See It.. I Saw it... It's SeeSaw!
I have been using SeeSaw for about 3-4 years now! The moment I downloaded it and began using it with my students, I knew it would change the way I teach.
As an educator, I need to be able to access student work with ease. SeeSaw does this! It's more than just an online portfolio but it is an amazing tool to show parents' real time student work. At student led conferences this year the comments from parents about the use of SeeSaw are beyond uplifting. They beam with pride at the fact that at work they get a notification about their child's work - photo, text or video and can look at it instantly. Its an amazing tool for parents to spark up a real conversation about learning at home.
The old conversation:
Parent: How was school?
Student: Ok?
Parent: What did you do?
Student: Nothing.
The new conversation:
Parent: I loved that writing piece you did today! What was your favourite part?
Student: I liked writing about that time you took me to the footy because it was the best ever!
Parent: I noticed you worked on your writing goal too!
Student: I used full stops today!
Some features I'd like to highlight that are amazing key features:
Family Announcements:
Family Announcements is a new feature that has just recently caught my eye! It's an easy way to communicate with parents about things to do with our classroom. I had told the students on a Thursday that I would be away the next day because I was headed to a conference, but I knew that 50% of that information would go home*. So I put my Techno Wiz Brain into action and the next morning at the conference, I sent out this announcement.
*the last time I told them the news about my engagement, and that some day I would be getting married, students went home and told parents' I was not coming the next day and they had the day off due to my wedding! HAHA! Genius!
Crop Feature:
This can be a tricky feature for students' to get the knack of but its so helpful! All they have to do is get the main part of their work in the camera frame and Voila! the crop feature cuts and even straightens the students' work.
A handy tip: I get students to put their work on the floor and stand over it with the iPad and hold still when taking the photo. When they stand at a table they aren't as easily able to take the photo right over their work which is required to get it just right.
Whiteboard Wonders:
Uploading from the camera roll or taking a photo of my whiteboard has helped me to be able to work on a large scale for my students. When I used to write it on a small board or on Anchor Charts it was too hard to read. PLUS once its gone from the whiteboard its gone... right?! WRONG! I take photos of our discussions, learning intentions and success criteria and upload them to SeeSaw. I can direct students to log in and go back to them via the folder I put them in AND it gives parents' a view into the learning that is happening in our classroom and the expectations of their child.
I can't wait to share more SeeSaw ideas and features with you soon! Hopefully this gets you interested in taking a look for yourselves PLUS it's free!