Seesaw Refresher (2023)

I would like to start by thanking Seesaw for their continued work to develop this amazing learning platform where students can create, reflect, share, and collaborate.

Here is my thoughts after completing this year's refresher course. 

The 5 classroom needs that Seesaw provide to support my teaching and students' learning already are:

1. Instruction
2. Family Engagement
3. Digital Portfolio
4. Assessment
5. Accessible and Differentiated Learning

Seesaw is now taking it even further with a Formative Assessment Expansion where you can choose between two flexible assessment modes: practice mode and assessment mode. Real time feedback can be given in the practice mode! Teachers will be equipped with live student response data that enables responsive instruction and differentiation. 

I love that a teacher will be able to: 

• View students grouped by correct, incorrect and no response
• Check the number of attempts a student made to get the correct answer
• Uncover misconceptions by clicking into student responses

Another exciting addition is Infinite Cloning, which will allow the making of multiple copies of the object just by dragging one from the stack.

With the New Assign Flow, managing assigned activities in Seesaw will get easier! I like that due dates can now be added when scheduling activities. Another plus is that you can enable an Automatically archive activity option after due date.

Using the Present to Class button, whole class instruction will come to life on Seesaw. Present multimodal inputs on activities and lessons (like video, interactive texts, curated online artifacts, teacher modeling, and more). Presenting Seesaw activities to the whole class will be my new go-to tool for high-quality instruction!

I love and have already been using the new Scheduled Messages option. It is a real life and time saver!

Thank you Seesaw, I  am really excited about the new features!

The last 'task' to be completed in the course was to Connect with other Seesawers from around the world. This Seesaw status is to be shared on my favorite social media platforms to spark conversation.

As I would like to chat about Structured Literacy, Maths and Learner Agency, you are more than welcome to have a look at my Seesaw Activities that I created (especially for SL and Maths) and shared in the Community Library... 

https://app.seesaw.me/activities/profile/lhrlzz/marnel-van-der-spuy

~ Tama tu tama ora, tama noho tama mate - An active person will remain healthy while a lazy one will become sick. - Māori whakatauki (proverb) ~

 

Connect 2023!

I am so excited to be attending a virtual conference called Connect 2023 again this year that I completed my registration already on 7 June! It’s brought on by educators around the world to ignite inspiration, foster growth, and energize educators for the school year. There are going to be amazing keynote speakers, including Dave Burgess! The most exciting part is that it’s FREE and starts on 8 August. I would highly recommend you join this if you can! love for you to join me. It's going to be amazing to get ideas.

~ Nā to rourou, nā taku rourou, ka ora ai te iwi - With your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive. - Māori whakatauki (proverb) ~

Seesaw Paid Partnership Opportunity

 What an honour and HUGE surprise! 

~ Ehara taku toa, he takitahi, he toa takitini - My success should not be bestowed onto me alone, as it was not individual success but success of a collective. - Māori whakatauki (proverb) ~

We are so grateful for you!

Nice to receive little messages from Seesaw!

"Seesaw acknowledges all your hard work and admires your dedication! We know educators juggle many roles, but there is no one more perfect for the job than you. You’re making a difference every single day by positively impacting the lives of your students.

Thank you for all that you do and inspiring the young minds of the future!"

Seesaw Refresher (2022)

Just completed the Seesaw Refresh Course for 2022. So excited about all the features, especially student groups and messages!

I am [also] really excited about how my school uses Seesaw for Real Time Reporting to parents and the role that I am playing to make it happen!

~ "By doing what you LOVE, you INSPIRE and awaken the hearts of others". - Unknown ~ 

Try something new

 I recently came across this article saying that 'New research shows controversial Reading Recovery program eventually had a negative impact on children'.

As a trained reading recovery teacher [some years ago], I found this article very interesting and agree with many of the points raised.

As a reading recovery teacher many years ago, I kept track of the students I've had the privilege to 'help' and experienced first hand that those students who were with me for Reading Recovery did not receive any further support after being discontinued. Teachers in second grade also did not support these students' reading journey further and let them 'fall back' into the system and a "normal'' reading program. As a result, many of these students did indeed lose their gains, which was really disheartening to see. 

I am not involved in Reading Recovery any longer and have moved away from the "normal" reading program. My focus at present is on Structured Literacy and I can really see the advantage of this program - above any other that I came across thus far. I also use a book from Heggerty every day in a whole class setting. I notice that these sessions are great for introducing and reinforcing vital concepts relating to Structured Literacy.

In using Heggerty and Little Learners Love Literacy during my Structured Literacy program, I’ve managed to accomplish a huge gain in confidence and mana for my students. This program is so rewarding - for me and more importantly for students!

If I had any say in education, I would be an advocate for and encourage every teacher to use Structured Literacy as it is explicit, systematic teaching and follows a sequential order of skill introduction.

Maybe you are the change agent in your school, and ready to take that next step...

~ "The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it." - J.M. Barrie (Peter Pan) ~

This Way... That Way

A lovely way to start the new school year... with a coffee shout by the Principal on our TOD! 

I'm very excited with our revised Curriculum and the launch of it today! Information is set out in a logical and easy to use way. Our Curriculum is the stepping stones of what we do at our school.

With the current 'situation' world wide, it is clear that a normal school day and how we know it, is gone. We have to maximise impact for our students every day. Our teaching is now adaptable, to enable us to reach all students. The main thing is that we still enjoy teaching and forge [even stronger] professional relationships with our students, whilst allowing them to have fun with their learning experiences. On top of that, we need to look after ourselves and find something that makes us smile every day.

We will also be utilising Seesaw fully this year, to strengthen our school-home relationships. As I have the key role of ICT/Digital Technology Curriculum Manager, I have already ran one PD session towards the end of last year (2021) and also on our TOD to support with implementing this. Sessions to support will continue throughout and as needed.

Here are and example of two posters I created that has been shared with our school community. 

This year will also see me implementing 'Structured Literacy' in class. A new concept for me (therefore, this will be the focus of my Professional Growth Cycle), but I am very excited about the elements of such instruction. Here's my class display...

~ "Our focus is not dwelling on the past, but focusing on the future. The influence you will have looking forward, stepping stones to success for our tamariki." - Our school 'slogan' for 2022 ~