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Pre-K
Introduction to the Seesaw Class App in Lower Elementary
- Ms Francesca
Pictured: Activities by teachers and students can be posted via various media options.
What is Seesaw?
Between March and June, teaching our young students wasn’t an easy feat. One of the teachers’ challenges was how to continue providing similar classroom hands-on activities, manipulatives and on-going assessment, on a screen, when we knew that young children learn better when they are physically in a classroom. Another challenge was that our students needed their parents’ support to connect to online lessons, to accomplish tasks and to upload work to send to their teachers. With time, we have learnt that we needed something better to support our students, teachers and parents. Looking at what other international schools were doing, getting feedback from them and discussing as a team, we decided that from September we will introduce the Seesaw Class app.
With time, we have learnt that we needed something better to support our students, teachers and parents. Looking at what other international schools were doing, getting feedback from them and discussing as a team, we decided that from September we will introduce the Seesaw Class app.
Seesaw is a digital platform that allows students, teachers and parents/guardians to share classroom/home learning activities. It is an easy app for young learners to use as they can show their learning by using various media, such as photos and videos to drawings, text, links and PDFs. It is an app where students show their learning, teachers gain further insights about their students and families are connected with their childrens’ learning.
This platform is also a great opportunity for our families, especially now when they can’t be on campus, to see what their children are learning. Teachers use this app as an additional tool for home learners by providing various activities in connection to the learning happening at school. Another great thing about Seesaw is that students can audio record or video themselves for example sounding out letters, reading, counting, adding, explaining a concept or a creation they have done. Once the students upload their recording the teacher is able to like the post, comment or audio-record a message as feedback. It’s been really useful for students at home as they like to hear their teacher commenting about their accomplished activities.
Seesaw is also a digital portfolio, as every evidence of learning can be saved on the child’s profile. Students have the opportunity to share something they are proud of with others and have the chance to reflect on their own learning. Their portfolio is always available for them to browse whenever they want. Very soon in lower elementary, in order to get the students accustomed to the use of this tool, each class will have four tablets for students’ to take photos or videos of their work as well as creations created during play to upload on their portfolio as evidence of authentic learning. The main purpose of these portfolios is to assist students understand that learning is something they do and not something that is done.
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