Empowering Learners - Seesaw

1.  Empowering Students With Technology

Throughout this school year our blog post will be featuring technology tools that empower student learning.  A strong resource for understanding these possibilities comes to us from the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE), which has created a student centered set of standards that represent much of Pennridge's focus on technology.

This month we have focused on the "Empowered Learner".  We will focus on tools that provide student choice and voice within their classroom activities.  Check out last weeks post on Nearpod if you missed it!

This week's feature: Seesaw

Few applications empower student learning like Seesaw.  Students are encouraged to reflect upon their learning, illustrating growth as well as the challenges they have faced and overcome.  In addition, the end result is a online portfolio of their learning that really demonstrates how technology can give students the tools to grow academically, socially, and emotionally.

While we have focused on Seesaw quite a bit already, we wanted to spotlight the Activities Library, which provides fantastic ideas that are already developed for you - just make a copy and send it to your students.  You can also customize activities very easily to fit your needs.  Some examples:

I am an Empowered Learner - Although slated for 2-3 graders, this activity could be easily adjusted for goal setting at the beginning of the year.

Global Read Aloud Activities - Seesaw is a great way to introduce the Global Read Aloud Initiative in October.

• Duck! Rabbit! Reading Response - While this excellent primary lesson does focus on a specific text, the thought provoking questions could be customized to most any picture book character.  This book and many other books are available electronically through the Bucks County Library System as another resource to the fantastic libraries we have at Pennridge.
• Make Predictions About Your Book - Although focused on a specific text, this activity can be customized to fit any book.
• Reading Storyboard - A fantastic text reflection activity for any text and most age groups.

The last 2 posts today are review from past posts, but are beginning of year reminders!

2.  Moving Photos from iPad to a Computer

District management software has locked down the iPads for connecting to computers.
Please load Google Drive (found in the Self-Service app) onto the iPad that has the pictures, and open Google Drive with your Pennridge Account. You can then select all the photos and save them to your Google Drive. Next open Google Drive on your laptop and all the photos are now available to you.  Click here for a printable tutorial on how to do this!

 Click here for printable iPad Rule posters to hang in your classroom.

3.  Please be sure your students are appropriately signing-out of laptops. 

Students should click the Start Window at the bottom left and find their name at the top.  Then, students will select Sign-out.  At this time, it is very important NOT to close the lid of the laptop until the signing out process is complete.  Some students are rushing this, and therefore, the device is not successfully signing out and the device will run slower until properly signed out.