 17:56:45 +0000 https://www.swivl.com/?p=83268 Interested in using Swivl solutions in your organization but lacking budget or unsure if our tools qualify for your existing federal program funds? In this article, you will find several funding opportunities to acquire our reflective tools.  ESSER The CARES Act authorized more than $276 billion in relief for 16,000+ school districts and other local […]

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Interested in using Swivl solutions in your organization but lacking budget or unsure if our tools qualify for your existing federal program funds? In this article, you will find several funding opportunities to acquire our reflective tools. 

ESSER

The CARES Act authorized more than $276 billion in relief for 16,000+ school districts and other local educational agencies awarded as ESSER funds. Recently, federal data showed schools nationwide had spent nearly all of the funding from ESSER I, most of ESSER II, and around one third of ESSER III. This data may not reflect the last several months of spending and it’s estimated that billions of dollars in the commit stage have not yet been spent. The deadline to spend, not commit, ESSER III is September 2024. Don’t be one of the districts left with thousands or even millions of unspent dollars, because when funds expire, they will be returned to the federal government.

‍ESSER funds were explicitly appropriated with flexible intentions to meet various educational needs throughout the pandemic and to support recovery in its aftermath. Education Resource Strategies recently published ten ways to spend your remaining ESSER funds. As per their definitions, Swivl’s solutions can help you use funds to implement coherent, challenging curricula, professional learning, targeted academic support, mentory and advisory, and personalized instruction.

Title I, II, and IV

Other regular funding sources available annually include federal Title programs. Title I, Title II and Title IV also have deadlines that vary state by state, district by district, so it’s important to check with your district or local agency to learn when yours are. Title I provides financial assistance to districts and local education agencies with high percentages of children from low-income families to ensure all children regardless of means have access to a high quality education. Title II works with states and local education agencies and is intended to support teachers, principals, and other school leaders to improve the overall quality of instruction. And finally, ‍Title IV aims to provide all students access to a “well-rounded education” consisting of improvement to school conditions, use of technology, and digital literacy.

USDA rural development

A lesser known grant program for rural districts through USDA’s Rural Development department ensures rural educators and students have equitable access to federal programs in their regions. This grant program requires a 15% match and eligible purchases include: audio, video, and interactive video equipment, hardware, software, and instructional tools for distance education. The deadline to apply occurs annually, typically in April, and funds can be exercised for up to three years.

How Swivl qualifies

Our tools combine metacognitive and cognitive support through student and teacher reflection, SEL practice, and formative assessment generated by AI.

Hardware enables effective small group instruction, reducing the need to flex schedules for more co-teaching or other support staff to be present in the classroom. 

For student academic achievement, data generated by Swivl solutions provides teachers insights into student progress more efficiently; allowing them to leverage their precious time to prioritize the students who need the most support. 

For professional development, data generated by Swivl solutions can help drive rapid internal shifts in teaching practices and allow teachers to self-serve their own PD, narrowing resource gaps in coaching and mentorship programs. 

For PBIS, Swivl solutions can be used as a proactive solution for administrators and counselors to promote positive behavior and give students a variety of tools to check in, reduce anxiety, and increase mindfulness.

Swivl’s tools are customizable for every type of learner, including adults, and the tools can be utilized in a wide range of activities both in and outside the classroom. 

Better yet, Swivl offers personalized training and support for its products, ensuring your teachers don’t skip a beat in their understanding of the technology stack and can derive actual value from their usage for more extended periods of time.

Finally, Swivl’s solutions are available in a variety of formats, from standalone hardware to across web and mobile platforms, making it an investment that can be utilized in a wide variety of school environments.

To experience Swivl’s suite of offerings before committing your funds, get in touch with us for a free consultation and an opportunity to try solutions before you buy.

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Socialize reflection in your organization with Reflectivity https://www.swivl.com/2023/12/12/socialize-reflection-in-your-organization-with-reflectivity/ Tue, 12 Dec 2023 18:07:14 +0000 https://www.swivl.com/?p=81025 Reflectivity’s latest release helps teachers become more adaptable by socializing reflection.  Socializing reflection means sharing your learning process in a community of colleagues with similar challenges and goals.  When you share your work with colleagues and exchange ideas about skills you’re building, you gain the insights and feedback needed to adapt to any challenge. This […]

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Socializing reflection means sharing your learning process in a community of colleagues with similar challenges and goals. 

When you share your work with colleagues and exchange ideas about skills you’re building, you gain the insights and feedback needed to adapt to any challenge. This leads to stronger connections, new skills, and an even higher order of thinking

This release makes that process easier and more powerful than ever.

Explore colleagues’ learning

The My skills, Most Active, and New tabs show you where colleagues are socializing reflection.

We noticed that users love seeing a “zoomed out” view of their Skill communities because it gives a birds-eye view of the reflection happening in their organization.

Now, the My Skills, Most Active, and New tabs keep you focused on the activity happening in your organization’s Skill communities. You’ll always know where colleagues are gathering to make progress on hard problems, and where new ideas are emerging about the latest challenges the organization faces.

When time is limited, it only takes a few moments to browse a Skill community, encourage colleagues, or get inspired by their reflections.

Socialize reflection at every step

You can now engage with colleagues and work on Skills from the right panel.

Top-down professional learning often makes it difficult for teachers to connect around common challenges, and exchange ideas about shared goals.

Now, Reflectivity gives you a visual reminder that you’re part of a community of reflective educators, sharing what’s working in real time. We’ve done this by moving all interactions and reflections to the right panel, so you stay in the community as you work.

Additionally, each step of the skill-building process is now an act of reflection shared in your Skill community. These steps include joining a new Skill community, making plans, and engaging in deeper written or video reflections. Your colleagues can encourage you at each step with a Boost, or leave a comment to start a discussion.

When your organization socializes reflection inside a Skill community, learning happens with the support of others.

Adaptable educators reflect together 

Teachers face more change, at a faster pace, than ever before. This is a modern problem that requires a modern solution. Traditional, top-down professional learning moves too slow to keep up. 

Instead, teachers need the freedom to explore many solutions for challenges they face. And they need a dynamic community where they can exchange ideas and feedback by socializing reflection. 

Reflectivity’s latest release makes this new vision of professional learning possible. Imagine what it’d look like if your organization became a community of adaptable educators reflecting together.

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Transforming what is possible with reflection using AI https://www.swivl.com/2023/12/11/transforming-what-is-possible-with-reflection-using-ai/ Mon, 11 Dec 2023 18:45:09 +0000 https://www.swivl.com/?p=80987 “Reflection is powerful” is a truism in education. We want all students to learn how to effectively present evidence of their thinking, set goals that motivate them, and develop the self-awareness they need to be life-long learners.  Teachers know that the best way to achieve this is through regular and consistent reflection. We’ve talked with […]

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“Reflection is powerful” is a truism in education.

We want all students to learn how to effectively present evidence of their thinking, set goals that motivate them, and develop the self-awareness they need to be life-long learners. 

Teachers know that the best way to achieve this is through regular and consistent reflection.

We’ve talked with thousands of educators about their reflective practices over the years. We’ve supported reflection with the Swivl Robot and with our student-focused tools Recap and Synth. We know that while teachers’ ultimate goal is to create an environment where their students are doing frequent, high-quality reflections, it is a struggle for most to make the time to do so.

Setting up effective reflections takes planning and research. Guiding and assessing reflections is incredibly time-consuming. So reflection often takes a back seat to other forms of assessment for these logistical reasons. 

These conversations and findings influenced why we developed our newest reflection solution: Mirror.

Mirror is a solution that automates the setup, guidance, and assessment of reflections with AI. Our AI-enabled technology is delivered into classrooms through a portable, ruggedized kiosk that makes it easier than ever to build reflective routines in the classroom. 

The math of language

A classroom powered by automated reflection is now possible thanks to AI. Specifically, it is possible through one of the main technologies behind today’s popular AI – Large Language Models (LLMs). 

LLMs are designed to understand, generate, and respond to human language. They are trained on vast amounts of text data, which enables them to answer questions, write essays, summarize information, and even create content like poems or stories.

With Mirror, we use this capability to help educators easily set up reflections with effective questions. Then Mirror serves up those questions in its engaging interface to guide students to reflect effectively and conversationally. 

For those who are familiar with how AI works, this part is relatively straightforward.

Where it gets less obvious is in the assessment of reflections. At the highest level, LLMs have turned language into math.  And we can leverage this capability to turn reflective conversations back into math using specific prompts with AI.  

The opportunity this presents is that educators can now quickly analyze conversational student reflections in conventional, easy-to-read dashboards – allowing teachers to skim over the results of the reflective dialogue their entire class is having within minutes instead of hours! This is truly what we mean when we say Mirror is automating reflection.

Making reflection the future of assessment

Assessment has always been limited to what can be reviewed efficiently and objectively. This limitation is what has led us to standardize testing and create simplistic polling solutions. While it has been a necessary practice, this has always created some disconnect between learning goals and teaching. 

Now, it finally looks possible to efficiently and objectively assess and score natural, in-depth reflective conversations to easily compile insights that would normally take hours and hours of effort to achieve. This makes reflective practice something that can be incorporated as a daily activity – if not multiple times a day. 

Assessing student learning this way provides a new and more direct way for educators to understand the effectiveness of teaching methods and curriculum. It provides real-time data to identify areas of improvement. It provides a way for teachers to understand the support each of their students needs. It even surfaces the evidence of students thinking they need to establish that learning occurred and no shortcuts were taken.

As noted, with Mirror, reflective prompts can be automatically generated based on a simple recorded teacher goal. Reflection responses can then be assessed based on objective measures teachers commonly use like whether students understand the learning objective, mindset, evidence of thinking, and sentiment – all with the help of AI. 

Feedback to students on how to do effective reflections can even be automated. This helps reinforce and progress students’ reflective skills through any learning experience – compounding improvements in self-awareness and motivation over time. 

We believe that with automated reflections, teachers can now reach new heights of effectiveness with less effort than ever required. And, we believe this transforms what is possible with reflection and what is possible in our system of education itself.

The Mirror demo program

If you want to experience the power of automating reflections firsthand, sign up for the Mirror demo program. This free trial is open to all educators based in the United States and Canada.

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What is Mirror by Swivl? https://www.swivl.com/2023/11/16/what-automating-reflection-means/ Thu, 16 Nov 2023 20:40:25 +0000 https://www.swivl.com/?p=80369 Explore the future of education with Mirror, an innovative tool that revolutionizes the reflection process for teachers and students alike. Discover how Mirror's seamless automation empowers educators to facilitate meaningful reflections in just 5 minutes, providing personalized experiences for students through AI-driven conversations. From quick setups to insightful analytics, Mirror transforms the way we approach reflection in the classroom, saving teachers valuable time and unlocking a new level of student engagement. Elevate your teaching experience with Mirror – where automation meets personalized learning.

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With just a few minutes of setup, teachers gain valuable reflective insights.

Like most teachers, when I was in the classroom, I recognized the value of reflection and the impact it could have on student learning. Simultaneously, I struggled to find the time for my students to reflect regularly throughout the school day. When my students recorded reflections, it was overwhelming to try to watch 90+ recordings, provide tailored feedback to help them strengthen their reflective skills, and give each student the individual support they needed in person.

Can you truly automate reflection?

Swivl is a reflective tools company. We believe there is significant unrealized potential in reflecting, especially for students. When we set out to build a reflective solution for students, our first thought was to explore if we could truly automate the reflection process. Could we discover a way to make reflecting fun and engaging for students? At the same time, could we build a solution that provides teachers with robust and unbiased insights about each of their students? And, on top of it all, could this solution require minimal time and effort from teachers?

With the help of AI, we created a tool that met all of these requirements. We call it Mirror.

Mirror fully automates the reflection process for students. It takes less than 3 minutes to set up the device and record a reflection. Its unique design allows the device to be set up anywhere, so students can record reflections when they’re ready, or when they’re prompted by their teachers.

Here’s how it works:

After powering on the device, teachers scan a QR code to download the Mirror app on any mobile device, then log in.

Once logged in, teachers can create a group and then have students add themselves to the group as they use the device. We designed this experience in this way to resolve privacy concerns of students seeing each other’s reflections and scores and to save a teacher’s time. Groups can be organized for classes by subject and grade level, or by small groups of students based on reading level or interests. A Group can also be created from an existing class rostering service.

Personalize your AI-reflected self

Once a group is created, students can begin a reflection by either adding their name to the Group new or pick their name from the last time they reflected. This initiates a conversation with their AI-reflected self. An AI-reflected self is an avatar that guides students through the conversation, asking thoughtful questions throughout.

The reflected self will ask students questions like “What was the goal you were working on?” or “Were your actions aligned with your goal?” These questions are designed to automatically guide a student through an effective reflection, much like a teacher would. With the help of a student’s AI-reflected self, reflections become more effective and engaging, without adding more to a teacher’s plate. At the end of each reflection, students are offered a mindful exercise before transitioning to other activities.

Students can also personalize their AI-reflected self with colors, hairstyles, or stickers.

In addition to individual reflections, Mirror was built to work with small groups. Small groups can complete a group reflection in the same way they would complete an individual reflection. Each member of the group simply adds themselves to the reflective conversation.

Additional capabilities

As teachers begin to see the benefits of a regular reflective practice with their students, they can utilize the other functionalities of Mirror to bring more time-saving value to their classrooms.

One of the main ways teacher can utilize Mirror to bring more value to their practice is to build an outline of the goals they want students to work towards. Mirror then delivers prompts to students during their reflections to measure if they understood the goal, and if their actions were aligned with the goal.

Teachers can also create working spaces in Mirror for students to enter in. Within these spaces, there is a timer that guides you to work towards your goals, and students have access to tools like whiteboard for collaboration or recordings to develop presentation skills. Teachers can also use the recording functionality in Mirror to observe and develop their teaching skills.

Guided Activity Plans, constructed by the teacher, walk students step by step through the activity. Teachers can customize the activity plan by identifying which interactive tools can be access by the students during different parts of the activity. Reflections can also be added throughout the plan.

From recharge exercises for mindful breaks, whiteboard tools, live calls, and access to other AI tools, we are developing Mirror to be a robust tool that can be utilized in a variety of different scenarios.

Robust Insights

Mirror was designed to capture short reflections – only a few minutes in length. Instead of teachers spending hours reviewing each recording from their students, we created an AI-driven dashboard to bring insights to teachers instantly to help them understand what individualized support to their students need.

With the Mirror dashboard, teachers can dive into sentiment, reflection quality, evidence of thinking, and mindset of students’ reflections. All of this data culminates in a Reflection Quality Score. These insights surface applicable analytics for teachers to take action on.

In addition to AI-driven insights, Mirror provides teachers with AI-driven feedback. This feedback is based directly on how to improve students’ Reflection Quality Scores and gives strategies on how to do so. Teachers can elect to share this feedback with students directly when they are ready. Soon, students can login and get this feedback directly from the software and can track their own progress.

We are proud of what we’ve created with Mirror so far and believe that it will change reflective practices for students and teachers. Students can receive the tailored feedback they need to deepen and improve their reflective practices. Teachers can receive helpful insights on what steps they can take to better support their students directly.

Click here to learn more about Mirror, or to participate in a free Mirror demo.

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Explore Reflectivity’s new tools to help teachers adapt to AI https://www.swivl.com/2023/08/16/coming-soon-to-reflectivity-tools-to-help-teachers-adapt/ Wed, 16 Aug 2023 18:32:44 +0000 https://www.swivl.com/?p=77190 This week, Reflectivity introduced new features and a new experience to help teachers build skills and adapt to our rapidly changing world.  In particular, Reflectivity now helps innovative educators explore how to use AI in their instruction, and share what’s working across their organization. A new way to approach PD One major update in this […]

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This week, Reflectivity introduced new features and a new experience to help teachers build skills and adapt to our rapidly changing world. 

In particular, Reflectivity now helps innovative educators explore how to use AI in their instruction, and share what’s working across their organization.

A new way to approach PD

One major update in this release is the introduction of Skills. 

Previously, teachers used Reflectivity to explore Topics. But we’ve heard that Topics can be a limiting term. Topics are broad, and bring to mind ideas. While ideas are a valuable starting point, teachers grow through taking action. 

Skills describe the solutions teachers are working on in their classrooms. There can be many Skills under one Topic. For example, the Topic Classroom Management includes Skills like Giving Instructions and Setting Expectations.

Teachers view Topics and Skills on the Inspiration board (previously the Popular board).

Discover new solutions

The Inspiration board is where teachers go to discover Skills to address their needs. By sharing and considering many solutions at once, teachers learn and adapt faster. This approach departs from the typical top-down approach to professional learning.

By filtering the Inspiration board, teachers can view Skills categorized by Topic. Right now, AI is a Topic that calls for teachers to adapt like never before. With this in mind, teachers will see 20-30 AI Skills on their Inspiration board when they first login.

Beyond AI, teachers can view or add Skills for Literacy, Classroom Management, and more. 

Find motivation and connect

Once teachers get inspired to explore new skills, they can head to the Activity board. This is where they find motivation to make progress and connect with colleagues.

The Activity board shows updates about their colleagues’ work along with their own, which serves two purposes. 

Seeing colleagues take action can motivate teachers to do their own work. Additionally, these updates can spark connections between teachers with shared interests. 

As teachers try new methods and share what works, solutions spread across the organization.

Adapt to any change

Reflectivity’s latest updates help teachers find motivation, connect with colleagues and build skills. It’s all aimed at growing and adapting to changes like the impact of AI.

For leaders, Reflectivity helps staff pursue many solutions to new challenges that often emerge and shift rapidly. When leaders provide a place to try new ideas, move fast, and learn together, teachers can adapt to any change. 

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Reflectivity’s latest update helps teachers build skills together https://www.swivl.com/2023/08/09/reflectivitys-latest-update-helps-teachers-build-skills-together/ Wed, 09 Aug 2023 07:00:00 +0000 https://www.swivl.com/?p=77027 Today, we’ve released our latest update to Reflectivity. This release includes features to help you connect, learn and grow with colleagues.  After working with PD and coaching programs for over a decade, we’ve seen the power of collaboration. Whether it’s a PLC or conversation during prep, there’s magic in exploring ideas together. But collaboration is […]

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Today, we’ve released our latest update to Reflectivity. This release includes features to help you connect, learn and grow with colleagues. 

After working with PD and coaching programs for over a decade, we’ve seen the power of collaboration. Whether it’s a PLC or conversation during prep, there’s magic in exploring ideas together.

But collaboration is often limited by location and schedule. Without the time and place, educators miss opportunities to learn from each other.

Today’s release addresses this challenge. We’re giving teachers a look into each other’s work, making it easier to connect around shared topics. 

Build skills and boost motivation – together

Each topic in Reflectivity is now a community. In topic communities, you can see updates about the work your colleagues are doing.

See updates from colleagues and reminders about your work in each topic’s community.

Topic communities are where educators can connect with colleagues down the hall or on the other side of town. They’re where educators gather to explore new solutions to shared challenges. 

By seeing others’ progress, you’ll feel more inspired to take your own next steps.

A familiar interface with new possibilities

You can stay connected with your topic communities in two familiar ways. 

Filter the Community board to encourage colleagues working on topics you care about.
  1. Filter the Community board (previously the Advancing board) by topics you’ve joined. 

This gives you a quick way to see progress your colleagues have made on the topics you care about. You can then encourage those colleagues with a boost.

  1. You can view detailed activity about any topic. 

Sometimes you want a more granular look at the work your colleagues are doing. For example, you may want to read all reflections written by colleagues about a topic.

Making space for radical collaboration

In an age of change powered by AI, top-down PD no longer works. 

As Swivl CEO Brian Lamb recently wrote,“professional development needs to look less like traditional training and a heck of a lot more like creative design projects.“

Reflectivity aims to inspire the radical collaboration that makes the design process effective. Through this approach, educators can build connections, learn skills, and adapt to any challenge.


If you are an existing Reflectivity user, explore these new features on web and mobile. You can also read more about Reflectivity here.

If you don’t have access to Reflectivity, say hello to Reflectivity Kits! Reflectivity Kits are a fun, social way to reflect together and build upon each other’s energy during an event.

Educators around the country use Reflectivity Kits to capture learnings during PD Days, new teacher trainings, Ed Camps, summer sessions, cross-curricular PLCs, district wide conferences, and to help set professional learning goals.

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Reflectivity’s new updates boost connection and collaboration in your organization https://www.swivl.com/2023/04/26/reflectivitys-new-updates-boost-connection-and-collaboration-in-your-organization/ Wed, 26 Apr 2023 18:36:22 +0000 https://www.swivl.com/?p=75313 This week we released our most recent update to Reflectivity for web and mobile.   Our previous releases have introduced features that help educators gain more energy for their work, and have a better reflection experience, both on their own and with colleagues. As we listen to feedback, a few ideas come up over and over. […]

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This week we released our most recent update to Reflectivity for web and mobile.  

Our previous releases have introduced features that help educators gain more energy for their work, and have a better reflection experience, both on their own and with colleagues.

As we listen to feedback, a few ideas come up over and over. Two of the words we hear most often are connection and collaboration. So we’re improving how users connect using Reflectivity.

Today’s update includes three new features: the advancing board, boosts, and notifications. These features help users connect with others in their organization, leading to deeper, more frequent collaboration and a stronger sense of community.

Get inspired by progress in your community

Visit the advancing board to see the latest progress made by your colleagues on topics that matter to them.

In many schools, it is not easy for teachers to see how colleagues are making gains in their practice. To solve this, we’ve built the advancing Board to let users see updates from others when they make progress on the topics that matter to them.

We’ve designed the advancing board to be inspiring and serendipitous. A quick look can give teachers an idea for a topic to work on, or a colleague to strike up a conversation with.

When users see colleagues they want to support, they can give them a boost.

Connect with colleagues by giving them a boost

Encourage colleagues by boosting their work. Click any tile on the advancing board to boost another user.

Encouragement from others goes a long way towards motivating teachers and helping them feel connected to their colleagues. This is why we’ve added boosts to Reflectivity.

Boosts are small encouragements that you give to other users when they make progress on their work. You can boost other users from the advancing board, which displays recent activity by colleagues who need a boost. You can see updates your colleagues have made, and you can click boost to give them encouragement. Your colleagues will see when you’ve boosted them in their notifications. 

Boosts gives colleagues a fun and easy way to reward each other for making progress on their path to growth.

See the latest updates on your work with others

Notifications help you track interactions with colleagues, including boosts (mobile + web), reflections (web only) and discussions (web only).

To help users stay up to date on how they are connecting and collaborating with colleagues, Reflectivity now includes notifications.

  • Users will see notifications when a colleague:
  • Boosts their work from the advancing board (mobile + web)
  • Shares reflections or video with them (web only)
  • Adds a comment to a discussion you’re a part of (web only)

Notifications encourage collaboration by making it easy to see when colleagues have shared their work or interacted with your work. It also energizes users by letting them know when you’ve received a boost. 

Grade level teams, PLCs, new teacher cohorts and other teacher groups can keep up with each other’s progress, encourage each other, and reflect together when all of their updates are collected in one place.

We believe that these new features will help users feel more engaged and connected with their colleagues. By using boosts, the advancing board, and notifications, teachers can energize each other, collaborate on their goals, and build a sense of community around their practice.

Interested in bringing Reflectivity to your organization?

 Contact us at success@swivl.com ↗ 

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Reflect with Purpose with the 4Fs https://www.swivl.com/2023/04/20/reflect-with-purpose-with-the-4fs/ Thu, 20 Apr 2023 11:44:51 +0000 https://www.swivl.com/?p=75215 Ask teachers if they reflect, and nearly 100% will say yes. For many, this reflection happens through an informal web of internal dialogue, sticky notes, and casual conversations. But when professional learning initiatives ask (or require) teachers to reflect, the external pressure can make the task feel daunting. The stress of how to reflect can […]

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Ask teachers if they reflect, and nearly 100% will say yes.

For many, this reflection happens through an informal web of internal dialogue, sticky notes, and casual conversations.

But when professional learning initiatives ask (or require) teachers to reflect, the external pressure can make the task feel daunting.

  • Where should I start? 
  • What should I reflect on?
  • Should I discuss my strengths? Weaknesses? Both? 
  • How in depth should I go?

The stress of how to reflect can outweigh the benefits of the act and reduce its value.

Fortunately, Swivl has built Reflectivity to offer teachers a flexible answer to the questions above.

Reflectivity (formerly Swivl Teams) makes reflection a simple yet engaging way to share ideas and get feedback. The reflection experience in Reflectivity is inspired by the 4Fs Framework, developed by Dr. Roger Greenaway.

Because Reflectivity’s reflection experience includes both flexibility and structure, teachers gain the autonomy and support needed for a successful reflection routine.

Fact:

What happened?

Findings:

What did you realize?

Feelings:

How did it make you feel?

Future:

What are next steps?

The 4Fs are built in to Reflectivity to help you reflect with purpose

Each step of the 4Fs is integrated into the design of Reflectivity’s reflection experience. First, teachers can identify their feelings by selecting a word that best matches their current state. Then, they can then dig deeper into the facts of their recent experiences, and their findings about those events. Lastly, teachers can make a plan for the next step in the future of their reflection process.

Fact:

What Happened?

What exactly happened? What were all the steps you saw or remember happening, in order. Do not think about the emotions or the behaviors.

Findings:

What Did You Realize?

Are you able to make any conclusions from the event that you reflected on? What were the cause and effect moments?

Feelings:

How Did You Feel?

Now is the time to think about your emotions. Did your emotions play any role, positive or negative, into the event? Did your emotions indicate to you that something you planned should have changed?

Future:

What are your plans for next steps?

Based on what you learned from noticing what happened, some conclusions you made, and how you felt throughout the whole process, how can you either recreate or improve what was done and reflected on?

Learn more about how to develop more meaningful, purposeful reflection with Reflectivity

Contact us at success@swivl.com

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Come for the Energy, Stay for the Growth: Teams Is Now Reflectivity https://www.swivl.com/2023/03/06/teams-is-becoming-reflectivity/ Mon, 06 Mar 2023 19:02:01 +0000 https://www.swivl.com/?p=73829 Over a decade, we’ve supported thousands of school initiatives, impacting 100,000+ teachers.  Through it all, we’ve seen two challenges deter individual and organizational growth.  First, educators are often asked to absorb too many ideas from top-down initiatives. In response, they deflect these new ideas, i.e. block them out. It’s a rational decision to conserve energy […]

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Over a decade, we’ve supported thousands of school initiatives, impacting 100,000+ teachers. 

Through it all, we’ve seen two challenges deter individual and organizational growth. 

First, educators are often asked to absorb too many ideas from top-down initiatives. In response, they deflect these new ideas, i.e. block them out. It’s a rational decision to conserve energy for their daily work. 

Second, bold exploration of new ideas often remains siloed, not shared across organizations.

On the other hand, magic happens when educators can identify and work on topics they care about. Focus and ownership energize teachers to face hard problems. When schools help colleagues learn from each others’ work, the effect is even greater. 

But teachers, coaches, and administrators know that this is a resource-intensive logistical nightmare. Until now.

Today we’re announcing the renaming of our software to Reflectivity: where educators gain the energy needed to reflect and grow.

Along with a new name, Reflectivity brings an exciting expansion to what we’ve already built with our hardware and software, but addresses the new problems we see educators face.

Reflectivity brings focus and clarity to educators’ work

Reflectivity includes all of our existing software’s features for deep written and video-based reflection. However, we’ve added a simple, energizing new way for educators to bring meta-cognition to their work. This process starts with educators identifying the Topic they’re working on, and describing their State. 

Reflectivity helps educators bring brief yet powerful moments of awareness to their work.

Why Topic and State? Reflection is powerful and necessary for professional growth. Video reflection, especially paired with coaching, may be its most effective form. But this deeper form of reflection is too rare to lead to improvement. 

Starting with reflection in its simplest form addresses this problem. 

With a few clicks, teachers gain clarity by identifying where they want to put their energy. When priorities or feelings change, updating Topics and States takes a minute or less. With more awareness brought to the daily work, reflecting more deeply becomes less daunting.

Educators share their topics with their organization, creating the energizing effect of Reflectivity Boards. This is the biggest and most impactful experience we are introducing.

Reflectivity Boards energize and inspire your organization

Reflectivity Boards give educators energy through a real-time, dynamic display of what your colleagues are working on. 

There are two Reflectivity Boards, each with its own purpose:

  • New: Topics colleagues have recently added, i.e. started working on
  • Popular: Topics that – you guessed it – are worked on by the most people in the organization
The Reflectivity Boards feature New, Advancing and Popular Topics in a user’s organization.

Reflectivity Boards give educators a view into how topics are developing in their organization. It is a visual rendering of where colleagues are putting their energy and improving their practice. 

By viewing the Boards frequently, educators can build excitement about the topics they may want to work on, and can discover new topics to explore on their own or with colleagues. Soon, the Reflectivity Boards will help educators connect with like-minded colleagues to collaborate and explore deeper thinking on a topic. 

Tools for deeper, more purposeful reflection

After educators have added topics and begun working on them, they can continue to reflect in ways that grow deeper over time.

  • Refining Topics: Maybe it’s time to leave a topic behind in place of a new one that is more relevant to an educator’s circumstances. A topic can quickly be moved to the Backlog, where it is saved and can be reactivated later with just a click. 
  • Written Reflection: After a lesson, conversation, or other learning experience, educators can reflect in writing to capture their thinking about a topic.
  • Video Evidence: As part of a coaching program or to deepen one’s own reflections, educators can record or upload video evidence using our existing hardware and software tools.

We see many possibilities for expanding how educators and administrators interact with these reflections. Imagine giving educators a view into the deeper work happening on a given topic across their organization? What if administrators and coaches could have a real-time understanding of the topics their teachers needed the most support on, or were most excited to work on? This, and more, is what we’re excited to explore.

Experience Reflectivity in your organization

Adopting the name Reflectivity signals a renewed commitment to our identity as a reflective tools company focused on solving education’s most pressing problems. 

We’re excited to see how educators use Reflectivity to gain increased focus, motivation, and collaboration in their work by exchanging ideas and sharing their energy. And they can do it all while continuing to engage in deep video and written reflection when the time is right.

Interested in bringing Reflectivity to your organization?

 Contact us at success@swivl.com ↗ 

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