Seesaw
Seesaw is a multifunctional digital portfolio system which enables student and family access to lessons, classroom activities, and student work.
First Steps
Seesaw permits educators to provide access to student performance tasks over time. Portfolios make classroom learning more accessible to parents, administrators, and other district support staff because they provide a window into student learning. Students interact with engaging activities and record their learning in their digital journal. Seesaw may also act as homebase for students and parents to access lessons remotely.
Getting Started:
Get the tool Note: If your district has a paid subscription, rostering and set up may be done at the district level.
Tool Guide to Getting Started Here you will find getting started guides for each grade level. This is an excellent walk through of exactly what you’ll see and do the first time you use this tool.
Getting started for grades 6-12
Additional introductory links:
CSTP Teacher Tech Tips Guide to Seesaw - this is another rich resource created by teachers
User Communities and Sites:
Instagram: @seesawlearning
Facebook: @SeesawWA
Technical Specifications:
Seesaw works on the following:
iOS Devices: iOS 10.3 and newer*. If you have an iPhone or iPad, please use the Seesaw Class App. Draw+Record recording is not supported on mobile Safari or mobile Chrome.
Android Devices: Lollipop (API 22) and newer. Check which Android OS you are using.
Kindle Fire: Kindle Fire HD devices running Android Lollipop (API 22) and newer.
Computers and Chromebooks:
Chrome: Version 81 and newer
Firefox: Version 66 or newer
Edge: Version 86 or newer (Draw+Record recording is not supported on older versions of Edge)
Safari: Version 11 and newer (Draw+Record recording is not supported)
Step-by-step directions for downloading to your device
*Note on iOS 9 and 10: The Seesaw Class app can be used on iOS 9 with limited features including: basic creative tools (one photo, one video, one drawing, basic labels, basic draw+record, one link) and messaging. Activities and Activity Library are not supported on iOS 9. Support for iOS 9 and 10 will be discontinued in June 2021.
Next Steps (Advanced Tips)
TeacherTechWA From the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession, this site was created by Washington State educators for beginners as well as those seeking to advance their skills with Seesaw.
How to use Seesaw for elementary: This step-by-step walkthrough shows you how to use Seesaw as a learning management tool, how to message parents and how to utilize each of the settings. Provides both student and teacher view.
Making a PDF editable to share in Seesaw
Instructional Design
Seesaw is a educator-created digital portfolio that students are able to use and self-manage. It is easy for young students to use since it offers visual, recorded and written instruction. Teachers can monitor and comment on student progress, communicate with parents and share interactive assignments with a network of educators through the activity library.
Additional Guides to Classroom Use:
5 Surprising Things You Can Do With Seesaw
Instructional Grouping(s):
Individual
Seesaw Activity Library: Thousand of teacher-tested standards aligned, classroom activities for all grade levels and subjects.
Partner
Group or Partner Reflection: Students reflect on how well their group worked together using the tool of their choice.
Partner Reading: Students use the microphone to record themselves and their partner reading.
Partner reading power - comprehension: This activity encourages students (or families) to read together. It can easily be used for remote learning as well.
Formative Assessment Options:
Seesaw does not have a built-in grade book but it does have a progress monitoring tool. Below are suggestions for using Seesaw for formative assessments using the programs skills view and other teacher tested assessments.
Using Seesaw for assessment PreK-2
Using the Seesaw skills view for formative assessment
Webinar recording exploring how to use Seesaw for assessment a student.
Elementary Lessons and Applications:
100 Ways Students Use Seesaw: Looking for ideas? This impressive list of ideas supports all grade levels.
Secondary Lessons and Applications:
Grades 6-12 Guide with sample lessons: Students can record presentations, labs or demonstrations using the video tool. They can use the journal to reflect on learning, set goals or annotate images.
5 Activities for grades 6-12 includes lessons, exit tickets and more.
Other Examples/Applications:
Management
Student Management:
Seesaw has created an editable classroom expectations poster for teachers to download, edit and share with students when introducing them to Seesaw.
Classroom Expectations (editable)
Student Engagement:
Seesaw allows students to create, reflect, share and collaborate using a variety of engaging tools including photos, videos, drawings, text and links. Students can share work with their teacher privately and securely.
Student Privacy and Security:
The teacher sets the permissions for student comments and if “students can see each other’s work.” The teacher can also turn on family access allowing families to see all posts in their child’s journal, get notification about new posts and send messages to families privately.
Differentiation and Adaptation
Diverse Learners:
Making the Evidence of Understanding More Visible (includes video examples)
Using activities for differentiation - PD in your PJs
Adaptive and Assistive Features:
Students can take photos of their work, record a video of themselves reading out loud, or record their thinking as they work through a math problem using the Draw+Record tool.
Technical Accessibility Details from Seesaw:
Printing: Teachers, students and families can print any post or assignment by tapping the [...] and choosing Print.
Speech to Text or Dictation: Speech to text or dictation features are supported. Here's how to use speech to text on iOS, Android, Chrome, and Edge.
Screen Readers: Screen readers are supported on the web.
Color Contrast, Inverting Colors and Font Size: Basic accessibility features built into the OS or browser for color contrast, inverting colors and font size are supported. On iOS, adjusting text size is not available consistently throughout the app experience, but buttons are sized to the minimum size for W3C compliance.
WCAG or W3C Compliance: Newest features, like the creative tools students use to complete assignments and show their learning, follow W3C accessibility standards. They are making strides towards W3C compliance in the rest of the app.