WAP 3 - Students as Scribes: SeeSaw

When I read the chapter for this week about having a class scribe, I thought it was a great idea. I got excited about all the possibilities this job afforded students for a deeper engagement in their learning by providing purpose and longevity to their efforts, and I loved reading about the success stories.

But, I wondered, how would we ever adapt the concept of class scribe to a preschool classroom with one quarter English-language learners, and some who could barely hold a pencil?  During our discussion online, however, when the idea was reframed as “anything that saves or collects information that we can go back to and use again” it made much more sense.  I decided to explore technology that would allow for journaling or log-keeping in a preschool-friendly way.

I investigated SeeSaw which is used by public elementary schools in my district and looked like a great platform to collect student learning in my environment. I signed up for a free teacher account and set up my class.  There were cute icons to choose from to represent each student, or I could  upload their photo.

Screenshot of Class List from my Android phone

We made a class video journal by asking each student one by one what they learned about how and why the leaves on trees change color in the fall.  It was very easy to add student work to a journal.  The big green Add button brings up a screen with all the choices for recording student work.

Ways to post student work

Adding to a journal from the ipad:  The student records his/her work, and adds it to his account.

I think some of my students could be self-sufficient with this technology, but certainly not all of them, and we only have an ipad or two to use in the classroom anyway.  I chose to invite them one at a time to sit with me for a minute during rest time and I helped them record their answers. They are collected in a class journal which the teacher can view in aggregate, and in each individual child’s journal, which they can access themselves.  Parents can be invited to view what their children have done and their contributions to class works, but I haven't tested that feature yet.

I will definitely keep playing around with SeeSaw to see what else I can do with it!