Capturing Student Voice and Learning Needs with Seesaw

Transcript

Kris (0:00)
Welcome everyone to the Learning Loop Podcast, your best source for educational insights and trends. I’m Kris, your host, and today’s special guest is Kathy. Kathy is an instructional technology specialist in Northeast Independent School District in Texas. Kathy is a veteran teacher who is always a proponent of strong educational practices. In our episode, Kathy will share how Seesaw is building strong digital portfolios in her district. Kathy, welcome to the show.

Kathy (00:33)
Thank you, Kris. Glad to be here.

Kris (00:35)
We are so excited. Yes, we’re so excited you are here to share some amazing insights into how Seesaw is really being positive in your schools. We’ll start with a basic question. What really inspired you to start using Seesaw as your digital portfolio tool in your school district?

Kathy (00:54)
Kris, I was one of the first dabblers way back in 2014. And I was teaching in a classroom and trying to be engaging and the kids were smiling and nodding. But I just was finding like kids didn’t get it. They couldn’t apply the skills. And I thought in my head, there’s gotta be a way that I can put my finger and hear every kid’s thinking because it’s hard to do in a classroom with 20 something kids in there.

And so I caught wind of Seesaw and started using it. And it really, I really turned the corner as a teacher in my effectiveness when I started using it, particularly with the voiceover. So there was an activities available at the time, but presenting kids with opportunities to capture their thinking and then share their thinking with me through a voice recording was really powerful and helped me get to the nitty gritty of where the learning gaps were. So I knew what to do to intervene.

I was hands down sold at that point. And then of course, all the amazing developments that Seesaw’s had in the, since then, has just really leaps and bounds, made the product even better and helped to, with that mission, but I’m coming from the lane of when I’m looking at Seesaw, it’s fantastic that we can share with families, but the game changer for me is it impacts the teaching and learning in a classroom and helps teachers be more effective in their practice with what we’re doing with students.

Kris (02:22)
And I think that lens and that perspective you have too of like how can a tool, a technology tool or anything that a teacher is using, how can that really help them save time and be a more efficient teacher and make better decisions? And so coming from that grounding that you have as a teacher is such a positive way to push that initiative forward and push the tool forward as far as usage in your district. So I think that’s amazing.

Kathy (02:45)
Absolutely, that’s why we’re here is to make sure learning is happening and that’s a great way to do it.

Kris (02:51)
Absolutely, absolutely. If learning isn’t happening, we gotta rethink something. Awesome. We’ll jump into our next question here. How has Seesaw helped you to provide with you guys and your teachers and your classrooms and your administrators, how has Seesaw really helped to provide more information beyond a paper, pencil, assessment or activity? What is that other information? How does that really help you as a teacher and your teachers to make better decisions like you were talking?

Kathy (03:18)
Well, I am now out of the classroom myself and I’m supporting five elementary campuses and one of the big tasks that I do is helping them learn how to leverage the saw as a tool for, you know, monitoring student understanding and getting some insight. So, you know, a paper pencil assessment, you can look at, you know, as a teacher and say, okay, the student got it wrong, but you don’t really have any insight on why and where their thinking was and where the gaps were.

And so again, that’s really how I position myself as I’m working with teachers. When we have the kids include, you know, voiceover to explain their thinking or they’re moving things and talking through the processes they’re doing. And it really opens the window to what’s going on in their brains, you know, to help us. So, you know, that, and also just the formative assessment features are phenomenal to give that closing a lesson I know immediately in the moment where are my classes at in their understanding, and I know what to do moving forward. So hugely impactful for the teaching and learning again.

Kris (04:19)
Absolutely. Getting to the point that you were talking to earlier is like giving the right information at the right time to help teachers to really move their learning forward. I think the holistic picture of what Seesaw really provides helps to just level all those things up. It’s not something that we look at and you were speaking to this a little, it’s not something that’s an additional piece. It just really helps to capture all the pieces that are already happening in real time so that I can see that and view that as a teacher.

Kathy (04:51)
Absolutely and share it with families. It’s very helpful as well to help families stay in the loop of here’s where the thinking is happening.

Kris (04:59)
Absolutely. One of the most important parts for sure is ensuring that the families know what’s happening and how it’s going and how they can also contribute to that learning process as well.

Kris (05:12)
Absolutely, awesome. All right, next question for you. What are some ways that you have seen or helped teachers to really integrate Seesaw into their daily routines or workflows in their classrooms?

Kathy (05:24)
Sure. So one of the ways that I always encourage teachers to start is to use Seesaw as their quick exit ticket strategy. And so they don’t have to start with something big, just have the kids respond at the end of a lesson. It could be a quick voice recording, it could be a drawing, it could be moving something and showing their thinking.

And just having that data helps them get started in a way that they can see the benefit right away. I think sometimes people get overwhelmed with all the bells and whistles, but if we start small and start simple and they start seeing the value in that, then we can grow. And so that’s one of the strategies I use.

Another way is to just look at things that they’re already doing in class, and how we can replace some of that paper-pencil work with something digital in Seesaw. That doesn’t take any more time but actually makes it easier for them. And so, really, just taking small steps at a time and making it practical for the teachers so they feel comfortable and not overwhelmed.

Kris (06:27)
That’s great advice, keeping it simple and starting with something teachers are already doing, like exit tickets. That seems like such a manageable way to ease them into it.

Kathy (06:37)
Exactly. Once they see how powerful it can be, they start coming to me with ideas of how they want to use it in other ways. That’s when you know it’s clicking for them.

Kris (06:46)
Absolutely. When teachers feel that success and see the impact, they’re going to want more of that.

Kathy (06:51)
Exactly.

Kris (06:53)
Okay, next question. Can you share a story or example of a specific teacher or classroom that really embraced Seesaw and saw some major success or transformation because of it?

Kathy (08:04)
Sure, Kris. One teacher that comes to mind was a second-grade teacher who was hesitant at first. She didn’t feel like she was very tech-savvy and was nervous about trying something new. So we started small with just one activity where students recorded their voices explaining their math thinking.

She was blown away by what she learned from that one activity—she could hear exactly where students were misunderstanding and was able to adjust her teaching accordingly. From there, she started using Seesaw more and more, and by the end of the year, her students were creating full digital portfolios of their learning. She said it completely transformed her teaching because she felt like she finally had insight into her students’ thought processes.

Kris (10:44)
That’s such a powerful example of how starting small can lead to big changes. It’s amazing what you can learn about your students when you have the right tools in place.

Kathy (11:53)
Absolutely. And it’s not just about the teachers, but also the students. They gain so much confidence and ownership of their learning when they see their progress documented over time.

Kris (12:03)
So true. Digital portfolios are such a great way for students to take pride in their work and reflect on their growth.

Kathy (13:10)
Exactly.

Kris (13:12)
All right, Kathy, as we wrap up here, what advice would you give to other schools or districts that are thinking about implementing Seesaw or a similar tool for digital portfolios?

Kathy (14:23)
My advice would be to start small and build from there. Don’t try to do everything all at once—choose one or two areas where you think Seesaw could make the biggest impact and focus on those first.

Also, provide plenty of support and training for teachers. It’s important to give them time to learn and experiment without feeling pressured to get it perfect right away. And finally, make sure to celebrate the successes along the way. When teachers see the positive impact it’s having on their students, they’ll be more motivated to keep going.

Kris (15:49)
That’s excellent advice, Kathy. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise and insights with us today.

Kathy (16:07)
Thank you, Kris. It’s been a pleasure.

Kris (16:27)
And thank you to all our listeners for tuning in to the Learning Loop Podcast. We’ll see you next time!