Becker Builds Knowledge

Project Findings The use of Seesaw in a classroom of 21 students showed impact on students’ academic growth, empowerment of families, and increased student engagement. The application was mainly used during the 30-40 minute whole group math block, in addition to other parts of the day. Students worked in a variety of stations during this time: independent work, group/partner work, computer work, and work with the teacher. Seesaw was used during independent work. Students chose from independent games or activities pushed out by the teacher on Seesaw. If an independent game was chosen, students used Seesaw to document their work. The online activities on Seesaw consisted of story problems and other math tasks. Throughout the implementation of this application, there were several findings. The first finding was that students showed academic growth. Seesaw allowed for individual teacher-led activities without the teacher there . The pre-recorded videos explained a story problem or mat...

Implementing a new app needs to be done slowly, not only for you, but also your students. Read on to see my plan: Pre-work: Set up account Introduce app to class and invite families to join Post some activities and model use Week 1: Model and use within math  Classwide practice accessing the app Introduce expectation of posting 1 time per week Encourage more families to connect Week 2: Continue using within math, model using during reading/writing time Check student journals - is everyone posting? If not, touch base with those students Check family involvement, reach out to specific families who are not yet connected Week 3: Continue using within math, reading and writing time, model using during literacy labs Check student journals - is everyone posting? If not, touch base with those students Check family involvement, reach out to specific families who are not yet connected Week 4: Continue using within math, reading, writing, and literacy lab...

Read on to hear how implementing Seesaw went in my classroom: Week 1 Implementation Reflection Week 1 Experiences: Students have been using Seesaw to access learning activities during math rotations. Students watch teacher created videos to walk them through a 3 act task and math problem. Students use the iPads to take photos of their work and post to their journals. Students are having an easier time accessing the website, activities, and videos the more I model and the more they practice. I had planned to practice accessing Seesaw classwide this week, but there was a snow day, early out, and I was gone one day, so it did not happen. I think this would be useful, as some of my lower students have not yet grasped how to access or post. Along with the classwide practice, I had planned to introduce the expectation of posting one time per week. I have a class list printed off so students can put a tally next to their name after they post something. This will help them remember...

Check out this short list of articles to gain more knowledge on the importance of family engagement, and how to turn it into a reality in your classroom: 1. Ankrum, R. J. (2016). Socioeconomic Status and Its Effect on Teacher/Parental Communication in Schools. Journal of Education and Learning, 5 (1), 167-175. doi:10.5539/jel.v5n1p167 “The power of communication and community engagement utilized by teachers to actively involve parents and guardians in the educational process of their children is essential to the growth of the students.” A child knows when his/her teacher does not have a relationship with their teacher and when their parent isn’t informed about their schooling. It usually affects their success in school. The socioeconomic status does have an effect and needs to be taken into consideration, but should never affect how communication is handled. We cannot assume parents know how to help their child, however we need to empower them to be partners in this process. Paren...