Yesterday in class, I had the opportunity to explore the application “Seesaw” as a means of communicating with parents and creating student digital portfolios. It was very easy to navigate and use, making it accessible for even the most technologically challenged users. Here is a snap-shot of some of the benefits of using Seesaw:
Clearly, there are many benefits. Personally, I LOVE the easy way to share information with families. As a mother, I would really enjoy seeing my children’s work and being able to support that learning at home. Hearing from my children’s teacher a couple of times a year at parent-teacher interviews is not often enough to create strong family engagement. I have often asked my children, “How did your spelling test go?” and have been told, “Oh, I got them all right.” The problem is, sometimes, I don’t believe my child; particularly when the test followed a really challenging evening of my child not wanting to study or practice their spelling words. I’m certain I’m not alone in this. Children often tell their parents what they want to hear. I would love if I could click on the app and see for myself how my child did on their test. Adding to this, I would love to sit down at dinner and say, “I saw your presentation today! You nailed it! Way to go!” or say, “Hey, I see you’re working on fractions. Want to help me bake some cookies after dinner and we can use fractions?” Even better, the access code/QR code can be shared with other family members (ie: Grandparents who don’t live nearby) increasing the number of “cheerleaders” for each student. The ability to involve families is definitely my favorite aspect of Seesaw.
I, also, really like that students are able to upload the image themselves and connect a voice recording to it explaining their thinking and reasoning. I think this could be really useful in the classroom as a formative assessment tool as you can hear the student’s reasoning skills.
I will definitely be using Seesaw in my future classroom. I want to share student work with parents, send out reminders/announcements in an easy/convenient way, and a tidy way of keeping a digital portfolio.
What do you like about Seesaw? Do you plan on using it in your classroom?
Not familiar with Seesaw? Check out this video below: