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	<title>Swivl</title>
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		<title>From grant to growth: How Hawkins County brought AI innovation to every middle school classroom</title>
		<link>https://www.swivl.com/2026/04/17/hawkins-county-ai-grant-middle-school-growth/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rachel Ashworth]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:46:24 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Classroom Inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[M2]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Middle School]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Teacher Support]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[User Stories]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.swivl.com/?p=107841</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>I gave it a chance and I immediately found value in its feedback and instructional ideas. In fact, I look forward to bringing it to my class because I know [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/04/17/hawkins-county-ai-grant-middle-school-growth/">From grant to growth: How Hawkins County brought AI innovation to every middle school classroom</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></description>
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<p class="has-text-color has-link-color has-larger-font-size wp-elements-477b25e257d6199030bd654de37a0bb5" style="color:#000000">I gave it a chance and I immediately found value in its feedback and instructional ideas. In fact, I look <em>forward</em> to bringing it to my class because I know it will give me inspiration that is actually relevant and helpful for what I am teaching that day.</p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-d9cdd7d6e298dcd1f75f7a13b5a139ae" style="color:#2c5c59">Heidi Hesoun | Teacher | Hawkins County School District, TN</p>
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<p class="has-text-color has-link-color has-small-font-size wp-elements-ffb640960e17f1b074419783452abacf" style="color:#b7b7b7">USE CASE</p>



<p class="shift-in-reflection-post__table-black-text shift-in-reflection-post__table-black-text--big has-large-font-size"><br><br><strong>Supporting new teachers, leveraging AI for real-time feedback</strong><br></p>
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<p class="shift-in-reflection-post__table-black-text has-small-font-size">Organization</p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color has-small-font-size wp-elements-117504d50c798ae873981e753f26f6ae" style="color:#7a7a7a">Hawkins County School District, TN</p>



<p class="shift-in-reflection-post__table-black-text has-small-font-size">Grade Level</p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color has-small-font-size wp-elements-a449da3c0ebd61eab34b1c37fdaf4ff3" style="color:#7a7a7a">Middle School</p>
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<p>What does a coaching model look like when you have five middle schools, a limited budget, high teacher turnover, and academic coaches and school administrators who can’t be everywhere at once?&nbsp;</p>



<p>For Dr. Loralee Price, Instructional Technology and Data Integration Supervisor for Hawkins County School District in rural East Tennessee, finding the answer to this question was the district’s daily struggle.</p>



<p>Like many districts, Hawkins County has dedicated academic coaches and administrators who care deeply about teacher growth. But care and capacity are two concepts that sometimes fail to become compatible. Coaches split across schools could observe a teacher once or twice a month. Administrators walk through classrooms weekly. But by the time a meaningful debrief occurs, that lesson might be a distant memory.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The district needed something that could close that gap: feedback that was immediate, specific, and available in every classroom, not just those a coach or administrator was able to visit.</p>



<p>The other challenge is one that many districts in the region are experiencing: constant turnover. A wave of newer educators has flocked to Hawkins County’s middle schools in recent years, many with limited classroom experience. For those teachers, the traditional model of professional development: periodic observations, scheduled debriefs, formal evaluations, rinse/repeat, can feel like too little, arriving too late.</p>



<p>Budget constraints compounded the issue. Hawkins County is a small, rural district where, as Dr. Price puts it, “funding is scarce.” Expanding professional development in any meaningful way meant finding a solution that could scale across five schools without requiring a proportional increase in cost or staffing.</p>



<p>When the district learned about M2, they scraped together what limited budget they could to invest in hardware. And upon learning about Swivl’s AI Innovation Grant in 2025, they applied for and won the remainder that they needed to realize their first full pilot year. With the assistance of grant funds, they were able to ensure that every middle school, every core and special education teacher, every coach and administrator, in the program from day one could be supported by M2. Here’s what they accomplished in that first year.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Noticing the unnoticed</h4>



<p>The first thing teachers noticed was that M2 was paying attention to things that no one else was able to spend enough time to notice themselves.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Sydney Allen, from Church Hill Middle School, moved to the far side of her classroom mid-lesson to check in quietly with a student who was struggling with material. It was the kind of moment that is often missed: too small for a formal observation, too easy to forget by the time a coach arrives. M2 picked up the conversation, provided some concrete next steps for the teacher in her post-session feedback, and bam! A situation that could have led to a student falling through the cracks was rescued by M2’s reminder.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Wesley Thomas, of Rogersville Middle School, discovered something he hadn’t known about himself. “After reflecting on a lesson with M2 advised I use a timer for certain portions of class. I don’t think I would have realized this on my own.” A pacing problem, invisible to him, made visible by a single reflection with M2.</p>



<p>Shawn Swickheimer, in his second year at Church Hill Middle, found a different kind of value. By comparing lesson summaries and takeaways across class periods, he could see which class hadn’t fully grasped the material and adjust before teaching it again the next day.</p>



<p>Elizabeth Saxena at Church Hill Middle used M2 during a formal evaluation. M2’s scoring aligned closely with the formal evaluator’s score. For teachers like her who can feel anxious about formal observations, that reassurance can make all the difference to preparing for the real thing.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">M2 in the classroom: Real examples</h4>



<p>The impact wasn’t limited to teacher growth. In Jeffrey Klepper’s ELA classroom at Surgoinsville Middle School, students used Ask M2 to strengthen how they cited evidence from texts — a literacy skill that Klepper was actively building, with M2 reinforcing it in the moment students needed it.&nbsp;</p>



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<iframe title="M2 in Action: Develop mastery in writing" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1181935788?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>
</div></figure>



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<p>In Hannah Price’s science class at Church Hill Middle, students weren’t waiting to be called on. They were asking M2 questions on their own, driven by curiosity that the lesson had sparked.&nbsp;</p>



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<iframe title="M2 in Action: Improving Participation and Engagement for All Learners" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1185183096?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>
</div></figure>



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<p>At Clinch School, Jessica Drinnon’s ELA students worked through small group discussions with M2 providing support alongside them.</p>



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<iframe title="M2 in Action: Small Group Rotation Support" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1179248085?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>
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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Skepticism turned into a superpower</h4>



<p>Before any of these gains could be realized, teachers had to trust the tool. That’s rarely a given, especially with technology that assesses instruction.</p>



<p>Heidi Hesoun at Surgoinsville Middle School was one such teacher whose trust M2 needed to earn. “When our district team introduced M2, I initially had a lot of reservations, but I gave it a chance, and I immediately found value in its feedback and instructional ideas. In fact, I look <em>forward</em> to bringing it to my class because I know it will give me inspiration that is actually relevant and helpful for what I am teaching that day. The best part is the instant feedback I can get after every lesson. I don&#8217;t have to wait to schedule a meeting for someone to observe me, it’s my own little ‘coach.’”</p>



<p>Heidi’s principal, Karen Bear, also noted the initial hesitation around the school. &#8220;Teachers in my building were initially skeptical due to various concerns about who might see the lesson; however, through consistent use and an understanding that all of their lesson data would remain private, they have come to embrace it as an everyday tool that enhances their instructional practice.&#8221;</p>



<p>Many teachers felt like Heidi at first, so during one of the district’s onsite trainings, Swivl’s professional development team ran an exercise called “What M2 is NOT Saying.” The goal: help teachers understand how to read M2’s feedback without getting stuck on the details and inevitably spiraling. For example, feedback from M2 that surfaces a pattern in someone’s pacing or questioning isn’t a verdict. It’s simply a data point to grow from. And the point was driven home: your lesson &#8211; your data &#8211; your privacy. You choose what and when to share. The exercise reframed what M2 observed from something evaluative into something useful.By the end of this crucial session, every teacher had created a personal goal tied to their own data and a concrete coaching plan for acting on it. The room that had walked in with questions walked out with <strong>direction</strong>.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What’s next for Hawkins</h4>



<p>Dr. Price can attest that “by piloting this technology in our middle schools, we’ve moved from a model of occasional observations to a culture of continuous reflection and improvement.” Her vision for M2 extends beyond just a middle school pilot.&nbsp;</p>



<p>What she has found most encouraging is how the &#8216;privacy-first&#8217; design of M2 shifted teacher mindset from evaluation to empowerment. Dr. Price notes “our novice teachers, in particular, are using this non-biased feedback to master instructional skills in a low-stakes environment. As we look toward scaling—even amidst budget constraints—we are prioritizing our early-career educators. We aren&#8217;t just giving them a tool; we are giving them the autonomy to own their professional growth.”</p>



<p>For any district, rural or otherwise, where budget constraints are constant and capacity is finite, the value of a tool that’s present in every classroom cannot be understated. Catching the quiet conversation in the corner, surfacing a pacing problem the teacher didn’t know they had, helping someone see what’s working and what isn’t before <em>another</em> week passes. Without a constant companion to help teachers grow, these issues pile up, feedback falls through the cracks, and students ultimately suffer.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Teachers can’t see everything happening in their classrooms. Coaches can’t be everywhere all the time. Admins can’t be clairvoyant every day.&nbsp;</strong>But M2 can.</h4>



<p></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/04/17/hawkins-county-ai-grant-middle-school-growth/">From grant to growth: How Hawkins County brought AI innovation to every middle school classroom</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">107841</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why 1-2 observations aren&#8217;t enough: The case for continuous feedback in pre-service teacher training</title>
		<link>https://www.swivl.com/2026/03/19/continuous-feedback-pre-service-teacher-training/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gerard Dawson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 21:35:05 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Higher Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[classroom observations]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.swivl.com/?p=107449</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Picture a student teacher the morning of their first formal observation. They&#8217;ve prepared for days. The formal observations feels high stakes because in a sense it is: observations are rare. [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/03/19/continuous-feedback-pre-service-teacher-training/">Why 1-2 observations aren&#8217;t enough: The case for continuous feedback in pre-service teacher training</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></description>
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<p>Picture a student teacher the morning of their first formal observation. They&#8217;ve prepared for days. The formal observations feels high stakes because in a sense it is: observations are rare. Not because anyone has failed them, but because the math of field placement supervision makes frequent feedback hard to deliver.</p>



<p>A university supervisor managing a full roster of student teachers across a dozen school sites, balancing their own teaching load, can often realistically visit each candidate two to three times a semester.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Between those visits, student teachers do get support, but it comes with real limits:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Mentor teachers</strong> are present and often helpful, but their feedback reflects a teacher working within one building’s context, not necessarily the frameworks a preparation program is building toward</li>



<li><strong>Cohort meetings and seminar discussions</strong> give candidates space to process, but the feedback is secondhand. No one else was in the room.</li>
</ul>



<p>What if that gap didn&#8217;t have to define the experience? How could student teachers receive specific, framework-aligned feedback after every session? Could supervisors arrive at observations with a semester&#8217;s worth of data, rather than reconstructing a narrative from two visits?</p>



<p>Fortunately, there’s a way to augment the traditional model to make this all possible.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">The problem with episodic observation</h4>



<p>When a student teacher knows they&#8217;ll be formally observed once or twice this semester, that session carries weight. They prepare differently, perform. receive feedback that reflects a curated version of their practice, not necessarily the daily reality of their work.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="555" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/image-1024x555.png" alt="" class="wp-image-107451" style="aspect-ratio:1.845108802969867;width:844px;height:auto" title="System Prompt Basic.png" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/image-1024x555.png 1024w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/image-800x433.png 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/image-768x416.png 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/image.png 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Through the System Prompt, leaders can align M2&#8217;s feedback with the institution&#8217;s preferred frameworks, methods, and teaching philosophies.</figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>Practically speaking, issues that surface in week three of a placement may not get identified until a supervisor visits weeks later. By then, the teacher candidate may calcify certain patterns that are causing persistent issues in classroom management, instructional planning, or elsewhere. All the while, a small course correction could have prevented the larger issue from emerging. The model also asks supervisors to draw broad conclusions from a narrow slice of evidence: two observations, however carefully conducted, are snapshots, not a portrait.</p>



<p>While issues with infrequent feedback are logically clear, the benefits of frequent feedback are research-backed.</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>John Hattie&#8217;s <em>Visible Learning</em> synthesis <a href="https://www.visiblelearningmetax.com/research_methodology">puts feedback</a> at an effect size of 0.70, among the highest-impact interventions identified across decades of educational research.&nbsp;</li>



<li>Wilcoxen and Lemke <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1340492.pdf">reached a similar </a>finding: ongoing, process-focused feedback raises performance in ways that summative evaluation simply cannot.</li>



<li>Schaefer and Clandinin <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279593858_Questioning_the_research_on_early_career_teacher_attrition_and_retention">found that</a> regular observations with constructive feedback were highly valued by beginning teachers</li>



<li>Garcia and Weiss <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/teacher-shortage-professional-development-and-learning-communities/">reported that</a> the highest-performing education systems in the world provide feedback as part of the regular experience of teaching.</li>
</ul>



<p>A key theme in this body of research is <em>regular and ongoing</em>. Feedback works when it&#8217;s frequent, specific, and connected to real practice.</p>



<p>For student teachers, the implication is direct: a placement evaluated through two observations is, by design, a low-feedback environment, which is less conducive to growth.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What three to four months of M2 looks like instead</h4>



<p>M2 gives student teachers something the traditional model doesn&#8217;t: a feedback loop that runs alongside their practice rather than interrupting it once or twice a semester.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="764" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-19-at-5.25.37-PM-1024x764.png" alt="" class="wp-image-107457" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-19-at-5.25.37-PM-1024x764.png 1024w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-19-at-5.25.37-PM-800x597.png 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-19-at-5.25.37-PM-768x573.png 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-19-at-5.25.37-PM.png 1474w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">M2 provides pre-service teachers with detailed feedback, a full transcript, and Takeaways to support planning tomorrow&#8217;s lesson. </figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>When student teachers use M2 weekly, they receive AI-powered feedback after every session on:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Questioning techniques</li>



<li>Participation patterns</li>



<li>Instructional pacing</li>



<li>Classroom dynamics</li>
</ul>



<p>They start identifying their own tendencies before a supervisor ever needs to name them. Early in a placement, when there&#8217;s the most room for improvement, that kind of immediate, low-stakes reflection has an outsized impact.</p>



<p>A typical M2 feedback session might surface something like:</p>



<p>*&#8221;Students responded well to your opening question, but whole-class participation dropped during the independent work phase. Consider building in a structured think-pair-share before returning to whole-group discussion.&#8221;**</p>



<p>That&#8217;s the kind of specific, actionable language student teachers can act on immediately. It also maps directly onto the competencies supervisors are already evaluating. M2 feedback aligns to standard teacher preparation frameworks like Danielson and Marzano, connecting AI insights to the rubrics programs are already using.</p>



<p>M2 doesn&#8217;t replace formal observations or human judgment. What it gives supervisors is a richer evidence base: a complete arc of real sessions, real classrooms, real decisions, not two curated clips. When coaching conversations are grounded in session-by-session data rather than one visit from three weeks ago, they become more specific, more productive, and more useful to the student teacher sitting across the table. <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2025/02/06/higher-education-teacher-prep/">Dr. Natalie Bolton&#8217;s experience</a> shows what this looks like in practice.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">The habit that carries forward</h4>



<p>The question a pre-service program has to answer is clear: do our teachers leave with the skills needed to teach today, <em>and</em> the mindset to get better tomorrow?</p>



<p>Teaching rewards people who treat their practice as something worth examining. The teachers who grow most consistently over a career are those who stayed genuinely curious about their own work. That disposition is easiest to form at the very beginning, before other habits are established.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The structure of a field placement helps to shape it. When student teachers receive feedback weekly, they internalize a simple but durable lesson: looking closely at their practice is a normal part of the job. When formal observations are the only occasion for feedback, they internalize that evaluation is rare, high-stakes, and something to prepare for rather than learn from. Whichever lesson they carry out of a placement, they&#8217;re more likely to carry forward.</p>



<p>A semester of weekly M2 sessions is a semester spent building that habit. The argument for continuous feedback goes beyond this semester. It&#8217;s a foundation for everything that comes after.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/03/19/continuous-feedback-pre-service-teacher-training/">Why 1-2 observations aren&#8217;t enough: The case for continuous feedback in pre-service teacher training</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">107449</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>How M2&#8217;s AI rubric scoring aligns with expert human evaluators</title>
		<link>https://www.swivl.com/2026/02/20/ai-rubric-scoring-swivl-m2/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gerard Dawson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Feb 2026 18:28:50 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[M2]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[M2 & MIRRORTALK]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[classroom observations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[feedback]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.swivl.com/?p=107126</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>For AI rubric scoring to be useful in a school or district, it has to be trustworthy. That means it needs to score the way a trained evaluator would score: [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/02/20/ai-rubric-scoring-swivl-m2/">How M2&#8217;s AI rubric scoring aligns with expert human evaluators</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></description>
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<p>For AI rubric scoring to be useful in a school or district, it has to be trustworthy. That means it needs to score the way a trained evaluator would score: consistently, accurately, and in a way that reflects what your organization actually values. Without that trust, the data becomes noise and the feedback loses its credibility. This means AI&#8217;s potential to drive meaningful improvement goes unrealized.</p>



<p>At Swivl, we take this seriously. This post explains what we&#8217;ve done to ensure M2 scores like a trained human evaluator, and how we continue to monitor and refine that accuracy over time.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">M2&#8217;s Custom Rubrics</h4>



<p>M2 provides organizations a way to define the instructional criteria that matter most to their team. Through <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/23/m2-rubric-builder/">M2&#8217;s custom rubrics feature</a>, organizational leaders can specify performance indicators and scoring criteria that reflect their values and expectations.&nbsp;</p>



<p>After each lesson, M2 evaluates the teaching activity against those rubrics and returns a score on a 1–4 scale, along with feedback explaining the score, highlighting strengths, and identifying areas for growth.</p>



<p>The promise of this feature is powerful: frequent, consistent, criteria-aligned feedback at scale, without walk-throughs or high-pressure observations. But that promise only holds if the scores are accurate.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">The problem we set out to solve</h4>



<p>Early in M2&#8217;s development, we identified a scoring distribution challenge: the system was returning scores that clustered in the middle of the scale, producing mostly 2s and 3s regardless of actual instructional quality. This is a common challenge when building AI scoring systems. The model hedges rather than discriminates, and the result is feedback that feels generic and uninformative.</p>



<p>We needed M2 to produce a score distribution that looked like what trained evaluators produce, which is an appropriate 1–4 spread that reflects genuine differences in instructional performance.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How we calibrated M2 against expert evaluators</h4>



<p>To address this, we built an evaluation dataset using classroom observation videos that had already been scored by highly trained human evaluators. These were not casual reviewers, but evaluators with deep familiarity with professional teaching rubrics and established inter-rater reliability.</p>



<p>We then ran M2 against those same videos and compared the output.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="461" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/before-1024x461.png" alt="" class="wp-image-107137" style="width:920px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/before-1024x461.png 1024w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/before-800x360.png 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/before-768x346.png 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/before-1536x691.png 1536w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/before-2048x922.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Early M2 rubric scoring revealed a common challenge in AI systems: a distribution that doesn’t match that of an expert human evaluator.</em></figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>The gap between the two distributions was clear. Our human evaluators produced the kind of spread you&#8217;d expect from a well-calibrated rubric: a meaningful range of 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s. M2&#8217;s initial output clustered near the middle.</p>



<p>From there, we went through an iterative calibration process: adjusting how M2 analyzes transcripts, restructuring the way rubric criteria are applied, and refining the scoring methodology at each step. Each iteration was tested against the same evaluation dataset and compared to the human baseline.</p>



<p>One key improvement came from how we structured M2&#8217;s rubric evaluation process. Rather than evaluating a lesson holistically, we introduced a more structured, criterion-by-criterion approach. Essentially, we gave M2 a more disciplined framework for applying each rubric dimension, similar to how a trained observer would work through an evaluation instrument item by item.</p>



<p>We also differentiated M2&#8217;s feedback language by score level. A score of 1 now more clearly focuses on what was missing and what the teacher can do differently. A score of 4 now emphasizes what went well and why it was effective. This mirrors how skilled coaches communicate; the message you deliver to a struggling teacher is structurally different from the message you deliver to a strong one.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="461" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/after-1024x461.png" alt="" class="wp-image-107138" style="width:996px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/after-1024x461.png 1024w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/after-800x360.png 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/after-768x346.png 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/after-1536x691.png 1536w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/after-2048x922.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Through ongoing, extensive efforts to calibrate M2’s AI rubric scoring, the distribution now comes remarkably close to that of an expert human evaluator.</em></figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>After calibration, M2&#8217;s score distributions align closely with those of our human evaluators. The gap narrowed substantially, and M2 now produces the range and differentiation that makes feedback actionable.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What the remaining differences tell us</h4>



<p>The goal of this calibration was less about achieving a perfect match, and more about understanding where differences exist and why. There are cases where M2 and human evaluators diverge, and those cases are instructive.</p>



<p>Most remaining differences occur at the boundaries of rubric descriptors: situations where a teaching performance sits between a 2 and a 3, for example, and reasonable evaluators could score it either way. This is not a failure of the AI. Instead, it reflects the same ambiguity that human evaluators navigate.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In fact, inter-rater reliability among trained human evaluators on rubric items like these is rarely 100%, and M2&#8217;s agreement rate with our evaluators compares favorably to the agreement rate between two independent human scorers on the same material.&nbsp;</p>



<p>For now, one unique capability of human evaluators is eyesight. M2 currently relies on class transcripts for the analysis that leads to scores and feedback. However, we are investigating the safe, privacy-centric approach to bringing visual evaluation capabilities to M2 in upcoming releases.</p>



<p>Understanding boundary cases and the work process of AI vs. humans helps us continue to define clear paths for improvement.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Ongoing monitoring and refinement</h4>



<p>Calibration is not a one-time event. As M2 is deployed across diverse classrooms, grade levels, and instructional contexts, we continue to monitor scoring accuracy and precision.</p>



<p>We define accuracy as how closely M2&#8217;s scores align with a trained human evaluator. We define precision as how consistent M2&#8217;s scoring is across similar lessons. In other words, whether it gives comparable scores when evaluating comparable teaching. Both accuracy and precision matter.</p>



<p>Our team runs ongoing comparisons between M2 output and human-evaluated samples, identifying drift and opportunities to improve. When we find systematic gaps, we refine our approach and re-validate. This continuous loop is what allows M2&#8217;s scoring to remain trustworthy over time, not just at the point of initial release.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">The result: consistent, trustworthy feedback</h4>



<p>When an organization deploys M2 with custom rubrics, they are not getting a black-box AI generating arbitrary scores. They are getting a scoring system that has been explicitly calibrated to match how trained evaluators apply rubric criteria — and that is continuously monitored to stay that way.</p>



<p>This is what makes M2&#8217;s frequent feedback valuable. Not just that teachers receive more of it, but that the feedback they receive is grounded in the same framework a skilled evaluator would apply. The score of 3 a teacher receives on Monday should mean the same thing as the score of 3 they receive two weeks later, because M2 applies its criteria consistently.</p>



<p>When teachers and leaders can trust the scores, they can use them. Coaching conversations become more specific. Professional development becomes more targeted. And leaders gain a reliable, ongoing view of where their organization is performing and where it needs to grow — without the cost and inconsistency of traditional evaluation systems.</p>



<p>M2&#8217;s AI rubric scoring is built to earn that trust. And we&#8217;ve done the work to prove it.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/02/20/ai-rubric-scoring-swivl-m2/">How M2&#8217;s AI rubric scoring aligns with expert human evaluators</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">107126</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Supporting multilingual learners beyond language: How M2 connects English development and academic learning</title>
		<link>https://www.swivl.com/2026/02/06/ell-mtss-support-m2/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gerard Dawson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Feb 2026 19:49:07 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[M2]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MTSS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[students]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.swivl.com/?p=106766</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>There are over 5 million English Language Learners (ELL) in U.S. public schools, and they face a challenge most of their peers don&#8217;t: learning English and academic content at the [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/02/06/ell-mtss-support-m2/">Supporting multilingual learners beyond language: How M2 connects English development and academic learning</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>There are over 5 million English Language Learners (ELL) in U.S. public schools, and they face a challenge most of their peers don&#8217;t: learning English <em>and</em> academic content at the same time.</p>



<p>This creates a serious assessment problem. When an ELL student struggles in math, is it a math problem or a language problem? If a student stops participating, are they disengaged or simply unable to follow along? Without the right tools, it&#8217;s nearly impossible to tell.</p>



<p>The result: many ELL students end up in Tier 2 and Tier 3 MTSS interventions when what they actually need is better language support. Schools consume intervention resources on the wrong problem while the real need is treated as secondary.</p>



<p>Considering the scale of the ELL population, the stakes to this challenge are real. Performance on language proficiency assessments like TELPAS and WIDA ACCESS influences funding, program placement, and how schools allocate resources. Schools need a way to support both language learning and academic learning at the same time without adding more to teachers&#8217; plates.</p>



<div style="height:50px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">M2 supports the whole learner, not just the language learner</h4>



<p>M2, Swivl&#8217;s AI-integrated classroom robot, listens during instruction and turns what’s happening in the classroom into meaningful support for both teachers and students.</p>



<p>Through translation, speaking practice, small group learning, and more, M2 supports ELL students across both aspects of their learning journey: English and academics.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Keep kids connected to academic content</h4>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b544c19501b7f3c49ff6a3a7758f7d5f"><strong>In-ear language support</strong></p>



<p>With M2&#8217;s in-ear audio support, ELL students receive immediate translated summaries of instruction, delivered privately through an earbud without interrupting class. Students grab their assigned M2 remote, plug in an earbud, and tap to hear a brief recap of recent instruction in their home language.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="960" height="960" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/img-_11_.webp" alt="A student sitting in a classroom wearing a wired earpiece" class="wp-image-106099" style="width:auto;height:400px" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/img-_11_.webp 960w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/img-_11_-800x800.webp 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/img-_11_-400x400.webp 400w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/img-_11_-768x768.webp 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/img-_11_-600x600.webp 600w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/img-_11_-375x375.webp 375w" sizes="(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">M2&#8217;s live, in-ear translations summarize class for English Learners, so language isn&#8217;t the barrier for academic progress.</figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>This keeps students connected to the content of their daily lessons while they continue developing proficiency in English. They can follow along, participate, and build comprehension all while their English skills grow through immersion.</p>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-1639872948b1496e32790660f12ea1f2"><strong>Out loud translations and summaries</strong></p>



<p>The Ask M2 feature allows teachers and students to request summaries or translations of class content at any moment. Then, those responses are played aloud in high-quality audio for the whole group.&nbsp;</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="563" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/m2_korean_qa-1-1024x563.jpg" alt="M2 by Swivl translates into any language and answers questions in real time." class="wp-image-96322" style="width:auto;height:400px" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/m2_korean_qa-1-1024x563.jpg 1024w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/m2_korean_qa-1-800x440.jpg 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/m2_korean_qa-1-768x422.jpg 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/m2_korean_qa-1.jpg 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">M2 can speak out loud to share class summaries, restate important questions, or explain key concepts in 50+ languages.</figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>This means students can get the clarification they need to keep following the day’s lesson, and teachers can offer immediate language support without needing to speak the student’s native language themselves.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Offer more reps to build communication skills</h4>



<p>Proficiency assessments like TELPAS are so challenging because speaking and writing are the hardest domains to develop. Students need to practice communicating, not just listening and reading. M2 creates natural opportunities for that practice.</p>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-813cdf3f7d9099fc15e0248799d5ac33"><strong>Adaptive, standards-aligned speaking activities</strong></p>



<p>Talks are M2’s adaptive, standards-aligned verbal assessments that let students process learning in their home language or practice expressing ideas in English.<br><br>Imagine having the time to assess every multilingual or Tier 2 and 3 student’s learning in a one to one conversation after any lesson. That’s what Talks can do.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="960" height="960" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/get-talking.gif" alt="Woman with laptop get talking" class="wp-image-106252" style="width:auto;height:400px"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">M2 offers adaptive, standards-based verbal assessments that ELL students can complete in English or their native language.</figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>After each Talk, the teacher gets a concise yet informative report on students’ understanding of the standards, skills, and/or content related to the assignment, helping teachers understand what students actually know, not just what they can express in English.</p>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2f343426b598af2adf1569fa511bdd58"><strong>Guided small group learning with language and content support</strong></p>



<p>Guides are small group learning activities that M2 can generate live during class or that teachers can pre-plan for the day’s lesson.<br><br>M2 speaks aloud to share each step of a Guide to students, and is available to translate or answer student questions about the content or the activity during the experience.&nbsp;</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="480" height="480" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/img-16-1.webp" alt="Three students working together to build a structure using spaghetti and marshmallows, with M2" class="wp-image-106732" style="width:auto;height:400px" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/img-16-1.webp 480w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/img-16-1-400x400.webp 400w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/img-16-1-375x375.webp 375w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">M2 can guide students through scaffolded, small group learning activities. At any point, students can ask M2 for language support or academic clarification.</figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>Unlike traditional group work that can lack structure and scaffolds, Guides ensure students progress through a learning activity at the appropriate pace and with the support they need, both for language and academics.</p>



<p>When ELL students are paired with native English speakers for a Guide, there is an additional benefit of academic conversation practice in a low-stakes setting.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Use leading indicators to provide proactive support</h4>



<p>Traditional MTSS relies on assessment data that often arrives too late. By the time test scores reveal a student is struggling, weeks or months have passed.</p>



<p>M2 changes the equation by providing leading indicators that can help educators flag potential issues before they become entrenched problems.</p>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f6e21982959dd48dee640d2922665b13"><strong>Data-driven grouping and differentiation</strong> </p>



<p>M2 enables smarter targeted support through grouping students by today&#8217;s needs rather than weeks or months-old assessment data. Teachers get a tier-based breakdown after the class completes a Talk.</p>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b36e6a63c7a96efdba27d81633b2439b"><strong>Admin dashboards for empowered decisions</strong></p>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b662e87a6f5de3a41764c0565b79a10b">M2&#8217;s admin dashboard offers leaders an organization-wide look into student learning trends and a snapshot of progress on initiatives that affect special student populations.<br><br>Importantly, the admin dashboard gives leaders insights without sharing classroom transcripts nor identifying individual students or teachers.<br><br><strong>Shape teacher feedback at the org level</strong></p>



<p>When you devote resources to ELL support and MTSS, providing ongoing feedback to support implementation is essential but time-consuming. M2 offers two powerful ways for leaders to scale the strategies and priorities that help ensure everyone in the organization is moving in the same direction.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The system prompt allows admins to provide high-level guard rails, look-fors, and directions for all teacher feedback, making each M2 a classroom champion for your organization values and goals.<br><br>Custom rubrics enable automated, low-stakes teacher feedback and scoring on how daily instruction aligns with your initiatives. Simply upload a document or add the rubric criteria that matter to you, and M2 begins providing feedback and scores focused on that area after every class session.</p>



<div style="height:50px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Real impact in real classrooms</h4>



<p>Schools using M2 are already seeing the difference in their ELL populations:</p>



<p>&#8220;Our multilingual students feel empowered when M2 responds in their native language, making them feel seen and valued.&#8221; – Erika Inka, Instructional Coach, Barrington School District 220</p>



<p>&#8220;Students see M2 as a helpful friend, especially those learning English who can now engage more easily.&#8221; – Meagan MacDonald, Instructional Coach, Barrington School District 220</p>



<p>When students feel included and supported, everything changes. Participation increases. Confidence grows. Academic performance improves. And schools see better outcomes on the assessments that matter—not through test prep, but through genuine learning.</p>



<div style="height:50px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Better outcomes and smart resource management</h4>



<p>Supporting ELL students effectively is the right thing to do and the smartest choice for leaders with a focus on resource management. With the right tools in place, schools can position themselves to:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Reduce the number of students who need intensive Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions</li>



<li>Allocate MTSS resources more strategically</li>



<li>Improve school performance ratings as student outcomes rise</li>



<li>See gains on assessments like TELPAS and WIDA ACCESS—along with the funding tied to those scores</li>
</ul>



<p>M2 gives schools a path toward proactive, integrated support that addresses the whole student, not just the language learner.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/02/06/ell-mtss-support-m2/">Supporting multilingual learners beyond language: How M2 connects English development and academic learning</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">106766</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>M2: Improving instruction at every tier</title>
		<link>https://www.swivl.com/2026/01/28/m2app-improving-instruction-at-every-tier/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ali Oakley]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Jan 2026 17:39:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[M2 & MIRRORTALK]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MIRRORTALK]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Product updates]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.swivl.com/?p=106489</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Mirrortalk 2.0 is coming March 18th, it is the next evolution of Mirrortalk and we’re calling it M2. It brings together instructional support, feedback, reflection, and boosting participation into a [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/01/28/m2app-improving-instruction-at-every-tier/">M2: Improving instruction at every tier</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<p>Mirrortalk 2.0 is coming March 18th, it is the next evolution of Mirrortalk and we’re calling it <strong>M2</strong>. It brings together instructional support, feedback, reflection, and boosting participation into a simpler, more coherent experience across web, mobile, and the M2 device.</p>



<p>This release helps teachers make every tier of instruction great and participation visible, giving stronger support in the moments that matter most, both during and after class.</p>



<p></p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Real-time support</h4>



<p>M2 will deliver immediate, actionable tips, on-demand. Throughout the class, teachers can click for immediately actionable tips based on best practices to support Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction. Based on the context of the class, M2 can generate a guided high-impact learning activity for teachers to walk students through or opt in to have M2 guide the class through an audio experience.</p>



<p>Teachers can also have input on the types of tips or interactions they need at the moment to support all student needs. Now, teachers can request a check for understanding, a discussion question, or classroom management suggestion as tips with the tap of a button.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">A dashboard that turns class into next steps</h4>



<p>After every class, teachers need clarity–not just more data.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The new M2 dashboard is organized around <strong>My Takeaways</strong>: a concise summary of what went well and what to improve next time. <strong>Feedback</strong> is broken down by <strong>chunks of the lesson</strong> (warm-up, instruction, group work, wrap-up), so teachers can connect insights to real moments they remember. Each activity is also given a <strong>participation score</strong>, teachers can use this as feedback for how Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction is landing with students.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="1440" height="1080" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-dashboard.png" alt="M2 dashboard" class="wp-image-107416" style="width:auto;height:600px" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-dashboard.png 1440w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-dashboard-800x600.png 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-dashboard-1024x768.png 1024w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-dashboard-768x576.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px" /></figure>
</div>


<p>Teachers can:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>View feedback alongside the class transcript, in context</li>



<li>See which instructional moves mattered most and where engagement was visible</li>



<li>Receive <strong>auto-suggested Reflections</strong>, all tied directly to what just happened</li>
</ul>



<p>Each visit to the Dashboard now becomes a momentum builder for the growth of the teacher and the entire class.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">A simpler way to start and organize teaching</h4>



<p>M2 simplifies how teachers move from planning to teaching.</p>



<p>Teachers now start activities <strong>from within Groups</strong>, such as “Period 3 Algebra”. All activities that are created within a group can be managed and revisited within the group.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="960" height="542" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-group-popup.png" alt="M2 group popup " class="wp-image-107418" style="width:auto;height:400px" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-group-popup.png 960w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-group-popup-800x452.png 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-group-popup-768x434.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /></figure>
</div>


<p>Activities that aren’t tied to a specific group live in a single <strong>General group</strong>, which means there’s no more cluttered personal activities to manage.<br><br>Even though your teaching activities will now live in Groups, they are not visible to any students within the group. Students only ever see the work you assign to them, like Guides and Reflections.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Teaching with M2, now from your phone</h4>



<p>Sometimes the easiest device to use is the one already in your pocket. M2 app helps support teachers, making tiered instruction easier with just a mobile device.&nbsp;</p>



<p>With M2 app, <strong>teachers can now</strong> <strong>run M2 teacher activities from phones and tablets:</strong></p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Start an activity</li>



<li>Receive immediate tips to improve tiered instruction and suggested Guides&nbsp;</li>



<li>All through a simple, mobile-friendly chat experience</li>
</ul>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="1440" height="1080" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-mobile-app.png" alt="A smartphone screen displays the M2 mobile app during a live class session. A chat-style interface shows real-time teaching tips, including a prompt encouraging students to compare MLA and APA citation styles. " class="wp-image-107420" style="width:auto;height:400px" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-mobile-app.png 1440w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-mobile-app-800x600.png 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-mobile-app-1024x768.png 1024w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-mobile-app-768x576.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px" /></figure>
</div>


<p>During class, teachers can request a check for understanding, discussion questions or classroom management tips with a single tap. After class, they can continue the conversation with M2—reflecting, clarifying feedback, and revisiting important moments, all through a text-based chat.&nbsp;</p>



<p>This mobile experience is intentionally simplified for use during instruction, with no audio output. This keeps the attention on student instruction and participation, not screens.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Reflection to bring clarity&nbsp;</h4>



<p>Reflection works best when it’s immediate and conversational.</p>



<p>After class, teachers reflect by <strong>talking with M2 via text</strong>—on web or mobile—while the lesson is still fresh. They can dig into specific moments, revisit feedback, and analyze strengths and weaknesses of participation.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="1440" height="1080" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-mobile-app-reflection-chat.png" alt="A smartphone screen shows the M2 mobile app in a post-class reflection chat. The interface displays a message with instructional feedback about checking for understanding and reinforcing key concepts, followed by a timestamped divider." class="wp-image-107423" style="width:auto;height:400px" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-mobile-app-reflection-chat.png 1440w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-mobile-app-reflection-chat-800x600.png 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-mobile-app-reflection-chat-1024x768.png 1024w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-mobile-app-reflection-chat-768x576.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px" /></figure>
</div>


<p>It&#8217;s a reflection that brings clarity and helps teachers come prepared for deeper conversations about their instruction, either on their own or with a coach.&nbsp;</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What’s been removed?</h4>



<p>To keep M2 focused, several features have been retired:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Whiteboard</li>



<li>Personal groups and personal verbal reflections for teachers</li>



<li>Time-based tips</li>



<li>Verbal Ask M2 inside chat</li>
</ul>



<p>These changes reinforce a single goal: helping teachers create the conditions for meaningful engagement, every day.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Why M2 matters</h4>



<p>M2 isn’t about adding more features. It’s about aligning everything around what actually improves instruction: tiered supports, actionable feedback, and visible engagement.&nbsp;</p>



<p></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/01/28/m2app-improving-instruction-at-every-tier/">M2: Improving instruction at every tier</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">106489</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The M2 score: what it measures and why it matters</title>
		<link>https://www.swivl.com/2026/01/22/m2-score-participation-measures-why-it-matters/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gerard Dawson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2026 16:31:03 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Classroom Inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[M2]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[M2 & MIRRORTALK]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.swivl.com/?p=106092</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>The M2 score measures participation as the foundational condition for learning. It captures whether a classroom consistently creates, sustains, and distributes opportunities for thinking—moment by moment, across an entire lesson. [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/01/22/m2-score-participation-measures-why-it-matters/">The M2 score: what it measures and why it matters</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<p><strong>The M2 score measures participation as the foundational condition for learning.</strong></p>



<p>It captures whether a classroom consistently creates, sustains, and distributes opportunities for thinking—moment by moment, across an entire lesson.</p>



<p>Participation is not a side effect of good instruction. It is the primary result of good instruction. When participation is strong, curricula come alive for teachers and students. When participation is weak, even the best materials fall flat. M2 exists to make that invisible truth measurable.</p>



<p><em>Why participation and not engagement?</em></p>



<p>Engagement in learning matters, but not all of it is objectively observable. Participation is the observable layer of engagement. It is behavioral and concrete, spans many dimensions—speaking, writing, questioning, persisting, building—and, we believe, can become a durable capability students carry beyond any lesson into the real world.</p>



<p>That’s <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/01/23/participation-makes-the-difference/">why we focus on participation</a>.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Why Participation Is What Makes the Difference</strong></h4>



<p>Participation is the engine of effective instruction. It’s what separates strong teaching from exceptional teaching and determines whether curriculum is truly being implemented or merely covered.</p>



<p>Instructional frameworks like Danielson, Marzano, and <em>Teach Like a Champion</em> all recognize this. They emphasize participation through domains, components, and moves. But their complexity makes participation hard to see clearly and even harder to act on consistently.</p>



<p>M2 cuts through that complexity with simplicity and focus, and <strong>treats participation as the single, fundamental indicator of instructional success.</strong></p>



<p>By making participation measurable, M2 gives teachers clear goals and actionable feedback, turning improvement into something practical, repeatable, and achievable every day. feedback, turning improvement into something practical, repeatable, and achievable every day.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What the M2 score measures (at a high level)</h4>



<p>M2 does not measure student learning after the fact. <strong>It measures how classrooms make learning possible.</strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" width="1106" height="600" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-meter-all-devices-blog-1.gif" alt="M2 classroom device displaying a participation meter that shows how the class is participating, alongside connected teacher dashboards on laptop and phone.
" class="wp-image-106261"/></figure>



<p>Specifically, the M2 score captures participation as a <strong>collective, time-based property of instruction</strong>: how thinking emerges, spreads, deepens, and recovers throughout a lesson. These patterns reveal the conditions the teacher has created for student learning.</p>



<p>Across thousands of classrooms, M2 organizes participation into three essential attributes:</p>



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Participation is made possible</strong><strong><br></strong></li>



<li><strong>Participation is sustained</strong><strong><br></strong></li>



<li><strong>Participation is distributed</strong><strong><br></strong></li>
</ol>



<p>Each attribute shows up through observable instructional signals. M2 detects and interprets these signals during class, displaying participation status in real time. When the meter is above the line, it indicates that everyone is on task and that opportunities to share and participate are being created and sustained.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How M2 makes participation possible</h4>



<p>Participation must be possible before it can happen, and teachers create those conditions.</p>



<p>M2 looks for whether the teacher invites thinking through:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Clear routines and norms for participating<br></li>



<li>Questions and tasks aligned to the learning objective<br></li>



<li>Structures that allow students’ voices and ideas to surface (whole group discussion, small group collaboration, focused independent work)</li>
</ul>



<p>Whenever students are applying their minds toward a learning activity, whether that’s speaking, writing, problem-solving, or reading, they are participating. M2 captures whether instruction consistently opens the door for that to occur.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How M2 measures sustained participation</h4>



<p>Participation that flickers but then dims doesn’t lead to learning. It has to persist for the whole class.</p>



<p>M2 measures whether participation holds across time by observing:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Dwell time after questions: </strong>How long does the teacher allow students to sit with uncertainty? Is silence tolerated? Does thinking have time to emerge?<br></li>



<li><strong>Return to ideas:</strong> Do students and teachers revisit and build upon earlier ideas, or does the lesson reset every minute?<br></li>



<li><strong>Recovery after struggle: </strong>When the class gets stuck, do they give up or persist with teacher support?</li>
</ul>



<p>These signals show whether participation is brittle or resilient, shallow or cumulative.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-full-width-teacher-scaled.webp" alt="students working in classroom with M2 and meter" class="wp-image-106402" style="aspect-ratio:16/9;object-fit:cover;width:854px;height:auto"/></figure>
</div>


<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">How M2 measures distributed participation</h4>



<p>Learning improves when thinking is distributed across the class. When students expect the same few classmates to answer every question, the learning stops with those few kids. M2 helps ensure everyone is involved in the cognitive participation required to move the lesson forward.</p>



<p>M2 looks at the <strong>distribution of participation over time</strong>:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Is thinking concentrated with the same few student voices all class, or does it broaden to include everyone?<br></li>



<li>Does the teacher work to bring new contributors into the discussion as the lesson progresses?</li>
</ul>



<p>M2 does <em>not</em> track who spoke, how often, or how loudly. It observes whether the lesson structure invites many minds into the work.</p>



<p>Distributed participation also shows up during:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Transitions between modes</strong>: Some students succeed in whole-class settings, while others thrive in a pair activity. Certain kids thrive when giving factual explanations while others jump in to offer synthesis.<br></li>



<li><strong>Moments of social learning: </strong>Is the room focused on a common idea, or fragmented across individual tasks and distractions?</li>
</ul>



<p>These are fragile moments where participation often collapses, and where strong instruction keeps it alive.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="563" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-m2talk-on-tablet-1024x563.png" alt="Distributed classroom participation as students engage in discussion facilitated by instructional tools.
" class="wp-image-106157" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-m2talk-on-tablet-1024x563.png 1024w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-m2talk-on-tablet-800x440.png 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-m2talk-on-tablet-768x422.png 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-m2talk-on-tablet-1536x845.png 1536w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-m2talk-on-tablet-2048x1126.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What the M2 score does <em>not</em> measure</h4>



<p>To stay meaningful, M2 is intentionally limited.&nbsp; It does <strong>not</strong> measure:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Individual student behavior<br></li>



<li>Who spoke how much<br></li>



<li>Compliance proxies (posture, eye contact, stillness, hand-raising frequency)<br></li>



<li>Emotional states, moods, or affect<br></li>



<li>Permanent student records, rankings, or behavior histories<br></li>
</ul>



<p>Feelings fluctuate, and behavior can vary day to day, but <strong>participation</strong> <strong>persists in a classroom focused on learning. </strong>As a result, M2 provides insight without surveillance and feedback without labeling.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The M2 Participation Rubric</strong></h4>



<p>Our work as the creators of M2 involves distilling the philosophy laid out above into a repeatable rubric that can be used to measure and report on instruction in a variety of teaching and learning contexts. When a teacher begins a new class with M2, we use this rubric to measure the participation occurring:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>1: Minimal student voice; mostly teacher talk; few or no student responses.<br></li>



<li>2: Some participation but uneven; short or prompted responses; limited peer-to-peer.<br></li>



<li>3: Many students contribute; responses show thinking; teacher facilitates distribution.<br></li>



<li>4: Broad, sustained participation; students build on ideas; evidence of collaboration and ownership.</li>
</ul>



<p>This rubric powers the real-time participation meter and post-class scoring and feedback. Together, these give teachers a granular yet actionable measure of how they are helping to create, sustain, and distribute opportunities for participation in their classroom.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="563" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-insights-2-1024x563.png" alt="" class="wp-image-106151" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-insights-2-1024x563.png 1024w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-insights-2-800x440.png 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-insights-2-768x422.png 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-insights-2-1536x845.png 1536w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/m2-score-what-measures-why-matters-insights-2-2048x1126.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Why the M2 score matters</h4>



<p>The M2 score makes participation visible without turning classrooms into compliance systems. It gives teachers feedback they can act on immediately. It reframes instructional improvement as something grounded in daily practice, not abstract evaluation.</p>



<p>When the class centers on frequent, shared, quality participation, a shared goal emerges, and student and teacher incentives align. Students transform from passive consumers of information to active cognitive participators in their own learning. The teachers mindset shifts from covering curricular to creating the conditions for deep understanding to emerge.</p>



<p></p>



<p>M2 measures those conditions, so great teaching can be built deliberately, not left to chance.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2026/01/22/m2-score-participation-measures-why-it-matters/">The M2 score: what it measures and why it matters</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">106092</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Turning district priorities into consistent classroom feedback: M2’s Rubric Builder</title>
		<link>https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/23/m2-rubric-builder/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gerard Dawson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2025 12:50:27 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[M2]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Teacher Support]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[instructional coaching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MTSS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Professional growth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Teacher feedback]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.swivl.com/?p=105612</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>We built M2 with a feedback focus on engagement, questioning, and pacing. Why? Because insights in these three areas make a difference for every teacher we know.&#160; Many districts have [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/23/m2-rubric-builder/">Turning district priorities into consistent classroom feedback: M2’s Rubric Builder</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<p>We built M2 with a feedback focus on engagement, questioning, and pacing. Why? Because insights in these three areas make a difference for every teacher we know.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Many districts have also adopted their own high-quality instructional frameworks and <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/08/m2-mtss-teacher-support/">initiatives</a>. Turning those priorities into consistent, scalable classroom support, though, is challenging. </p>



<p>This is where M2 can help.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Introducing Rubric Builder</strong></h4>



<p>Rubric Builder is a new tool that lets administrators customize the criteria used in M2’s feedback during activities and in teacher reports afterward. With it, schools can add their own scoring criteria to sit alongside M2’s built-in Engagement, Pacing, and Questioning rubrics.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Unlike traditional rubrics that live in documents or observation tools, these criteria shape what M2 looks for, responds to, and reports on during and after instruction every single day. This means the feedback teachers receive through M2 can now be fully aligned to district priorities, instructional frameworks, or coaching goals. Teachers get more meaningful insights, and administrators get consistency across classrooms.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="670" height="1024" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/m2-live-tips-670x1024.png" alt="Real-time classroom feedback displayed by M2 during instruction." class="wp-image-105620" style="width:auto;height:800px" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/m2-live-tips-670x1024.png 670w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/m2-live-tips-523x800.png 523w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/m2-live-tips-768x1175.png 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/m2-live-tips-1004x1536.png 1004w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/m2-live-tips.png 1054w" sizes="(max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px" /></figure>
</div>


<p>Because initiatives shift and frameworks get updated, Rubric Builder supports the need for flexible instructional leadership. Admins can toggle custom criteria on or off at any time, and changes apply only to future activities, ensuring that all past feedback is preserved.</p>



<p>What does this all look like in practice? Here are three ways Rubric Builder can support your organization.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Align to teacher evaluation frameworks</strong></h4>



<p>Whether your district uses Danielson, Marzano, CLASS, or a local district models, M2 can now take on the same perspective as your organization&#8217;s coaches or administrators. After customizing your rubric, M2 will spot and comment on the detailed look-fors related to rigor, differentiation, classroom environment, or academic discourse that are part of your preferred approach to evaluating instruction.</p>



<p>For example, if your framework emphasizes academic language development, you can add a criterion like “Use of Academic Vocabulary.” When a teacher starts an activity, M2 scores and provides feedback using that criterion, and even appropriately mirrors the language used in your rubric.</p>



<p>Teachers get more frequent, more targeted insights, while administrators gain more consistent data. This moves the evaluation from a one-off event to a year-long support plan.&nbsp;</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="601" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/m2-feedback-1024x601.png" alt="M2 dashboard showing rubric-based instructional feedback and scores." class="wp-image-105622" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/m2-feedback-1024x601.png 1024w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/m2-feedback-800x470.png 800w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/m2-feedback-768x451.png 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/m2-feedback.png 1312w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
</div>


<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Support instructional coaching programs</strong></h4>



<p>With large teacher rosters and staffing constraints, coaches can only visit a fraction of their teachers each month. Coaches can extend their impact when teachers use M2 weekly or even daily.</p>



<p>By bringing coaching criteria into Rubric Builder, districts can:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Reinforce the same language coaches use<br></li>



<li>Give teachers immediate feedback tied to the strategies they’re working on<br></li>



<li>Support new teachers or teachers in new roles with higher-frequency feedback</li>
</ul>



<p>Imagine a team focusing on improving questioning techniques. A coach can add a criterion like “Use of Higher-Order Questions” to the organization&#8217;s rubric. Each time a teacher uses M2, they receive a score and written feedback tied to that goal without waiting for the next coaching visit. This helps coaching criteria show up consistently in practice, not just during scheduled observations.</p>



<p>It’s a simple way to extend a coach’s impact across classrooms.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Advance district initiatives with consistent feedback</strong></h4>



<p>M2 is now your partner in championing district initiatives, ensuring that momentum stays high by massively increasing feedback teachers see on practical implementation of your organizations&#8217; areas of focus.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Because M2 provides feedback in real time, teachers receive many more touch points to reinforce the initiative each day instead of just on PD days.</p>



<p>Imagine rolling out an initiative knowing that teachers have not only heard about your organization&#8217;s new priority from leadership but will get daily reminders, feedback, and coaching about what that priority looks like in practice with every lesson they teach. That vision is now a reality.</p>



<p>This is especially valuable for new teachers or those adapting to new district priorities. M2 helps them know exactly what to look for and how to improve.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>A more aligned future for instructional feedback</strong></h4>



<p>When teachers receive feedback aligned to their team’s goals, growth accelerates. Coaching conversations become clearer and are grounded in shared context. Expectations stay consistent even when you don’t have the chance to meet. Important initiatives have a greater chance of taking root for the long term.</p>



<p>By embedding rubric criteria directly into live observation and post-class feedback, M2 helps existing frameworks influence daily teaching at a scale that was never possible until now.</p>



<p>Rubric Builder brings alignment between organizational priorities and the daily rhythm of teaching. It’s another step toward a future where every classroom gets the support it deserves, and every teacher has a clearer path forward.</p>



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<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/23/m2-rubric-builder/">Turning district priorities into consistent classroom feedback: M2’s Rubric Builder</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">105612</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The missing piece in your MTSS framework: How M2 closes the gap between theory and practice</title>
		<link>https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/08/m2-mtss-teacher-support/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Amanda Regan]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Dec 2025 14:11:35 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[M2]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Teacher Support]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[instructional coaching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MTSS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Professional growth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Teacher feedback]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.swivl.com/?p=105475</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>What is MTSS?&#160; Why do districts struggle with it? Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is designed to be elegant in theory: a three-tier pyramid where Tier 1 provides strong universal [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/08/m2-mtss-teacher-support/">The missing piece in your MTSS framework: How M2 closes the gap between theory and practice</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What is MTSS?&nbsp; Why do districts struggle with it?</h4>



<p>Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is designed to be elegant in theory: a three-tier pyramid where Tier 1 provides strong universal instruction for all students, Tier 2 offers targeted interventions for students who need extra support, and Tier 3 delivers intensive, specialized services for those with the greatest needs.</p>



<p>But elegant theory doesn&#8217;t always translate to classroom reality.</p>



<p>Districts across the country have invested in MTSS frameworks. They&#8217;ve trained their staff, bought intervention materials, and hired interventionists. Yet many report the same frustration: inconsistent implementation across schools, staff stretched too thin to provide quality support, and data scattered across multiple systems—making it hard to know if the system is actually working.</p>



<p>The problem isn&#8217;t the framework itself. The problem is the <em>logistics</em> of making it work at scale.</p>



<p>Now, with M2, that&#8217;s changing.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">The three barriers to MTSS success and the M2 solution</h4>



<p>Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is designed to be elegant in theory: a three-tier pyramid where Tier 1 provides strong universal instruction for all students, Tier 2 offers targeted interventions for students who need extra support, and Tier 3 delivers intensive, specialized services for those with the greatest needs.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Barrier 1: Fidelity – The consistency challenge</h4>



<p>You can&#8217;t improve what you can&#8217;t measure, and you can&#8217;t measure what isn&#8217;t consistent. A major implementation concern for many districts is the lack of uniformity in how MTSS is actually practiced.</p>



<p>What &#8220;Tier 1 instruction&#8221; looks like at Elementary School A might be completely different from Elementary School B. One teacher is checking for understanding every five minutes; another assumes all students are keeping up. One school has clear classroom routines; another is constantly managing behavior. This drift in practice means that students don&#8217;t experience consistent support—and your MTSS framework becomes more of an idea than a system.</p>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-15f230b7ebb1c293e51e8efd69339363"><strong>How M2 solves it:</strong></p>



<p>M2 standardizes the feedback loop by allowing you to upload your specific district frameworks—whether it&#8217;s Danielson, Marzano, or your own custom &#8220;Great Teaching&#8221; rubric—directly into the M2 Admin Dashboard. Now, every piece of feedback a teacher receives is aligned to <em>your</em> standards and <em>your</em> vision of excellent instruction.</p>



<p></p>



<p>When a teacher at School A and a teacher at School B both use M2, they&#8217;re not just getting generic coaching. They&#8217;re receiving feedback grounded in the same language, the same expectations, and the same district priorities. It&#8217;s not about robotically enforcing rules; it&#8217;s about creating a <strong>shared language of excellence</strong>. That consistency is the foundation of true MTSS fidelity.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Barrier 2: Capacity – The staffing and burnout crisis</h4>



<p>Most districts have robust MTSS plans on paper. But executing them? That requires people—coaches, interventionists, specialists, and leaders who can observe, analyze, and support every teacher in the system.</p>



<p>In reality, instructional coaches are stretched impossibly thin. A coach might be responsible for 20, 30, or even 50 teachers. That means classroom observations happen once or twice a semester. Teachers get feedback weeks after a lesson. Critical gaps in professional development go unaddressed. And staff burnout skyrockets because educators feel unsupported and isolated.</p>



<p>This capacity crisis creates a vicious cycle: without consistent feedback, teachers don&#8217;t improve. Without teacher improvement, students don&#8217;t thrive. And Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventionists find themselves overwhelmed because Tier 1 instruction wasn&#8217;t strong enough in the first place.</p>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b2f11c2ccdeaa3f5db941fc188743ead"><strong><strong>How M2 solves it:</strong></strong></p>



<p>M2 acts as a force multiplier. By giving every teacher a private, AI-powered co-teacher that delivers immediate, non-evaluative feedback, you&#8217;re effectively extending your coaching team&#8217;s reach exponentially.</p>



<p>Consider what happened at Newnan High School in Georgia. Their instructional coaches found that M2 transformed their work. One coach said, &#8220;It&#8217;s almost like it clones me. I&#8217;m able to be in more places at once.&#8221; Instead of spending hours on observation logistics and writing notes, coaches could focus their expertise where it was most needed—on Tier 2 and Tier 3 support, knowing that Tier 1 instruction was being strengthened daily for every teacher.</p>



<p>Teachers also reported that M2 felt less threatening than a formal observation. It was private, focused on growth rather than evaluation, and available 24/7. This creates a culture of continuous improvement instead of occasional judgment—exactly what sustainable MTSS requires.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Barrier 3: Data – Moving from guesswork to action</h4>



<p>MTSS is supposed to be data-driven. But for many districts, the data doesn&#8217;t actually drive anything.</p>



<p>Progress monitoring data is scattered across multiple platforms. Some metrics are subjective (notes from walkthroughs). Others arrive too late to matter (semester grades, end-of-year test scores). And collecting it all is incredibly labor-intensive, pulling teachers and coaches away from the work that actually moves the needle.</p>



<p>As a result, leaders make decisions based on incomplete information. They can&#8217;t pinpoint where professional development dollars should go. They miss the bright spots of excellence that should be celebrated and scaled. They can&#8217;t objectively measure whether their &#8220;checking for understanding&#8221; initiative is actually happening in classrooms—or if it&#8217;s slipping because teachers revert to old habits under stress.</p>



<p><strong><strong><strong>How M2 solves it:</strong></strong></strong></p>



<p>M2 provides objective, real-time data on what&#8217;s actually happening in classrooms. It captures engagement patterns, questioning depth, instructional pacing, and student talk time—without bias or subjectivity.</p>



<p>For district leaders, the dashboard offers a bird&#8217;s-eye view of these trends across all classrooms. You can see, objectively, whether the practices you&#8217;re prioritizing in professional development are taking root. You can track progress over time and identify which schools need more support. You can celebrate the teachers who are crushing it and learn from them.</p>



<p>This turns data monitoring from a compliance burden into a strategic asset. You know exactly where your resources should go. You have proof of what&#8217;s working. And you can adjust your MTSS approach in real time, not months later.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">From framework to reality</h4>



<p>Implementing MTSS with genuine fidelity is heavy lifting. It requires consistency, capacity, and clear data—three things that have historically been hard to achieve at scale.</p>



<p>But M2 changes what&#8217;s possible.</p>



<p>By ensuring every teacher receives feedback aligned to your district&#8217;s standards, by extending your coaching capacity without burning out your staff, and by providing objective data that informs every decision, M2 bridges the gap between the elegant MTSS framework on paper and the real, thriving support system that students and teachers actually experience.</p>



<p>That&#8217;s not just better MTSS. That&#8217;s MTSS that works.</p>



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<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/08/m2-mtss-teacher-support/">The missing piece in your MTSS framework: How M2 closes the gap between theory and practice</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">105475</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Empowering every learner: Using M2 for student support in an MTSS framework</title>
		<link>https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/05/m2-mtss-student-support/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Amanda Regan]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Dec 2025 20:45:41 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Classroom Inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[M2]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.swivl.com/?p=105454</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>When we talk about MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports), the conversation often revolves around what adults are doing—interventions, progress monitoring, and data collection. But the true measure of MTSS success [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/05/m2-mtss-student-support/">Empowering every learner: Using M2 for student support in an MTSS framework</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
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<p>When we talk about MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports), the conversation often revolves around what <em>adults</em> are doing—interventions, progress monitoring, and data collection. But the true measure of MTSS success is the experience of the <em>student</em>. Are they receiving the right support at the right time? Do they feel seen and understood?</p>



<p>M2 isn&#8217;t just a tool for teacher feedback; it&#8217;s a powerful, AI-driven co-teacher that works directly alongside students to support their learning journey across every tier. Here is how M2 aligns with your MTSS framework to empower learners.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Tier 1: Strengthening universal instruction with voice and agency</h4>



<p>At the universal level, the goal is high-quality core instruction that engages all students. M2 enhances Tier 1 by acting as an always-available resource that clarifies confusion and builds metacognition without requiring immediate teacher intervention.</p>



<p><strong>Building voice through reflection</strong></p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>The &#8220;confessional booth&#8221; for reflection:</strong> Susan, an AP Computer Science teacher, found that M2 gave a voice to her quietest students. She described it as a &#8220;confessional booth&#8221; where students could privately reflect on their learning. This builds student agency—a core component of strong Tier 1 instruction—by allowing every child to articulate their understanding in a low-stakes environment.</li>
</ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Instant clarification:</strong> We&#8217;ve all seen a lesson stall because a student missed a key instruction. With commands like &#8220;Hey M2, summarize that&#8221; or &#8220;Hey M2, what&#8217;s our objective?&#8221;, M2 keeps the entire class on track, reducing the cognitive load on the teacher and ensuring students don&#8217;t fall behind due to simple misunderstandings.</li>
</ul>



<p><strong>Whole Group Guides: Teaching the whole class better</strong></p>



<p>Whole Group Guides take Tier 1 to the next level by ensuring every student experiences research-backed instructional strategies consistently. While M2 guides the entire class through engaging activities, teachers are freed to circulate and provide the high-leverage feedback that moves students forward.</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Research-backed strategies:</strong> Whole Group Guides use evidence-based approaches grounded in Marzano&#8217;s Nine Strategies, Hattie&#8217;s Visible Learning, and cognitive science research. Whether it&#8217;s retrieval practice to strengthen memory, dual coding to combine words and visuals, elaboration to deepen understanding, or interleaving to build flexible thinking—every activity is designed to enhance learning.</li>
</ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Teacher freedom to teach:</strong> When M2 leads a Whole Group Guide, teachers aren&#8217;t managing technology—they&#8217;re teaching. They circulate the room, offer formative feedback, facilitate peer conversations, and provide instructional cues. Students get more access to their teacher, not less.</li>
</ul>



<p><strong>Consistent excellence:</strong> Every student in your district experiences the same high-quality instructional strategies. No more variation between classrooms in what &#8220;good Tier 1 instruction&#8221; looks like. This consistency is the foundation of true universal support.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Tier 2: Targeted support for small groups and ELLs</h4>



<p>For students who need more targeted support, M2 acts as a force multiplier, allowing the teacher to &#8220;be in two places at once.&#8221;</p>



<p><strong>The virtual teaching assistant</strong></p>



<p>Kerri Bell shared how a student teacher used M2 specifically to support English Language Learners (ELLs). He placed M2 at a small group table and taught students to use the &#8220;Rephrase that&#8221; and &#8220;Translate that&#8221; functions. This provided immediate, personalized language support, allowing these students to access the curriculum independently while the teacher worked with another group.</p>



<p><strong>Small Group Guides: Differentiation without stretching your team</strong></p>



<p>Small Group Guides are the secret weapon for Tier 2 implementation. These flexible, student-paced activities allow teachers to deliver targeted instruction while M2 facilitates differentiated learning for specific groups.</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Flexible, zero-prep options:</strong> Teachers can pre-plan detailed Small Group Guides for predictable intervention needs (struggling readers, math fact fluency, language development) or launch zero-prep activities on the fly when a teachable moment arises. A small group needs extra practice with fractions? A cluster of ELL students needs targeted language support? A group of advanced learners needs an enrichment challenge? Teachers tell M2 their objective and launch an activity instantly.</li>
</ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Student-paced progress:</strong> Unlike whole-group activities, Small Group Guides let students progress at their own pace. Each student&#8217;s answers are captured and scored, giving teachers concrete data on what they&#8217;ve mastered and where they&#8217;re still struggling—critical information for Tier 2 decision-making.</li>
</ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Teacher flexibility:</strong> While M2 facilitates one small group, teachers work with other students. They might provide intensive one-on-one support to a struggling reader, monitor multiple learning stations, or coach a group through a complex project. Your limited Tier 2 interventionist time goes further because it&#8217;s strategically deployed where it&#8217;s most needed.</li>
</ul>



<p><strong>Facilitating group work</strong></p>



<p>Dr. Darcel Hogans discovered that her students loved collaborative work when &#8220;M2 is watching.&#8221; The presence of the device didn&#8217;t just monitor them; it engaged them. Students actively asked M2 questions during research—like science students who used M2 to dive deep into topics like the tongara frog. M2 becomes a station facilitator, guiding group inquiry and ensuring that &#8220;independent work&#8221; is truly productive.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Tier 3: Intensive, personalized scaffolding</h4>



<p>At the most intensive level, students often need significant scaffolding and immediate feedback. M2 provides a non-judgmental space for students to struggle, fail, and try again.</p>



<p><strong>Scaffolding complex thinking</strong></p>



<p>M2 doesn&#8217;t just give answers; it prompts thinking. When a first-grader in Megan Rozzana&#8217;s district was learning about stars, M2&#8217;s feedback helped her make a complex connection between the Big Dipper and navigation—a &#8220;lightbulb moment&#8221; that might have been missed in a busy classroom. For Tier 3 students, this immediate validation of their thinking is crucial for building confidence and persistence.</p>



<p><strong>Differentiation on-demand</strong></p>



<p>With Guides, M2 can create standards-aligned small-group or individual activities connected to the day&#8217;s lesson. Each Guide is centered around a research-backed instructional strategy from Marzano, Hattie, Lemov, and other instructional experts. Guides can provide extra support when intervention needs arise quickly, or free up teachers for one-on-one intensive support while other students work with M2.</p>



<p><strong>Assessing understanding automatically</strong></p>



<p>After the day&#8217;s lesson, M2 can help teachers understand where their Tier 3 students have knowledge gaps and where they&#8217;re making gains. M2 can generate Assessments, score them automatically, and provide feedback to both the teacher and the student. Because M2&#8217;s questions are adaptive and voice-based, responses are authentic windows into student understanding—not surface-level answers to traditional multiple choice questions.</p>



<p>This real-time insight helps teachers know: Is this student ready to step down to Tier 2? Do they need a different intervention strategy? Are they ready to return to Tier 1? These decisions are no longer based on gut feeling; they&#8217;re based on data.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">The student-centered MTSS</h4>



<p>By integrating M2 into your MTSS framework, you aren&#8217;t just collecting data <em>on</em> students; you are providing support <em>for</em> them.</p>



<p>Whether it&#8217;s:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>A shy student finding their voice in a private reflection (Tier 1)</li>



<li>An ELL student getting instant translation and support in a small group (Tier 2)</li>



<li>A struggling learner getting immediate, non-judgmental scaffolding and feedback (Tier 3)</li>
</ul>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/05/m2-mtss-student-support/">Empowering every learner: Using M2 for student support in an MTSS framework</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">105454</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Whole Group Guides: A new way to move the whole class forward</title>
		<link>https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/02/whole-group-guides-a-new-way-to-move-the-whole-class-forward/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gerard Dawson]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Dec 2025 17:23:44 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Classroom Inspiration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[M2]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Teacher Support]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Product updates]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.swivl.com/?p=105295</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>M2’s purpose has always been simple: to support great teachers in the work they do every day. Since then, we’ve seen the same pattern in classrooms across the country: teachers [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/02/whole-group-guides-a-new-way-to-move-the-whole-class-forward/">Whole Group Guides: A new way to move the whole class forward</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
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<p>M2’s purpose has always been simple: to support great teachers in the work they do every day. Since then, we’ve seen the same pattern in classrooms across the country: teachers are resourceful, dedicated, and creative. What they’re often missing is time. With so much to do, understanding which instructional moves are aligned with the research is something that can quickly fall by the wayside.</p>



<p>Administrators see it too. They know strong instruction depends on consistent structure and rigor. But most teachers don’t have a coach in the room to encourage the use of the most effective strategies. Many are teaching new subjects or grade levels with less training than they’d like. This is where the M2’s latest feature can help.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Introducing Whole Group Guides</h4>



<p>Whole Group Guides let teachers launch structured, interactive learning activities for the entire class without any student devices or setup time required.</p>



<p>With a few taps, and a chance to share the day’s objective, M2 gets to work. Whole Group Guides include clear verbal directions that lead students through a learning experience aligned with both the lesson of the day and sound pedagogy. As M2 shares directions out loud, the teacher stays in full control, advancing the activity with just a quick tap.&nbsp;</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Here’s how a Whole Group Guide might look in an elementary Math class:&nbsp;</h4>



<p>The teacher walks up to M2 and taps to request a Guide. She says, “I want my students to practice adding fractions with unlike denominators.” That’s the only prep required.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Seconds later, M2’s voice grabs student attention by introducing the activity. <em>Today, we’ll practice adding fractions by finding the least common denominator. You’ll need a pencil and paper. Let’s get started!</em>&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="1672" height="2560" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-whole-group-guide-fractions-prompt-scaled.png" alt="" class="wp-image-105339" style="width:auto;height:700px" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-whole-group-guide-fractions-prompt-scaled.png 1672w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-whole-group-guide-fractions-prompt-523x800.png 523w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-whole-group-guide-fractions-prompt-669x1024.png 669w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-whole-group-guide-fractions-prompt-768x1176.png 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-whole-group-guide-fractions-prompt-1003x1536.png 1003w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-whole-group-guide-fractions-prompt-1338x2048.png 1338w" sizes="(max-width: 1672px) 100vw, 1672px" /></figure>



<p>From there, M2 guides students through a few questions and problems aligned with the objective. Today, M2 notices that students can benefit from <em>interleaving, </em>or mixing several problem types together to build flexible thinking.&nbsp;</p>



<p>After each step, students turn to a partner to discuss their thinking. The teacher is free to walk the room, checking in with students, coaching, answering questions, or pulling students aside who need some extra help.</p>



<p>When the Guide ends, the teacher smoothly transitions back to the front and decides to review one problem that sparked extra discussion.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">What makes Whole Group Guides different?</h4>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>No participant setup.</strong> Every student is included without extra steps.</li>



<li><strong>Teacher-controlled pace.</strong> M2 provides the directions, but teachers shape the timing.</li>



<li><strong>Designed for real classrooms.</strong> Activities include individual work, turn-and-talks, and whole-class moments to keep everyone engaged.</li>



<li><strong>More access to the teacher.</strong> With M2 managing the flow, teachers can spend more time giving feedback instead of handling logistics.</li>
</ul>



<p>For administrators seeking stronger instructional consistency across classrooms, Whole Group Guides model well-structured learning in real time. Teachers participate in the experience alongside their students, gaining a feel for the strategy as it unfolds.</p>



<div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Three forms of Whole Group Guides: Practice, projects, and something new</h4>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" width="1672" height="2560" src="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-group-guide-setup-scaled.png" alt="M2 screen showing Group Guide setup with Whole Group selected and options for Instructional Strategy, Practice, and Project" class="wp-image-105335" style="width:auto;height:700px" srcset="https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-group-guide-setup-scaled.png 1672w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-group-guide-setup-523x800.png 523w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-group-guide-setup-669x1024.png 669w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-group-guide-setup-768x1176.png 768w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-group-guide-setup-1003x1536.png 1003w, https://www.swivl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/m2-group-guide-setup-1338x2048.png 1338w" sizes="(max-width: 1672px) 100vw, 1672px" /></figure>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-edbd9b17829c1b088200b285e4dbe818"><strong>Practice Guides</strong></p>



<p>Students work individually through repetitions of a skill, often pausing to check thinking with a partner or discuss as a class. Useful for reinforcing learning without relying on worksheets.</p>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-899e7cafb877b5f79c6a640693b590e9"><strong>Project Guides</strong></p>



<p>Collaborative activities where the entire class moves into small groups at once — helpful for hands-on work, labs, shared problem-solving, or building something together. And then there’s the newest option:</p>



<p class="has-theme-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-17d1ff0a3935ae27e47b63ddf015136a"><strong>Instructional Strategies: research-backed teaching, available in the moment</strong></p>



<p>We heard the same theme from teachers and administrators again and again: they value strategies like Retrieval Practice or Elaboration, but during a lesson, it can be hard to launch them with clear steps and language. Instructional Strategies help with that challenge. When teachers select <strong>Instructional Strategy</strong>, M2 looks at the lesson objective and materials, then generates a Whole Group Guide built around a proven learning approach. These strategies draw from the work of researchers like Robert Marzano, John Hattie, and decades of cognitive science:</p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Retrieval Practice</strong> to strengthen memory<br></li>



<li><strong>Elaboration</strong> to deepen understanding<br></li>



<li><strong>Dual Coding</strong> to connect visuals and ideas<br></li>



<li><strong>Concrete → Abstract</strong> to build conceptual thinking<br></li>



<li><strong>Interleaving</strong> to support flexible problem solving</li>
</ul>



<p>M2 provides the structure and directions. The teacher brings the expertise, judgment, and support that only a person can provide. For administrators, this means teachers at all levels of experience can model strong instructional practices throughout a lesson. For teachers, it feels like having a prepared partner who can help launch a strategy right when the moment calls for it.</p>



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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">A sustainable way to make every lesson great</h4>



<p>Whole Group Guides give teachers more freedom to focus on students. By removing setup, simplifying structure, and offering research-backed steps in real time, M2 helps teachers stay present with their students: circulating, giving feedback, listening in on conversations, pulling small groups, and offering the kinds of support no device can replace. It’s a vision of the classroom where great teaching becomes achievable across the school day because the scaffolding is already built into the experience.</p>



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<p><a href="http://swivl.com/m2"><strong>Talk with us</strong></a>: Let’s discuss how M2 can support your goals and explore options to demo, pilot, or purchase.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.swivl.com/events/"><strong>See it in action</strong></a>: Join one of our upcoming 15-minute webinars to experience M2 firsthand and hear stories from educators already co-teaching with it.</p>



<p><a href="community@swivl.com"><strong>Share your story</strong></a>: We want your voice in the conversation. What makes differentiation sustainable in your school? How are you moving beyond screen dependence? Share your insights with us at community@swivl.com.</p>



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<p>The post <a href="https://www.swivl.com/2025/12/02/whole-group-guides-a-new-way-to-move-the-whole-class-forward/">Whole Group Guides: A new way to move the whole class forward</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.swivl.com">Swivl</a>.</p>
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