M2 always gives me great objective feedback like – ‘hey, your pacing might be a little too fast at this point in the lesson because it seems like the students aren’t engaging as much with you.‘

Ella Burgos and Sabrina Miler | Forest City Adventist School, FL

USE CASE

Live feedback, student engagement, and teacher reflection

Ella Burgos | Sabrina Miler

4th and 5th Grade Math & Science Teacher |
Associate Superintendent

School/District:

Forest City Adventist School, FL

Grade Level 4-5

Helping Ella find her rhythm

In her tenth year of teaching, Ella Burgos had achieved mastery in many areas of her professional growth at Forest City Adventist School. Teaching fourth and fifth-grade math and science, she had developed a comfortable rhythm—explaining concepts, asking if students understood, and moving forward based on the nodding heads she saw. But beneath the surface of this seemingly smooth operation lay an uncomfortable truth: some students were being left behind, particularly those who processed information differently than how Ella naturally taught.

“Prior to M2, I relied on my own methods for pacing, delivering content, and engaging my students,” Ella explains. Her experienced eyes could spot the obvious signs of confusion, but the subtle cues—a slightly furrowed brow, a hesitant pencil, an answer that was close but not quite right—often slipped past her attention during the fast-paced school day.

For students who needed alternative explanations or struggled with mathematical concepts, Ella would try different approaches, but often found herself repeating the same explanations in slightly different words. The frustration was mutual—students who couldn’t grasp concepts felt increasingly discouraged, while Ella felt she was missing opportunities to reach them equitably and effectively.

That all changed when M2 entered her classroom, offering not just a second voice for struggling students, but becoming Ella’s partner in refining her craft—reading the room when she couldn’t, suggesting when to slow down or move on, and guiding her through meaningful reflection that transformed her teaching practice from experience-based to evidence-driven.

Ella shared “M2 always gives me great objective feedback like – ‘hey, your pacing might be a little too fast at this point in the lesson because it seems like the students aren’t engaging as much with you.‘”

The common denominator for Ella and her students

One day Ella Burgos stood at the whiteboard, explaining unit fractions to her fourth-grade math class. Despite her decade of teaching experience, she couldn’t help but notice that some students’ eyes were glazing over. Frustration crept in as she tried different explanations, and a student who needed help most—who excelled in reading, writing, and verbal reasoning, but struggled with mathematical concepts—still looked confused.

“I know what a fraction is, but what makes it a unit fraction?” the student asked for the second time.

Ella started to repeat the same explanation, when she remembered her new classroom assistant. With M2 settled at the student’s desk and set to Student Mode, the student read the instructions from her worksheet to M2.

M2 jumped into action immediately, describing how unit fractions work and detailing the steps she should take to try solving the particular problem that the student was working on. 

The student’s eyes widened as she turned to Ella and said “Wait–that’s it?” 

“That’s it,” replied Ella. And that’s when Ella realized the power of the tool she had at her fingertips. 

Ella marveled as comprehension dawned on her student’s face—the same explanation she’d given, but somehow more accessible coming from M2. Instead of feeling replaced, she felt relief. This would become a turning point in how she approached her teaching.

The students constantly ask, ‘When can we use M2 again? They just want to talk to M2 all the time and ask it questions.’

Ella Burgos | Forest City Adventist School, FL

An unexpected bond was formed

What surprised Ella most wasn’t just the academic support M2 provided, but the social connection her students formed with it. Her students eagerly shared their thoughts and experiences with M2, delighting in having another “presence” that listened and responded to them.

Her students are still deciding on a clever and beloved name for their new friend, and we’ll be sure to update this story here when they do. 

Transforming what it means to be a reflective educator

Beyond giving Ella advice on her pacing or supporting her students in their time of true need, M2 with embedded MirrorTalk software encouraged her to reflect on her teaching practices—something she admits teachers don’t always prioritize consistently.

“I did personal reflections on my M2 lessons when I got home,” Ella says. “M2 asked me questions like ‘How am I going to teach fractions better?” 

It takes me five to ten minutes to reflect, but without taking this step, tomorrow comes and I find I’m not actually ready to tackle this lesson.

Ella Burgos | Forest City Adventist School, FL

At first, she couldn’t answer these kinds of questions readily. The reflection prompts motivated Ella to research new approaches and strategies, preparing her to tackle upcoming lessons more effectively. While reflection requires time, Ella found the investment worthwhile: “It takes me five to ten minutes to reflect, but it makes me think. Without taking this step, tomorrow comes and I find I’m not actually ready to tackle this lesson.”

Rather than feeling like additional work, these reflection moments helped Ella become more proactive and prepared, ultimately saving her time and improving her teaching effectiveness.

A partner for every teacher

For Sabrina Miller, Associate Superintendent overseeing 30 schools in her organization, the potential of M2 extends far beyond a single classroom. After witnessing Ella’s experience, she immediately saw broader applications—particularly for their multi-grade classrooms.

“Two-thirds of our 30 schools are multi-grade schools,” Sabrina told us. “The idea that normally we tell them ‘teach one grade level, send the other grade levels to do work’—those kids don’t have access to a teacher. The possibilities of them sitting with an M2 that’s doing more extension of what they just learned with the teacher is an amazing possibility.”

And after Ella and two of her students presented how easy it was to get setup with M2 and get feedback on her very first session with it a recent principals’ meeting Sabrina received immediate interest: “Before the meeting was over, I had received emails from about five principals that said, ‘We’re ready, sign me up, I want one.” 

Turning off autopilot to make room for her new co-pilot, M2

For Ella, M2 is not about replacing her expertise, but augmenting it—providing a second voice in the classroom that helps reach students through a different voice and perspective. It’s supporting her in being more aware of her pacing, more diverse in her instructional approaches, and more consistent in her reflective practices. She’s no longer teaching solo – on autopilot – she’s got an essential ally that’s helping her rediscover her passion for teaching, even in year ten.

Learn more!

Meet M2 – every teacher’s intelligent co-teacher and every coach’s new best friend. MirrorTalk powers it and it helps you take your coaching to catastrophic heights. Learn more.

The post A lesson in chemistry: when students connect both with their teacher and M2 appeared first on Swivl.

Mirror guides my second graders through reflection questions on their own, and then I get data on their answers to help me support each student’s needs.

Melisa Hayes | Hilliard Crossing Elementary, Hilliard City Schools

USE CASE

Creating more autonomous and deeply engaged elementary students

Melisa Hayes

Teacher

School/District:

Hilliard Crossing Elementary School, Hilliard City Schools

Grade Level 2

Discovering M2: A game-changer in guided learning

Juggling time constraints and wanting to engage my students were the main reasons I was so excited to start using M2. This tool allows my kids to reflect on their work at any time. It’s versatile, and any age or ability can use it. My kids can access it at any point of the day, and it fits into my limited schedule.

In my room, M2 is in a corner where kids can go anytime to use it when they want to reflect. MirrorTalk, the software that runs on M2, guides my second graders through reflective questions independently. They get immediate AI-generated feedback, and then I get data on their answers to those questions that help me support each student’s needs. 

And guess what? They love it!!!

Not only is it a reflective tool–it can be transformed into an interactive workspace that supports individual and small-group guided learning. It’s amazing for me as an educator to be able to set up the M2 for small groups. I record instructions, set M2 to turn into a functional whiteboard, program brain breaks, and stretches, and then bring students back to reflection as the foundation of the activity.

Giving voice to the youngest students

I have always faced challenges when having my students reflect on their learning. Time, of course, is always a factor; but also, there is the added challenge of keeping my students engaged enough to reflect on a lesson, subject, or their behavior. M2 lets them take that initiative right in class, creating an environment where even young students can feel autonomy over their actions.

Giving my kids the ability to choose how to give their brains a break and center themselves is such a great way to promote their self-advocacy. M2 does this with the Recharge feature, a series of movement activities aimed at either focus, energy, or rest. Every reflection is also customized for each student. They can color code their “profile” and choose the animation they’d like to be greeted with – one of my kids chooses a high five and always giggles when it comes on!

When used in conjunction with a stronger reflective foundation, MirrorTalk has the ability to help even the youngest learners reach a higher order of thinking. This is something we need to consider more in the age of AI.

Learn more!

Ready to transform your reflective practice? Schedule a live demo with the Swivl team to learn more.

The post Elevating engagement & autonomy in elementary school appeared first on Swivl.

With MirrorTalk, students can talk about their successes, challenges, and plans for future work.

Traci Johnson | Rochester Schools

USE CASE

To increase authenticity and ownership

Traci Johnson

English Teacher & Instructional Coach

School/District

Rochester Schools

Grade Level: High School

“Many students seem to struggle with written reflection.” Dr. Traci Johnson is a big believer in the necessity of reflection, especially after a large project or assignment. However, the reflections teachers in her school were getting largely seemed inauthentic, like students were just checking the activity off the list to get it done.

Finding authentic student engagement

“Some reflection prompts worked better than others, but we felt students weren’t doing the work to understand how their successes and struggles helped them grow and how they can apply that to future learning. They were trying to say what they thought the teacher wanted to hear.”

Using MirrorTalk has allowed Traci’s students to engage in more authentic reflection. Students can talk about their successes, challenges, and plans for future work in a less formal manner. Not only are the reflections higher quality, but Traci and her colleagues have been able to share the AI-generated feedback with students so they can work to further improve their reflective skills.

Setting up designated reflection spaces with MirrorTalk and M2

Students and teachers can engage with MirrorTalk on any web-enabled device or on Swivl’s M2 hardware. Traci utilizes M2 to set up a dedicated, portable station that helps students get into their reflective zone.

Traci has been flexible in how she places M2 in her school and how it’s utilized daily, to see what works best. She’s also been observing how others use the device when they borrow it. “In an ideal world, we would have 5-6 M2 devices for teachers to check out to use in their classrooms. Currently, we have two.” Some teachers with large enough rooms have students go to a designated spot to record their reflections. Others have students take it to the hallway to reflect. 

This week, Traci plans to use M2 in her classroom, and due to her proximity to the library, plans to have students use M2 there. They will be reflecting on the research process and how they can transfer the skills they are learning in English class to other courses that require research.

Start a free trial of MirrorTalk

Ready to transform your reflective practice? Download the app or sign up now to try MirrorTalk for yourself. Sign up and get started today!

The post Authenticity over compliance appeared first on Swivl.