Amazing things are happening every day in our classrooms. I realized early on, however, that parents rarely hear about these amazing things.  Parents see only what we send them.  In their minds, the classroom is often a reflection of what shows up in the take home folder each night.  This is often a poor representation of what happens during the day.  We knew we needed a better way.  We needed an easy, quick way to share what was happening in the classroom.  How could we do this?  That question led us to find Seesaw.  Seesaw has been one of our strongest relationship building tools with parents.   We knew parents would love seeing what was happening each day.  We are fortunate to have two Seesaw ambassadors in our school, Jennifer Moeller and Kelly Hendrick.  They have volunteered to collaborate on this post to share how Seesaw is used to build relationships with parents in their classrooms.

Jennifer Moeller, Kindergarten Teacher:

I first used Seesaw in my classroom two years ago, but last year I can honestly say that I used it almost every single day.  I asked myself daily, “what part of our school day can I show parents?”  I uploaded pictures of the children playing, eating, working, singing, exercising, and the list goes on.

It wasn’t until one father reached out to me that I really understood what an impact this app was having with families. When he and I met for fall conferences, he told me a very personal story of how his wife had passed away a couple years ago.  As a result, he was raising his two young children on his own while finishing his last year of medical school. He broke into tears as he told me how much he appreciated me sending pictures of what was happening in the classroom, as he was not able to volunteer and see for himself.  I had his oldest child in my class and this was the first of his two children to go off to kindergarten to be independent all day. This was his way of being connected to her at school and I could help him to be connected.  I could tell that he had viewed the pictures within minutes of me sending them because he would always “like” them by adding a heart.

To my surprise, he nominated me for a B.L.O.C.K. award that spring.  This award is given by my district each year to staff that portray Benevolent Leaders Of Creativity and Knowledge. His letter was heartfelt and it expressed how much he loved and appreciated the connection I gave him by seeing the inside of our classroom each day.  Although I did not win the award that spring, I did win in the end. I know that what I’m doing with Seesaw in my classroom has a powerful connection with my students and their families because of this one child and her dad.

Kelly Hendrick, Third Grade Teacher:

As a teacher, I am constantly asking myself, “What else…?”  

-What else can I do to help my students learn?  

-What else can I do to help include my parents in our classroom days?  

-What else can I do to better myself as a teacher?  

Well, a few years back, I found a FREE classroom app that answered many of those questions…that app was Seesaw.  

At first, I used Seesaw to post photos of our classroom and pictures of the students hard at work.  But again, I found myself asking, “What else can I do with this amazing resource I have at my fingertips?”   I started posting glimpses of student work and locker art.  The parents were loving it!  They really felt as though they were a part of our classroom day by seeing their children’s accomplishments.

As time went on, I realized that I wanted this experience to be as interactive as possible, so my Seesaw entries took a turn in that direction.  One day, I posted our “Problem of the Day” for the parents to solve and their participation was through the roof.  The students went home that night with the answers in their heads while the parents were able to also talk and share their own experience in solving the same problem.  What a fun way to bring the classroom to life for everyone!

The other thing I realized was that our classroom anchor charts hold valuable trinkets of information to help parents feel connected to our current learning, so I started posting those for reference as well.  Students and parents could use them as a guide and resource at home or in the car – wherever it was convenient.  Technology can be a beautiful thing!

The list could go on and on regarding the other opportunities I have found to interactively include parents into our school day, but a few of my personal favorites are video recorded “Book Talks,” links to Educreation “Book Trailers” made by students, and live recordings of students reading aloud.  These are just some of the “non-traditional” ways to communicate all of the awesome things we do in the classroom with parents who always want to know and see more.  

I will undoubtedly continue to ask the “What else?” question as the days and years go on, but I really feel like I’ve hit the classroom jackpot with this learning journal app.

 

Tell Your Story

During a conference four years ago, educational leader Colby Sharp said, “If we don’t tell our story, who will?”  I still think about this question all the time.  We live in a time where teachers get blamed for everything.  We are bombarded with a false narrative that public education is failing.  It’s not.  However, we do need to do a better job telling our story.  We need to do a better job telling it to community members.  We need to do a better job telling it to legislators.  And we need to do a better job telling it to parents.  Seesaw has been a powerful tool for telling our story.  Amazing things are happening every day in our classrooms.

 

This article was collaboratively written by Jennifer Moeller, Kelly Hendrick, and Jim Bailey

Kelly Hendrick is a 3rd grade teacher at Hemmeter Elementary in Saginaw, MI.  She loves connecting with her students each year and learning about their favorite things.  She has a husband, Trace, and two of her own children, Liam (6) and Ellie (3).  She loves to golf with her family and browse Barnes and Noble with her kids who MAY have been known to put on an impromptu puppet show in the children’s section from time to time 🙂  You can follow her on Twitter @kel2orange

Jennifer Moeller is a kindergarten teacher at Hemmeter Elementary in Saginaw, MI. She loves getting to know her students and building positive relationships with them and their families that last for years. She has a husband, Nate, and two children, Sadie (8) and Sam (7). As a family they love to spend time together watching movies, taking weekend trips up north, and just being outside. You can follow Jennifer on Twitter @jenmoeller33