Seesaw: Why I LOVE this Digital Portfolio! (And lesson ideas too!)

Hello Friends! (NOTE:  Please read all the way to the bottom!  You'll find PK-5th Seesaw lesson ideas there!)   I hope your school year is off to a great start! As the school year begins, it is a great time to check out Seesaw!  What is Seesaw? Seesaw is a digital portfolio for students.  Teachers create a class of students in Seesaw.  Each student has a portfolio in your class.

Your students have the ability to share their work in this portfolio. You must approve the items before they are uploaded.   The sky is the limit regarding what the students can put in their portfolio. For example, they can take a picture of their latest creation- writing sample, art work, structure etc.  in the classroom and add it to their portfolio.  They could even upload a video they created in another app such as iMovie, Chatterkid or Tellagami.  Within the app, students can create and add their own photographs, videos, drawings, notes, links and files from their Google Drive.
There are several creative tools available for your students in Seesaw.  Perhaps you want to capture each student's knowledge of the life cycle of the plant.  You could have them draw the life cycle using the drawing tools in Seesaw.  You could even have them create a video in which they narrate the life cycle.  There are so many options.

Let's talk about why I LOVE Seesaw.

Student work is uploaded, organized and available to teachers from any device or computer.

1.  Ease of Use-  It is SO simple for your students to join your Seesaw class.  Students can use Seesaw from a computer or an iPad.  The creativity tools in Seesaw are super easy for your students to learn and use.

Students document learning through photos, videos, drawings, text notes, links and PDFs.

2.  Creativity Tools Allow for Differentiation-  I love how Seesaw offers creativity tools for your students.  Instead of having your students fill out a worksheet, they can quickly show what they've learned about a recent topic.  Students have the ability to draw, type, narrate, record video, take a picture, draw or write on a drawing or photo--- there are so many options.  Students can choose what works for them and their learning needs!



3. A Genuine Audience-  Students are able to share their work with classmates and with their parents.  This gives students an audience and encourages them to take pride in their work.  There are so many times we have students create something, but we don't give them the opportunity to share their creations.  Seesaw make this simple!

Parents can only see their child's work

4.  Parent Communication-  I love that Seesaw gives parents, teachers and students the ability to communicate with each other.  Parents and teachers can give students positive encouragement and feedback.  

5.  The DRAWING Feature-   I especially love that within the drawing feature students can annotate over photos!  Imagine the diagrams they can create!  They also have the ability to record their annotations! AWESOME!

I'm also excited to share some awesome Seesaw resources with you to help you get started!
These links will give you access to free lesson task cards that you can download and print!

Pre-K Lesson Ideas

Kindergarten Lesson Ideas

First Grade Lesson Ideas

Second Grade Lesson Ideas

Third Grade Lesson Ideas

Fourth Grade Lesson Ideas

Fifth Grade Lesson Ideas

Did I mention how EASY it is to use Seesaw?  Please check it out! If you would like to get this set up asap and want me to meet with you to help you get started, please do not hesitate to ask!

Check out the Seesaw app!