With Seesaw, home-to-school communication is centered on students and their learning. From video reflections to hands-on group projects, students of all ages are empowered to add work to their journal where family members can see it and leave comments of encouragement. With some recent updates, connecting with families on Seesaw is now even easier than before. You can connect families using their email address or phone number. Or, you can send paper invites home with students.
Let’s take a look at how quick and easy it is.
Turn On Family Access
First thing to do is make sure “Enable Family Access” is turned on. To do this you go to the Class Settings and scroll to the options under “Families”. Then toggle the “Enable Family Access” to on.
Click the +Families Button
Next you will need to go into the “Add Families” settings. To do this, look at the bottom right of the screen and click the +Families button.
Invite Families
All that is left to do is decide how you want to invite families to the Class Journal. There are 3 different ways and teachers can use one option or a combination of the 3.
Method 1: If you have access to family emails or phone numbers just type those in next to the appropriate student and the family will get an email or text with a link to connect to their child’s Seesaw Journal.
Once you’ve added email addresses, you can look back at any time to see the family members who have connected to each student journal. You can always remove connected family members through your Class Settings menu.
Method 2: If you do not have access to family emails or phone numbers, or if you are looking for a translated invite option, you can invite families with a QR code. In order to invite families with a printed QR code, choose “Print Invites”
QR Codes will be Generated for you to print. There will be a different QR code for each student’s family.
Method 3: You can share a class link in an email of your own. This link can be copied and pasted in an email you create that is personalized for your student’s families.
What Do Families See When They Are Invited?
Depending on which method you choose to invite families they will receive an email, Text message or QR code. Family members will be taken to the http://www.app.seesaw.me and asked to make a Seesaw account or log in if they already have one. If they receive an email it will appear in their personal email inbox. Family members will need to choose to connect to their child’s journal.
Family members will be asked to sign in or create a new account.
When they receive a text message, it will appear on their mobile device. When family member open the message, they will see directions on how to connect to their child’s journal.
If family members do not have the Seesaw Family App, they will be prompted to download the app from the Apple App Store for iOS devices, The Google Play Store for Android devices or Amazon for Kindle Fires.
When family members receive a QR Code, they can use their device’s camera or the camera in the Seesaw Family App to connect to their child’s account.
- When family members open their camera, they can take a picture of the QR code. They will be prompted to open app.seesaw.me in Safari or other browser on their device.
- At this time, family members will confirm their connection.
- Once family members confirm the connection, they will be prompted to sign in or create an account.
Start Building Connections
Getting families connected to Seesaw is quick and simple and can be done in ways that works for you as the teacher. Once families are connected to their child’s Seesaw Journal, you can start building those home-to-school connections that can help empower your students’ learning. Let’s get connected.
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