A Seesaw Success: Insights From A Principal's Classroom Experience

Transcript

Kris (00:00)

Welcome everyone to the Learning Loop Podcast, your best source for educational insights and trends. I’m Kris, your host. Today’s special guest is Tanya. She is a long time Seesaw user and a true proponent of educational equity.

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (00:16)

Yes, I am.

Kris (00:32)

Tanya taught fourth grade and is now a principal who still uses Seesaw to this day to tutor students. Tanya, welcome to the show.

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (00:41)

Thank you Kris and happy Thursday and yeah I call see saw is like the life it is the life so I’m looking forward to sharing my best practices and how I use the saw with my students.

Kris (00:55)

Absolutely, and we’re looking forward to hearing all your answers. I’m gonna start by just kind of hearing when you first heard about seesaw. When did you discover seesaw and find it as an instructional tool?

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (01:07)

For me, I heard about it maybe two, three years before COVID. And when I was teaching third grade, when COVID, you know, I guess took over globally, it was the first for me to actually use. It was the most engaging platform that I had ever utilized. And even when we came back into the classroom in 2021, my students are multicultural. So,

We were able to use that facet in so many other ways and it also garnered respect as well as relatability to families, to community leaders, as well as my youth. They got to really, it was almost like this student led component. I call it like the AI before the AI, which is what I call Seesaw.

Kris (02:02)

So good, so good. I love hearing that you were able to find this as a solution for your students who have a multicultural background. Was there anything specific about Seesaw that really just helps students who are multilingual learners to find success with this platform?

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (02:19)

For me, it was those informed decisions, that formative assessment. They were quick, low -stake assessments that garnered buildup. It was how to gauge student understanding, especially for my students who were ESL students. I was able to identify misconceptions, struggles, and learning gaps literally from day one. So we started Seesaw at the beginning of the year.

And as I got to the end of the year, you got to see this journal of their work. And, you know, I call it their portfolios, like the first time they ever had a portfolio of their own work. And they were to take ownership by second grading period, because I broke it up in quarters. It was like this variety of tools that allow students to become who they wanted to be in their own way. So you had like 30 kids in a classroom and everyone had their own.

portfolio that you were able to see where they started at and where they ended at. And that for me was the engaging piece of the platform.

Kris (03:25)

And it provides you with more information that you ever could have asked for because it helps you to know exactly where they are and how to move them forward. Really being able to address those learning needs as it goes. I’m going to ask a further question on what you just shared and what I actually just shared too. How has SeesawW really given and how did it give you more information than you might have got with paper pencil methods as far as assessment and growth comes?

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (03:53)

for me was just understanding those different options. I was able to do not so much even when you talk about the assessment piece, I was able to quickly gain insight by how the show, what they know, explaining their thinking process. A lot of students might not be able to read, but they actually could journal using the tools they were able to reflect in their routines, their exit tickets, my choice boards.

Those were things that I was able to monitor my student development against standards, but it also was including in that activity piece where you were able to see how the tools of Seesaw, it allowed us to make better decisions when we were creating those formative assessments. And so a lot, by the second grading period, everything I did, a formative assessment was on Seesaw because I was able to reach that student from the lowest to the highest. So it was almost like,

I was able to pull that student up, but then my students who were high, I were able to challenge them because of that interactive learning experience that they were able to do. And they were able to show me back because they had that student opportunity that was led by them.

Kris (05:04)

Amazing so amazing to hear that you’re able to address all ends of the spectrum not just both because there’s also students who fall all the way in between those those highs and those Potential lows that are there too. So that’s amazing to hear that you found that solution and that you were able to find power in using SeesawT to really address the needs of all those students When it comes to the type of content that you loved to assign and you really want to put in front of students

What were some things that you either looked for or that you designed inside of SeesawW that really helped you to leverage that and to have that be an answer for you in your classroom?

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (05:43)

For me, it was the data. The data was a tool that it provided me analytics. Students were able to learn about their data. And when they got a certain grade, what did they want to look for? Activity completion. So I could look just on the first screen to see who completed the assignment, who didn’t, where they were at, where they.

falling behind, if they needed help. Also, the assessment performance, it grew because I was able to identify those students who were struggling and needed that additional support. And then I was able to go back into their journal or even the communication tools. And I was able to communicate them by sending them an email. I could send them a text. I could actually use my voice. And so now you are able to have all these different learners.

in your classroom and you were able to reach them in different collaborative learning styles. And it made them feel comfortable to be more vulnerable, to be open. But it also allowed me to then grow them as I looked at the data. Okay, if this assignment was done on this day, then I knew that, okay, they might need extra time. And then when I did my small groups, they were working back on those assignments. And then after a while, they started to have an understanding of the work.

And so they were able to share through sending me a voice back, sending me a text, illustration. So it was just a way for me to really see all these different tools come together to promote collaborative and teamwork learning.

Kris (07:20)

I love how you’re going beyond the journal response and having messages come in and comments come in and really just using the most out of all of the seesaw platform in that learning journal. You’re squeezing the most out of it by having all these other tools come in that are surrounded and that are baked in that all support learning and move students forward.

I want to ask one more question on student growth and activity design and also data specifically.

You shared a little bit about some types of feedback that you like to give. What kinds of things did you really find the most power in? And can you share any insight into things that you learned as you started to give feedback in Seesaw so that if there is somebody here listening and they want to give better feedback, what might they be able to do to help improve their feedback cycle with students?

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (08:14)

for me would be those communication tools, shared folders, projects, working together in your groups, but also independent work. As a teacher who’s taught kindergarten through the fifth grade, you’re able to make those better decisions in your classroom because you’re able to now provide data. So when you go to parent -teacher conferences, I had great data because it was their shared folder.

So you can talk about where they started at and where they were starting to grow in those areas. You were able to communicate better with parents because a lot of times parents don’t know what these hall is. So then you know, you would be able to have even the student lead the conversation at parent teaching conference. Even at when you’re having back to school night, you can have your computer set up on different, you know, you can blur out their name, but you can have that work.

and you can show work from a low stand port, but also to a high, and then someone that’s in the middle, and then you can see how the work differentiates. I also love to have at the beginning of the year when we have, you know, meet the teacher. I had students come in from that previous year and they would want to share assignments. It’s informed instruction because you can walk step by step. I love using, it was the,

At the top of it, it would be like almost like a teacher that was in the classroom, but you would be like, you will be right in the classroom. And so I will always like, oh, look at this is this is Kelly, or I will sometimes make it as a student. And then you would work on the work and they would see it step by step. So you’re getting that instant feedback, that instant gratification. If a student didn’t understand what was happening, you would know because as you’re watching them type, watching them screen, that was a gratification for me.

was that I was always able to see where the hangup was. Because I think sometimes as students, we don’t want our friends to know where we fall short at in assignment. And as a CISO, I could go right to them, but also I could send them a quick note, like, hey, give them a little quick little tip, show them where to go. And without literally the whole class. So again, it brought acceptance. It brought.

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (10:38)

a later bill you know relate ability but also inclusive classroom because seats all allowed you to almost by like be this by in the kids left it also because they were more again i always say vulnerable they would let me know where they had those hang ups or where they were frustrated at because i could talk to them be in the screen and not come to them and speak out loud says before my kids were quiet or.

ADHD or on the spectrum or IEPs, you know, a lot of those students, they’re afraid to not know or not even know how to read. And you give them that life because you’re able to share where they’re at and help them move on. And you don’t want to stay afloat with their peers, you know, and it just gives you see that positivity range and they want to get on seesaw because they know that I can be just like my peers, even though I might, I got to tell them,

Kris (11:24)

Yes.

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (11:34)

You know, your disability does not change who you are. It gives you possibilities. And that’s what seesaw does. It gives you possibilities.

Kris (11:42)

Totally allowing everybody to find success using the easy to use platform and stepping in. And I think one thing that you spoke to is your ability to understand where your students are helps to then inform you to then deliver better instruction. And so you’re creating this symbiotic relationship between how the students are growing and what they’re contributing into their journal to then how you use that to provide better.

more powerful instruction that’s catered to exactly what they need. So it’s so amazing to hear that you found that perfect balance and really allowed you to essentially change your instruction through the use of CSUN in your classroom. I wanna ask.

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (12:24)

And it does, that formative is, the formative assessment, you still gotta do the standards, but I tell them you can take it to the next level, because then you’re able to differentiate the assignment in the assignment through the tools.

Kris (12:37)

for sure, all baked right inside a seesaw. I want to ask one more question on family engagement, because I know you spoke about it a couple times, but I really want to hear if you have any stories specifically about families and what they’ve said to be involved in this learning to the level that they have.

Do you have any testaments or any stories of family members just speaking out about how this connection has really helped them to be more informed and more supportive of what’s happening in your classroom?

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (13:10)

two stories. Just the first one is I am a parent and a grandparent and my grandchildren, they’re teachers use seesaw and my youngest grandchild, he you know has some he’s had some difficulties in in school and seesaw has been such a relationship builder because he was very quiet at the very beginning of the year and so when he sees my seesaw,

he is able to have a conversation. So that’s what seesaw is. It is a conversation builder because when you first get your students and your family members and guardians in your classroom, they really do not know a lot about seesaw. So you’re able to go through and you can create websites. You can create newsletters all entwined into the work. I also did one better. I took the global piece.

And I actually, we became pen pals with the UK families and we were fourth graders from the UK. So when it was fall, it was summer and we were able to relationship build, not just with the students, it was with the families. Cause we were able to see the responses and there was one family from the UK. They said that it was so great to be able to hear and see, um, English in the English setting because everything they spoke.

was Australian. So, you know, in the UK, because they had class, it was a online class, so they had children from all over the globe. And so even for my students, they were able to hear what we call Friday conversations. So on Fridays, everyone in the classroom globally and in my class got to speak their native language. So it built a relationship. It built inclusiveness so that when you come in, your children or multicultural, even children who just

want to be accepted and families are you know they don’t really like the digital you really can have a presence of showing them how seesaw plays a role in the communication so I didn’t even do newsletters anymore my newsletter was literally from seesaw so the first three weeks of school it was getting everyone on so it became a game of getting all my parents on and then my parents got gift cards if they were the first one.

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (15:32)

if they were the last one, hey, if they got the other families involved. So it became this relationship builder. So by the time we got to right about Christmas, families knew who each other were. It was students knew who each other were so that when you have, you know, things that happen in your classroom and, um, conflict resolution, you can have that building of seesaw. It’s like a quick email. It’s a quick text. Hey, they did a great job. They’re looking for that. If they’re looking for that feedback.

where parents would come into my classroom and say, hey, Ms. Kelly, you didn’t send us a weekly update. Oh, I forgot. You know, they wanted to know what their child was doing. They were able to see the journal that we created. So they got to see this portfolio. And so throughout the years that I’ve been using Seesaw, many, many families, even now, have been able to look back. Because if their kid goes to the same school and they’re able to look back and say, hey, Ms. Kelly, my kid started in your class, and now they’re doing this with these tools.

You know, you’re able to capture, you know, and back and you’re able to download. That was another thing for me. I was able to download some of the assignments and some of those great things and hang them on the wall, you know, send them home to families. It is such create such a multi modality of tools. It just brings a deeper insight where families, they want to know more because they get to see their work. Families are busy and they rather get on it just like Facebook.

they’ll get on Seesaw before they look at a paper and a book back. And so I would just send home a QR and say, Hey, look at your child’s work through the QR code, scan it. Oh my God, Ms. Kelly, that’s the most, the best thing ever. A QR code, scan it in the, you know, while I’m in the car, you know, sitting away from mad practice. And there’s all their work, work that wasn’t completed. I can share, but it’s just another way to target and guide instruction, but it also gave students the leading. It gave family. So,

Over the four years, I would say five years of USeesawR, I have been at 100 % of families being logged in, participating. The first nine weeks of the grading period, I had all my families. And most of the time I had 85 students in a year, because I had three classes, and all of the 85 families would be logged in in my SeesawR.

Kris (17:50)

That’s so amazing, so amazing. And it’s a testament to the importance that you put on it because you know as a teacher what it means to you, what it means to your students, and honestly what it means then to those families to all be a part of the learning as it comes. And so you emphasize that, you prioritize that because you knew the power that came with it and then as people joined, they understood it because they became a part of the learning and a part of that understanding as well. We have.

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (18:19)

And students understood it. And students understood it because last year students would be like, you better get on it because Miss Kelly, she got little prizes for you. So the families will already come into my class like, where’s that Miss Kelly? Where’s the QR code? So it was always like you’re building up on each year to each year. So the kids will be the word of mouth for you. You know, those next year students like, hey, Miss Kelly’s using Seesaw and you know, this day and we had the fun with the choice boards. We let families give us, hey, what do you want?

Detroit’s board to look like and then families like, oh my God, I get to choose the DJ of the day. So it was just a great way to enforce and bring in without having to pull teeth for families. They automatically wanted to because you would make them a part of your school family.

Kris (19:02)

sure. Love it, love it, love it. We have two quick questions before we close up. The next question is our loopy question and this is just a silly question we ask all of our guests. If you want a free vacation to anywhere in the world, where would you choose to go?

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (19:19)

I want to go to Hawaii. I want to go see Pearl Harbor. And there is a whole science unit on Seesaw about the Pearl Harbor and about the lava. And I want to touch and feel real lava. So that would be one of my bucket list is to go to Hawaii and go see a real volcano.

Kris (19:43)

There you go. So amazing. Hopefully not hot lava, but you know, the cooled off lava that’s the hard stuff. But that sounds like an amazing vacation. I wish that I could just grant it and say, you’re going. It’s like Oprah would just give me a free vacation, but I can’t do that. Our final question is that, you know, we often have people who might be new to education, new to seesaw. If they listen to this episode and they’re like,

I want to get better at understanding my data. I want to get better at using Seesaw. What are the one or two things that you would say to this teacher to just kick them off on their journey in learning and continuing to grow using Seesaw in their classroom?

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (20:21)

would tell them first off is to utilize the analytics of Seesaw. It’s going to provide teachers with data on your student engagement, activity completion, and assessment performance. But the data is also you’re going to be able to identify your students struggling and need that support. And then my last one would be the journal.

I cannot say that enough. It is at the very end of the year, you can print off this journal and make it a portfolio. And it’s almost like this workforce development. They’re learning life skills. And if you started from the beginning of the year and introduce it, as you’re introducing the tools, you have almost like this, you have a book that they can take home and you have a book that you can use. I use it all the time for data, for my IEP meetings.

I use it for back to school meetings, for teacher performances. Even when I have my teacher meetings, I’m always able to bring in my high, my low, and my middle through my data. And it’s literally right there. And it gives you that communication builder. So even when you don’t know really what to say, you can look at the data, look at the communication tools, and you can be able to see where they’re kind of falling short, where they’re rising at, where they’re growing, and where they need that support.

And that’s a lot of things, a lot of times that what families want to know, where can my child grow? And as a teacher, sometimes we look at all the old school data and the data and just like, oh my gosh, and what do we need? See -saw, literally right there is communicating, is communication. And that’s what I’m big on because when you have communication, I call see -saw that life is that circle. And that’s what that is.

Kris (22:02)

Love it. Such wise advice spoken from somebody who’s really understood seesaw and how to use it in the best possible way in your classroom to move learning forward.

We’re at time, I just wanna say thank you so much for being here. Thank you for sharing your expertise. We are just so filled with all these ideas around how to use data, how to really understand Seesaw, how to engage your families, and really how to look at instruction in a new, different way. So I’m just so excited that everybody got a chance to listen to your expertise and that you took the time to be here and share that with everybody. So thank you so much for being here.

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (22:37)

And thank you so much, Kris. It has been an amazing journey. And I know it’s almost the end of the year. So teachers, make sure if you have not started those journals, it’s almost fourth grade in period. Get those journals started, and you will see such great work come at it at the end of the year. So.

Kris (22:54)

Thank you so much, bye.

Tonya Kelly M.Ed (22:56)

Thank you, have a great.