Our recent Learn with the Expert session featured Kris Szajner, current partnership manager for Seesaw Learning and former kindergarten teacher and technology integrationist.
The last month of school is upon us! Summer is right around the corner, but there’s no need to rush the time away. Instead, now is the perfect opportunity to really make every day count so students walk away from the school year with fond memories, true growth, and new knowledge.
In this Learn with the Expert webinar, Kris Szajner explores fun and engaging ways educators can wrap up the school year using Seesaw. With an emphasis on capturing the year, creativity, and celebration, Szajner shares how to keep engagement high and amp up the fun with the help of Seesaw activities and lessons.
Capture the School Year
On a mission to create a better tomorrow by creating opportunities for students to reach their fullest potential, Szajner is passionate about fun and interactive learning. He has spoken across the nation on curriculum design and development, innovative practices, STEM instruction, and K-12 best practices. In this webinar, he shares a few specific ways educators can use Seesaw as a powerful learning tool to capture and document how far students have come over the course of the year.
As an interactive platform, Seesaw is a great place to draw, make collages, or take videos as a way to reflect on what one has learned during the past year. Reflection is a powerful tool when it comes to locking in new knowledge. Szajner shows educators exactly how they can do this with their students using activities like “Snapshots of Our Year” and “Scavenger Hunt.” He suggests educators use the camera and video tools to capture end-of-the-year moments like field day, oral reports, presentations, award and graduation ceremonies, and yearbook moments.
Creatively End the Year
Szajner points out that Seesaw has the tools and templates to allow students to complete fun activities like “Puppet Show” or “Poetry Scramble” as a way to share how they have grown while in class this year. These are great assets to have and share with next year’s teachers. Seesaw’s interactive bulletin boards filled with memories are also a great way to creatively end the year on a positive note. He also suggests educators create welcome video tours or vision boards within the platform for next year’s class so they are able to come into the school year feeling a bit more prepared and excited.
Celebrate Long-Lasting Memories
Lastly, Szajner shows educators how they can use the Seesaw platform to celebrate their class’s accomplishments in order to create memories that their students will cherish and remember. The close of the school year is the perfect time to reminisce on what went well during the year and what great things are to come in the future. Consider celebrating friends by encouraging students to interview each other about their year or complete interactive tasks like “My Awesome End-of-Year Journal” or “Send Off to Summer” that review all that was learned over the course of the school year and celebrate the start of the summer season. Creating a unique slideshow featuring students and activities from the past year is also a great way to encourage the class to reflect.
The last month of school is an exciting time, so don’t rush toward summer too quickly. Remember that now is the time to make every day count—and if you’re in need of a bit of inspiration, check out Kris Szajner Learn with the Expert webinar on fun ways to use Seesaw at the end of the year.
Looking for all this helpful information in one place? Access all of these activities and additional Seesaw lessons to end the school year by grade level in our Fun Ways to Use Seesaw to End the Year handout here!
FOR MORE, WATCH LEARN WITH THE EXPERT WITH KRIS SZAJNER
Learn With The Expert: Fun Ways to use Seesaw at the End of the Year
Kris Szajner shares thoughts on how educators can leverage Seesaw to make the end of the school year exciting!
