This is the point where all 650 students and 35 teachers go live - along with the 1300 parents of those 650 children.
The first step in this part of the process was to pay for 650 children to be signed up to Seesaw. The initial payment covers only those children at WHS at the start of the year, so it cost us $4,000 New Zealand dollars.
That was budgeted for and it brings a number of benefits with it.
Full support from the company
On-line training webinars, which can be downloaded and accessed later
Unlimited access to learning artifacts and posts - under the free system parents have only 30 days of access to a learning post before it disappears
Free access for all parents on all devices - a school licence per child saves parents paying $7.50 each for the app - three way sharing and access (parent, teacher, student) is a cornerstone for what we are trying to achieve, so removing any financial barriers is important to us
Staff Orientation Day:
Revision of the purpose, power and possibilities of ePortfolios briefly revisited
Seesaw presentation shared with staff
Early-Adopters from each team lead team learning sessions
17 instructional videos available on staff intranet for staff to access and work through
Readings available on staff intranet for staff to access and work through
Google slides presentation of on-line resources, guides, reflective blogs and implementation tips and tricks shared
Q and A
Staff signed up, class data all entered and available to staff during the holiday period and prior to training day
Parent Orientation Evening:
We will provide food and cooking and eating facilities and encourage families to join us for an evening picnic
Attractions to encourage children to want to come will be provided
A hui will be held in our hall with a multi-media marketing presentation of Seesaw to our community
Parents can then go to classrooms and receive support to download and install the app on their Apple or Android phone or on their laptop or Chromebook
Parents who don't have this option will be given a simple-language hand-out to take home to assist with access on their desktop
If any parents have no digital tools to access the Seesaw app/programme, they can log on to a desktop in our office area (with assistance as required)
Tools to Assist Implementation
Regular team meetings to ensure all are on track, on task and that standards are appropriate and maintained
Reflection on balance between process and product samples, and recording of such
Pre-produced Goal Cards and Next Step Goal Cards provided for staff - these are placed above and below learning artifacts to ensure context and save time