This year I was given the opportunity to pilot 1:1 ipads in my third grade classroom. With all these ipads at my disposal, I wanted to find a way to effectively use them in my classroom. An app that had a K-3 friendly interface was a must. I heard about Seesaw from another teacher, and after exploring this app, decided that this was going to be the one to focus on this year.
What is Seesaw?
Seesaw is an online portfolio. It's a great way to capture student learning in multiple ways such as drawings, videos, text, audio recordings, etc. These options also allow students to have voice and choice when deciding how they want to show their work. In addition, Seesaw connects parents to what is happening in the classroom. They can comment on their child's work and send messages to the teacher.
Setting Up A Class in Seesaw
Setting up your Seesaw account is easy! The images below are from a presentation Brooke Edwards and I created for the K-3 teachers in our school.
In your regular class, where students will post their daily work, you want to keep that one "public." When their work is public, other students in the classroom will be able to comment on each other's posts.
If you want to create digital data portfolios, set up a second class. Go into the settings and click on the privacy tab so that only you and the student can see his/her work.
The one downfall to Seesaw is that you have to scroll through a lot of work, rather than clicking on a specific assignment or activity. So save yourself some time, and create separate subject folders. When you post items for students, they can go right to that folder. Or when students submit work, they can tag their work into a specific folder. This will save a lot of scrolling time!
Using Seesaw in the Classroom
There are numerous ways to use Seesaw in the classroom. One option is to have students upload pictures, videos, or drawings of work they are doing in the classroom. I have found that Seesaw helps me when I don't get the opportunity to work with a student during Reader's Workshop. Instead, students can upload a video or a picture to demonstrate a strategy. Then I can review and leave them a compliment and/or suggest a goal. Having students upload examples makes for a great exit ticket at the end of a lesson or workshop!
One of my favorite features on Seesaw is the Activities option. I use this option frequently for entrance and exit tickets in math. I write a few problems on a sticky note and then will take a picture and create directions for students. They can do this work independently due to the icon buttons in the directions. What I love is that I can immediately receive feedback regarding who has answered or not answered the question. It saves time rather than scrolling through many answers and checking names off my list. A quick refresh of the page and I see who has done the work so far. This activity option can be used in any subject, with any activity, but I have found that it's been the most effective in math.
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| Shortcuts for adding icons into your directions for the Activities section |
App Smashing
Seesaw is compatible with many other apps. Click this link to see what apps you can use with Seesaw.
This student used Shadow Puppet to showcase her writing. Another used Shadow Puppet to show how she can read /oy/ /oi/ words.
This student used Book Creator as an alternative assessment to our graphing unit.
This group of students chose to use Adobe Voice to showcase their inquiry learning.
I'm Not 1:1, So How Do I Use This With My Class?
Brooke Edwards and I turned Seesaw into our own personal inquiry this year. It was easier for me to use this app because of 1:1 and Brooke has shared with others how she uses it while being 2:1 in her classroom.
I'm Not 1:1, So How Do I Use This With My Class?
Brooke Edwards and I turned Seesaw into our own personal inquiry this year. It was easier for me to use this app because of 1:1 and Brooke has shared with others how she uses it while being 2:1 in her classroom.
Are There Additional Things I Can Do With Seesaw?
Recently, I was out for two days during our math lesson. I didn't want to leave directions for my guest teacher that would cause her to read through a mountain of information from Everyday Math. Instead, I recorded a lesson using Educreations and then uploaded that link into Seesaw for my students. Students could access this individually during the math block.
Another idea is you can use this as documentation when bringing a student to the MTSS committee in your building. I introduced a student for academic concerns and in our document I was able to attach this student's work of concern. This saved time in gathering paper materials and/or making photocopies. By inputting the links into a shared document our MTSS committee has established, everyone was able to see the concerns I had for my student.
This app is a good way to connect with parents so they can see what their child is doing in the classroom since I do not send home many papers. Parents can comment on their child's work yet they DO NOT see the work of other students. They can see if students comment on their child's work, but they cannot observe the work of other students.
Using Seesaw during Parent Teacher Conferences in September was beneficial, especially if you do student-led conferences! Parents can preview the work beforehand and students can talk about it during their conference. Again, make a separate class when creating sensitive data information and keep this class "locked" so other students can't see the uploaded data of other students.
You can connect other teachers to this app! If you work with a special ed, librarian, or Title teacher, you can connect him/her to your classroom. Then he/she can post work to the journal or into data folders.
Where Can I Find More Information?
Follow @Seesaw on Twitter to find out how teachers across the country are using Seesaw in their classroom. Seesaw is also on Facebook! You can review the official SeeSaw page or groups for specific grade levels. People share activities and ideas constantly. It's a great source of information. Seesaw's website also has a section where you can search for additional ideas.
My students have enjoyed using Seesaw this year. They enjoy uploading work to share their learning. They are excited when their parents can comment on their work. Parents appreciate seeing what their child is learning in class, and I love having my students' work in one place for easy access throughout the year!
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