Interactive whiteboards open a new world of possibilities for whole group instruction.
Many teachers have their go-to ways to use their interactive whiteboards. But there are a few benefits of interactive whiteboards you might be missing. Now that the Present to Class button is available on any Seesaw activity or lesson, getting started is easy.
Model Concepts or Skills with Present to Class
With the new Present to Class button available on all Seesaw activities and lessons, teachers can easily model an activity before students complete it on their own.
Here’s how it works:
- Open the Seesaw app on your interactive whiteboard
- In the Resource Library, open an activity or lesson
- Click Present to Class
- Use Seesaw tools to model the task
- Go further! Invite students up to the board
Increase Accessibility of Rigorous Content with Screen Recordings
A common way to use interactive whiteboards in the classroom is to model or demo a new concept or skill. One of the easiest ways to get more from your interactive whiteboard is to screen record what you’re already doing!
When using Seesaw on your interactive whiteboard, simply click the microphone icon to record your screen and voice. Or use you favorite screen recording app.
Then, share the screen recording with students to rewatch as many times as they need.
On Seesaw, you can post the recording to the Class Journal and pin the post to keep it at the top of the feed. Or send the recording in a message to all students.
Rather than wait for help, students can access the resources they need to take ownership of their learning – freeing you to help students who need additional support.
Enhance Lessons with Multimodal Resources
With internet connectivity, interactive whiteboards mean anything that can be found online can be used for instruction.
Not only does multimodal learning increase engagement, accessibility, and relevance of content, using resources from different sources teaches students how to use digital tools to explore and learn about that world.
You might consider:
- Show a video from PBS Kids, Storyline Online, or Seesaw Lessons
- Present images of historical artifacts from the Life Magazine photo archive
- Go on a virtual field trip with Google Arts & Culture or an online museum
- Listen to a podcast
- Explore primary source documents from the National Archive
Multimodal learning experiences like these help students see that knowledge is at their fingertips – that they have the power to learn whatever they set their minds to.
Pro tip: Cue up your materials in the morning to ensure a smooth lesson.
Empower Student Agency by Letting Students Take the Lead
When students get to be the teacher, it can increase engagement and retention of learning – not to mention offers valuable opportunities to practice leadership.With proper scaffolding, even our youngest learners can take the lead!
Here’s a great place to start: Consider completing an interactive activity as a class, designating a student to be your helper.
Head to the Seesaw library for ready-to-assign lessons perfect for student participation, including:
- Calendar Math lessons
- SEL Stories interactive read-alouds
- Practice activities from Numbers in Space
- And more!
As students get more confident in front of the class, consider projecting an exemplar student post. The student can explain their thinking, share how they solved a problem, or read their response aloud.
Once a strong classroom culture has been established, students can even ask for positive feedback from their peers.
With interactive whiteboards, whole group instruction can not only teach grade-level content but also build student agency, ownership, and engagement in powerful ways.
