Seesaw Review

 The website I chose to evaluate was Seesaw.  Seesaw is a unique tool as it can be used by the teacher, student and the parent to learn and share information.  

The website is very user friendly.   For teachers who are not very tech savvy, it is easy to use with activities by subject and grade.  You can assign an activity to students or to an entire class.  Sometimes I will do a read aloud followed by an activity that goes along with a book.  For example with a Pre-K class, we read a story about space and then they had to build a rocketship.  Once they have completed their work, they hit 'submit' and the parents can go into their account and see their student's work.  Not only is this a great way to see what the student is working on but it is a great way for parents to initiate discussions with their children about their day at school.  

Teachers can also search by learning standard which is sorted by state, subject area and grade.  Another tool I like is that teachers have the ability to create activities and then put it on a shared community library with other Seesaw users.   

Students can also take pictures, record their voice and draw on the app to enhance a students' work.  One way I have used this feature is by reading a book and students had to go into the app and create an alternate ending by drawing pictures and using the voice record feature to tell their story.   

As a parent, I enjoy using Seesaw as my son's teacher posts pictures of the students in school and different activities they are doing.  Again, this is a great way to speak to my son about his day.  Sometimes we look at the pictures together and he tells me more about what they were doing in school.  

There is a free version for teachers and a paid version for schools which allows for more features.  I am grateful that my school has a subscription to Seesaw as I enjoy using it as a learning tool, especially for the younger students.  I think this would also be a fantastic resource to use with ELL students as well as there are many pictures that go along with various activities.