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Reflection for teachers is a never ending process. Before the fall semester of 2016 was even completed, I was already reflecting on ways I could improve the quality of instruction for my preservice teacher students in my Reading in the Elementary Schools course for spring semester. As I thought about the types of technology I saw my own second grade son using in his 1:1 classroom and talked with colleagues and the student teachers I supervised, I realized the demand for preservice teachers to be prepared to implement technology in meaningful ways as they entered the elementary classroom.
One of the driving forces of my instructional decisions for my university classroom is to model practices that will be useful for my preservice teachers to use in their own future classrooms. Several concerns popped into my head as I began to consider how I could model this meaningful technology integration. How could I select from the overwhelming number of tech tools that are available for use in the classroom? How could I possibly learn how to use so many new things? How can I use them to strengthen my instruction without taking away too much time from the curriculum? I decided that the best thing for me was to choose a few apps and use them well. From the experience I had had seeing my son use different apps, and based on a colleague recommendation, Seesaw was the primary app that I chose to use throughout our course because it provided the ability to collaborate, communicate, and to document and share our learning.
As a former second grade teacher, I know well that teacher time is always limited, as are budgets for tech tools and for trainings which can make learning and incorporating new technologies challenging. However, the versatility of Seesaw across platforms and the professional development that is provided made transitioning to Seesaw easy. Using Seesaw helped me to model for my students how they can use technology to add impact to their instruction and help students show what they know, as well as help foster classroom communication and collaboration.
What is Seesaw?
Seesaw is a FERPA compliant, easy to use digital tool that provides opportunities for students (typically K-12) to build a digital learning journal or portfolio. The user-friendly platform can be used by even beginning kindergarten students. Teachers can choose to link their Seesaw class to parents in order to provide access to their child’s work. A brand new to Seesaw feature, as of July 2017, is the ability to send newsletters, notifications, and messages to all or selected students and/or parents. Seesaw is free to use at the base level, which is all I used for my class. There is a paid version, which provides a few more features, such as skill tracking, and Seesaw for Schools, that allows student portfolios to travel with them from year to year. Whether you have one device or are 1:1, Android, Chromebooks, or iPads, Seesaw is useable in all of these situations.
Amy Leitze, is an Instructor of Literacy at Ball State University
Email: [email protected]
TECH TIPS
Jump Right In: Getting Started with Seesaw in the Literacy Classroom
By Amy Leitze