Students as scribers

SEESAW

The website describes this app/program as "a platform for student engagement. Teachers can empower students to create, reflect, share, and collaborate. Students “show what they know” using photos, videos, drawings, text, PDFs, and links. It’s simple to get student work in one place and share with families, and nothing is shared without teacher approval."

Features mentioned:

-Students explore a variety of powerful tools (like drawing, voice recording, taking videos, and more!) to show what they know in the way that works best for them "
-Gain insights to meet your students where they are- Understand strengths and areas for growth in real time so you can differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all your students
-Unlock creative thinking for all students in any subject- Students explore a variety of powerful tools (like drawing, voice recording, taking videos, and more!) to show what they know in the way that works best for them

-Engage families in conversations centered on student learning- Connect families to see student work and celebrate progress. Up to ten family members can stay in the loop using the Parent and Family app (iOS, Android) or on web

-Give students a space for ownership and choice- Portfolios make it easy to give students choices. They empower reflection on learning over time and help students create something they’re proud to share with others

-Get inspiration and ideas for your classroom- Choose from thousands of engaging activities to use seamlessly within Seesaw. Search by grade level, subject, and keyword to find activities made by real teachers like you

The snapshot above is of my classroom I created.

        

Above is how you add students easily to your classroom and the easy instructions with scan code that would go home to the students parents so they could log in at home.

You can assign skills to each class/ student  to keep track of whether they are reaching benchmarks, attaining skills etc.

This is an example of a free activity you can assign to a student/ class to be done in school or at home. There are some fun and great ones to choose from and they submit their work to the teacher after.

Above is a screen shot from a student account I created and the activity I did as a student would.

The app allows students to use the webcam for pictures, they can draw and making diagrams, make videos to explain different things or answers and even use the notepad to take notes if they can. The notepad allowed me to insert pictures, videos, and text boxes.

After students are finished with their work they submit it to their teacher and the teacher can also comment on their work/ note. 

Negatives:

- costs money after the 60 day free trial. Teachers were able to sign in for free but students and classrooms were not. 

- if teachers wanted the students to do the tasks/ activities at home the parents would have to have computers/ ipads and internet at home

Would I use it in my preschool classroom:

I definitely plan on using this in my classroom. I am sure the parents would love to see their children accessing learning activities/ games at home that their teacher sent them instead of them just watching something on their kindles etc.

Students can use the learning and sharing style that they feel most comfortable with so it is great for differentiated learning styles.