While we still have weeks until parent conferences, we know that teachers are already busy preparing to make these as positive and productive as possible. Many of our students are already using Seesaw to submit work and track their own learning, so why not take advantage of this platform when meeting with families? If you’ve enabled Family Access within Seesaw (click here for an introductory video), you’ve already been preparing by giving families a window into their child’s growth. Consider preparing for family conferences this year using Seesaw’s built-in tools. Students who keep intentional digital portfolios often take immense pride in their work.
Seesaw has developed a brief planning guide for conferences, which you can find by clicking here.
Seesaw Conference Folders
Creating a “Conference” Folder, where both you and students can select the work they would like to tag to that folder, is a great way to streamline the process of sharing work during conferences. Students and families will only see their student’s work in the conference folder. Rather than sifting through the student’s entire journal, the time can be used strategically to highlight work that students have selected (wow work), as well as samples that you, as the teacher, feel are important to share to highlight student strengths and areas for growth. Consider carving out time before conferences for students to look through their portfolio and tag items to the “Conference” Folder, thinking about why they selected those particular work samples.
To tag an item to a folder, look for the folder icon at the bottom of the student’s post. Click the icon and select the appropriate folder. Note that both teachers and students can tag the item! You can also tag an activity to a folder as you assign/schedule it, if it’s something that you know you absolutely want to be included for each student in the class.
Want to watch a short mini-training on Seesaw Folders? Click here!
Assign a “Reflection” Activity
In addition to compiling a folder of “wow work” and representative work to discuss with your students’ families, consider assigning a reflection activity to get the conversation started, and ultimately give students more ownership over their learning. After submitting, the teacher can even embed feedback and additional questions to consider right on the activity. Seesaw has created an activity template that you can customize to your liking! Find the activity template here.
Translation Tools
Remember that Seesaw has embedded translation tools for all typed text! As of now, 55 translations are available. If the typed text differs from the family’s language settings on their device, a “See Translation” button will appear so that they can have access to the typed text.
Translation options only appear for families via the Family App, and not in the student version.
Want to learn more about Seesaw’s Translation tools? Watch the short video, linked here.
BITS AND PIECES 