Keeping students engaged during learning activities can be a challenge. In some cases, students have not developed the stamina to stick with a paper-and-pencil activity, and sometimes they simply do not have the skills to complete a task in the same way as their peers. Introducing technology can turn a classroom around – from improving student engagement to making tasks accessible to ALL learners, the benefits are clear.
As I mentioned in my recent post, Keeping Kids Accountable During Centers, I’ve found a wonderful app that has changed the way I manage student work in my classroom. That app is Seesaw – The Learning Journal. The response I received from this post was so positive that I thought I’d follow it up with one a little more detailed to help you get started and explore the amazing features that are available within a free account.
Before I begin, let me again state that I am in no way affiliated with Seesaw. I simply LOVE this resource and how it has changed my classroom!
Quite simply, Seesaw is a learning journal perfect for all students from kindergarten through high school. For me, it is an organized digital record of my students’ learning. I use it as a tool for collecting evidence of the learning that occurs in my classroom, and to reduce the need for piles of paper to document this evidence. Others use the app in a more social way, allowing students to interact with each other’s work in a format very similar to Facebook – allowing likes and comments on posts. Even parents can be given access to their child’s account, receiving notifications every time their child posts a new item, or your class can create a public blog for sharing what they do in class with the world!
- “document learning as it happens
- empower students to think deeper and reflect
- teach digital citizenship and 21st-century skills
- build an organized record of student work
- create a community around learning
- involve families in real-time”
- explaining
- describing
- reading fluency
- decoding
- labeling
- defending a personal opinion or position
- The sky’s the limit!!
- record themselves (or each other!) reading
- record an investigation or experiment AS it happens
- demonstrate
- perform
- The sky’s the limit!!
- sketch out a story idea
- show their mathematical thinking
- label something
- use “think marks” while reading
- The sky’s the limit!!
By tapping your name in the upper left-hand corner, you’ll gain access to your settings menu. When you click “Manage Class” you’ll find all the most important options available to you. I typically have my class’s account set up in this way:
- students are unable to see each other’s work (and therefore can’t comment or like)
- new items require approval – this way I see every item before it becomes part of my student’s portfolio
- show add to folder step to both students & teachers – I like to give my students the responsibility of filing their work into the appropriate subject folder. In the rare event that someone does this incorrectly, I am always able to change it.
I now have some resources that are specifically created to be used with Seesaw! Take a look at all of them here:
Have you used the Seesaw app? What tips, tricks, or ideas for use do you have to share? Leave me a comment below!
Check out more great apps and technology resources on this Pinterest board:
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