I applied for a NC teaching license and went about looking for jobs. I was very fortunate to step into a second grade position in October at a wonderful charter school. I LOVED it! The kids were amazing and I had so much fun jumping into another year of second grade. I felt for the students because I would be their third second grade teacher from August-October alone, and I knew another teacher transition would be challenging for these 7 year olds. The students welcomed the new procedures and routines, and before long we had a well-oiled machine running in our classroom. I use a lot of technology and digital resources in my teaching and they grasped the new methods and techniques with open arms.
We had a blast with all sorts of exciting content and lessons and before we knew it, spring was here! Along with spring, came COVID! I heard the inklings of it coming and I sensed a large change to education in our country. During the previous school year I implemented the Seesaw digital learning platform in my classroom and my students and parents LOVED it! I hadn't used it this year because I had thrown so many new things at the class since I took over. But as I saw what what happening with schools beginning to close, I knew I had to STOP everything and implement Seesaw into my daily classroom routine.
On Thursday March 12th, I stopped all of our normal routines and taught the students how to use Seesaw. I put all of our assignments on Seesaw and taught the students how to use the tools. Boy am I glad I did! Little did I know that would be the last day I saw my students in person for the remainder of the school year.
Seesaw was a saving grace during the closure! The students were able to complete interactive lessons that were created by me, along with some that I found in the lesson database. I was able to record videos and embed them into my lessons. I was also able to link external sites to my lessons to make them even more interactive. I could have my students record their reading so I could hear their reading progress. They uploaded videos and digital collages. Although face to face teaching is so effective and ideal, we found a solution that would enable our learning to continue. I even was able to post some items that all students could access while connecting with their classmates who they missed so much!
Not only was Seesaw allowing us to continue learning with high engagement, but it was also a safe platform where my students had access to a password protected journal of their work. Seesaw also has a parent app where parents can see their child's work and progress.
I really enjoyed being able to interact with my students. I could record myself talking and editing work with various tools to show them what they needed to fix or help them grasp a tricky concept. Interactive slides with realtime writing, drag and dropping, and recording made the process very easy for creating engaging activities. Check out the clip below for a preview of an activity I created.
Another thing I love about Seesaw is they offer free accounts. The plus version is definitely worth it for the extra features! If you want Seesaw Plus free for 30 days scan my code below! It offers an activity scheduling feature, drafts and editing feature, and allows you to save more activities in your library! So worth it!
Check out the video of me teaching my students how to utilize the tools in Seesaw!
While we have yet to know what school will look like in the fall, I am confident with my knowledge of Seesaw and I know whether we are 100% digital, 100% in the classroom, or somewhere in between, Seesaw will be an everyday part of my classroom!
To check out Seesaw click here! If you have any Seesaw questions drop them in the comments below!
