Seesaw

• How do families use Messages
• How to manage family account notifications
• How do family members receive SMS notifications

Parents new to Seesaw will automatically receive an invitation to join Seesaw and connect their student(s) accounts.  Please be sure to check junk mail.

• Invite families to use the Seesaw app (App Store or Google Play) on their personal devices. Parents can receive messages in their preferred language! Translation resources
• Teachers: Welcome families with an introduction video! Click to download these instructions.
• View Seesaw Help Center page: How to Invite Parents and Families for information on:
  • How do I invite families?
  • What do families see when they are invited?
  • How do I view the status of invited family members?​​​​​​​

• Getting started with Seesaw for Families
• Navigating Seesaw as a family member
• How do users switch between Seesaw accounts?
• How does a family member add an additional student

•  How do families save and download their child's work?
• Seesaw app FAQs for families and students
• How do I view my child's Journal
• Account Switching FAQ

1. Go to Webdesk and launch the Seesaw app.

2. Sign in to your Seesaw account
3. Click on "I'm a Teacher."
4. Select "Sign In with Google".  (Accept the prompts to connect with your Google account.)

Seesaw Activity Workflow (Create, assign, approve, etc.) View this resource:

How to create, edit, and assign Activities in Seesaw

Assigning Seesaw Activities in Google Classroom

📅Seesaw Dailies - Interactive monthly activity calendar. Dive into ready-to-assign activities and lessons that will support your instruction all month long! View this resource: https://web.seesaw.me/classroom-dailies

💾Save, copy, and/or edit an Activity from Curriculum - Watch 3 min. Video 🎦 

📚Find and Save an Activity from the Library

1. Tap the Library Button at the top. 
2. Browse the Seesaw Library, School and District Library, and/or the Community Library.
3. Find an activity you like, and tap the 💗heart icon to save the activity. Lessons will appear in your My Library tab. 

📔Create or Edit an Activity from My Library

1. Tap the My Library Button. 
2. To modify an activity, tap 3 dots ⠇and tap Copy and Edit Activity
3. To Create an activity, tap +Create Activity or Assessment (** check out new activity options such as Creative Canvas or Assessment)
4. Design an activity that leverages multimodal features of Seesaw such as audio, video, images, drawing, notes, link, uploads, and more!

Archive Class Activities to keep your Seesaw feed manageable, particularly when new students join your class later on in the year.  Please note, student responses for the activity are still visible in Student and Family accounts.

See the Seesaw Support page: How do teachers archive an Activity for additional information.

**All Rostered Classes will be automatically archived before the start of the next year.

As a "Seesaw for Schools" member, PISD teachers can add up to 20 co-teachers. 

1. Open Class Settings: Tap your profile icon, select your class, and click the wrench icon.
2. Send Email Invitation: Tap Manage Teachers, type in your co-teacher's email address, and click Invite teacher.
3. Accepting the Invite: The co-teacher will receive an email containing an activation link.

Watch this 5-minute video to learn how to:

• Add co-teachers to your class
• Support your workflow with folders
• Share and modify activities
• Manage classes and settings

Seesaw AI tools, including: question assistant, translate, autograding and feedback, reading fluency assessment, read-with-me narrated passage tool, and more!

Using the Question Assistant for creating Formative Assessment questions

How to use the Read-with-Me tool

Assessment:

These lightweight assessments allow teachers to frequently and quickly gauge student understanding throughout a content unit.  Save time and get insights with a question generator and auto-grading while supporting all students with multimodal tools. 

Also, view related support pages: 

• Creating and adding Formative Assessment questions
• Formative Assessment student experience
• Formative Assessment Reporting
• Using the Question Assistant for creating Formative Assessment questions

Feedback:

• Send back work with actionable feedback and monitor student progress with Seesaw Gradebook
• TEKS have already been uploaded to your campus accounts.

Check out this One-Pager for K-2 and 3-5 ready-made activities to use across content areas.

Go directly to the collection with this link.

*Classroom teachers will see their homeroom class rostered to them.  

*Teachers can also create classes or import a class from Google Classroom. 

To create a Class:

1. Go to the Left Navigation 
2. Click on  the plus sign (+) next to "My Classes". (Watch 4 min. video🎦) 
3. To roster via Google Classroom, click on "Import from Google Classroom".
4.  To manually create a class, complete prompts (Name class, choose grade level, etc.) and then click the check at the top right.

To Add Students:

1. Click on the class to open class dashboard.
2. Click on "+ Students" to view pop-up window.
3. Click "Add Students" to view manage students window.
4. Click "Add Students" and enter student names to click "Add students to class".

Curriculum Connections

Friendly Reminder: All Seesaw lessons from the Seesaw Library are supplemental and should be used to support core instruction and reinforce concepts that have been introduced to students. Each Seesaw lesson listed addresses the standard and helps build towards mastery.

Envisions Math TEKS Alignment: 

Check out the District created Seesaw activities and assessments in the Curriculum Planner!

Heggerty Pre-K Standards Alignment:  

🔗Reach out to your curriculum coordinator for a list of Pre-K standards-aligned Seesaw Lessons!

Seesaw partners with YouTube Player for Education to allow teachers to embed videos, ad-free and safely within the platform.  

Embedding YouTube videos in Activities (Seesaw How-to page).

Getting Started with Gradebook

How to View and Share Progress Reports in Seesaw

Students and/or Teachers using iPads?

• On a PISD district-managed iPad, first install the Seesaw app from the Jamf Service Center app (NOT via the App Store). Apple App Store is disabled for district-issued iPads.
• Students must sign-in to the app by logging in with Google (signed into Google with PISD credentials) or by launching Seesaw from Webdesk.

Create and View a Journal Post:

1. Tap + Add > Post Student Work
2. With the 📷 Photo tool, take a selfie and use the tools on the canvas to create a welcome post
3. Tap the ✅ green check and select All Students (Or: Save it as a draft and finalize it later.
4. View the post in the Journal tab, calendar view, and student view.

** Opt: Click the 3 dots and Pin to top,                

**Opt: Comment or Like a student entry.

5. Click on the ribbon with a star to save pieces of student work to the highlights folder.

When to Use the Green +Add Button:

Students Use When...

• Directions are given outside of Seesaw
• Creative Spontaneous responses not connected to a Seesaw Activity

Teachers Use in Order to Post...

• Capture learning and activities in the classroom
• Resources for students to view (e.g. morning video, read-aloud stations)
• Discussion questions for students to answer in the comments (Enable comments in 🔧)
• Share and celebrate great student work (Click three dots on the post > Save)

🍡Check out Fonemas Fantasticos and Fonetica Fenomenal Collections, which feature pedagogically appropriate approaches to learning Spanish phonics.

🚩Newcomers Collection: All lessons are structured the same. “Show what you know” supports the speaking component of TELPAS.

🏫 Lesson Templates: Plantillas de Instrucción collection.

📚 Fiction Books Collection: Available in English and Spanish

📜TELPAS Flyer

Seesaw Messages allow for ongoing communication with students and families that builds a positive environment to support student learning, with trust and safety in mind.

Translation:

Translation is now available in 101 languages in Messages! If a message is written in a language that is different from your device's preset language, a View Translation option will appear below the message. (From the Seesaw website - Are Translations Available for Messages?)

Messages:

• Seesaw Guide to Messages for Teachers
• How to Schedule Messages

• More Links for Messaging and Announcements

FAQs for Messaging - support page

• Can teachers see who has viewed the message?  Yes!
• Can I share a student's progress report with family? Yes!
• Can I create one-way communication with families? Yes! 
• Can I schedule messages to be sent at a later date? Yes!

How to Manage Global Notifications:

1. Go to your profile at the top left, click on the gear.
2. Click on ⚙ Account Settings.
3. Go to the Class Notifications section, and set office hours and notifications:
   • Toggle off Email Notifications (also push notifications and SMS notifications) if you do not want to receive emails and other notifications.
   • Bonus: Set your Office Hours to limit notifications, parents will receive an away message.

How to Manage Class Settings:

1. On the Class homescreen, click on the wrench 🔧next to class name. 
2. Click on Manage Teachers to add/remove co-teachers
3. Go to Students section to manage setting options such as:
   •  Create student groups (makes differentiation easy)
   • Students to like or comment
   • Students see each other's work
   • Require approval
   • Item editing (recommend turning off: Allow students to edit who is tagged in posts)
   • Enable Sample student (recommended)
4. Go to Families section to manage options such as:
   • Manage families and view join status
   • Family likes, comments and sharing
5. Click on Folders to manage Folders options

Maintaining student privacy is an ongoing effort that requires vigilance and collaboration among educators, students, and parents. Here are some suggestions to support a successful privacy strategy when using Seesaw.

1.    Approval Process: In class settings, confirm that "New items require approval" is toggled on (this is the default setting) to ensure that student posts require teacher's approval before they are uploaded to the journal and made visible to connected family members. This allows educators to review and ensure that the content aligns with school policies and doesn't compromise students' privacy.

2.    Designated Recording Area: Create a designated recording area in your classroom where students can record without distractions. Use dividers and screens, or even have a wall behind the student to provide a visual barrier, ensuring that only the intended subject is in the frame.

3.    Headphones with Microphones: Your CTA might have a supply of headphones that have built-in microphones. This helps minimize ambient noise and ensures that only the student's voice is captured.

4.    Monitor Comments: If you choose to toggle on "Enable student comments", regularly review and moderate comments on students' posts. Remove or address any comments that violate privacy or safety guidelines. 

5.    Teach Digital Citizenship: Educate students about digital citizenship and responsible online behavior. Emphasize the importance of not sharing personal information, both in audio and video recordings and in written comments. 

6.    Teach Privacy Etiquette: Educate students about the importance of respecting each other's privacy during recording sessions. Emphasize not interrupting or intruding on others while they record. 

7.    Intentionality: You are NOT required to approve every single post for parents to view. Be intentional about when it would be appropriate to share progress with connected family members. 

Media types supported:

In addition to leveraging tools embedded in Seesaw, the program supports adding outside media such as photos, videos, audio files, drawings, notes, PDFs, and links to Seesaw journals.

You can also add work created using Google apps like Docs, Slides or Sheets directly into Seesaw portfolios! Seesaw will automatically convert files into PDFs for easy viewing.  Learn more about this integration here.

Supported File Types 

• .jpg,      .jpeg      .png     
• .mov     .mp4      .mp3     .m4a
• .pdf       .ogv       .wav      .webm

Length / File Size Limits

• Audio Annotation on Item: 5 min
• Audio Comment: 2 min
• Video Length: 5 min 
• Video, Audio, or PDF File Size: 250 MB. File larger than 250 MB? View our tips to resize files. 
• Photo File Size: 1 MB
• Photos and videos are automatically resized by Seesaw to 2000 px in the longest dimension. 

Seesaw Resources

New Seesaw Resources:

• 🌟Fostering Joyful Learning Experiences with Seesaw 
• Chromebook Best Practices
• iPad Best Practices
• 50 Free Seesaw Activities and Resources for Every Kind of Classroom (We Are Teachers Site).

Seesaw Activity Collections:

• Formative Assessment Inspiration Resources
• Instructional Templates
• Checks for Understanding

Assessment Resources:

• Seesaw: Get your Students STAAR Ready Resource

1. Homeroom teacher adds them as a co-teacher (instructions for adding a co-teacher are on this page). 

• AMPED/SPED/etc. teachers can create their own classes. It's easiest to create a Google Classroom class with specific students and then create a class in Seesaw and import the Google Classroom roster. However, it's ideal to have the homeroom teacher add AMPED/SPED/etc. teachers to their classrooms as a co-teacher. 
• Adding a co-teacher. If the classroom teachers add AMPED/SPED/etc. teachers as co-teachers to their classrooms, then the co-teachers may assign activities to specific students, groups of students, and message parents.  

 2. Creating folders is ideal for managing activities assigned to a class. When the AMPED/SPED/etc. teacher assigns an activity to a specific student or to a student group, he/she can tag the folder when assigning activities. Teacher and co-teacher can view and approve posts by folder.

Resources for using Seesaw with Google Classroom

• Sharing Seesaw activity in Google Classroom
• Importing Google Classroom into Seesaw
• Uploading Google Docs & Slides into Seesaw
• We Already Have Google Classroom. Why Do We Need Seesaw? This article by Tim Cavey explains so masterfully the merits of integrating Google Classroom and Seesaw. 

Seesaw in the Secondary Classroom 

It is an excellent tool to help students explain their thinking in a variety of ways, use technology, and for the teacher to use that knowledge to help students make connections to the content. It works well on any platform (Chromebooks, PCs, mobile devices). 

This article, Seesaw in the High School Classroom, shows how a once skeptical teacher gave Seesaw a try and now loves using it with her high school students because of how it positively impacts their learning.

Seesaw Teacher Tips:

• In your Webdesk Teacher Console/Backpack, add the Seesaw app in your student's MyBackpack.
• Invite families to use the Family Seesaw app. See the slideshow on this page, starting on Slide 19: Getting Families Started with Seesaw.  Translation resources

Good news! You have continuous access throughout the summer.

🌞Get Ready for Summer

• If you plan to assign summer activities in Seesaw, we recommend adjusting some settings.  Click on the wrench (settings) and turn OFF the following:
  • Students can see others' work
  • New items require approval

📚Create Collections  in Your Library

• Organize, categorize, and evaluate activities in your Library
• To create a Collection: In My Library, scroll down to My Collections and click Create
• To organize activities, click on Activities Not In Collection, and click Organize to add to the Collection.

👪Family Download Student Journal  

• Connect with families - +Families, turn on family access, enter emails
• Families get an email with link to download journal archive as soon as class is archived.

📋Archive Class (watch 1 min. Video🎦) 

• Classes will be archived at the end of the year.
• To manually archive: Wrench Icon > Archive (Be sure student email/ID is linked)!
• *** Do not delete anything, ONLY archive!!
• *** Seesaw Admin will merge accounts for portfolios. 

💡Archive Seesaw Activities (opt)

• To archive Activities: go to Activities > 3 dots > Archive Activity 
• All activities in your library will still be available for future classes.
• Helpful for decluttering the class feed or for resetting class for the new semester.  All student responses remain in the Archived folder. 

* Seesaw support & 5 End of Year Seesaw Must Dos for Teachers 

* Seesaw End-of-Year Chcklist

For more clean-up tips on Google Classroom and Google Drive, visit our End-of-Year Clean-Up Tips page: pisd.edu/eoy

Actively participate with teachers, classes, and students and gain data-driven insights to improve engagement.

Resources for Administrators

Administrators Support Center - Manu of Topics

Watch this short 15-minute video to get started.

Principals are listed as "Admins" at their campus. 

1. Launch the Seesaw app from Webdesk. 
2. Select I'm a Seesaw for Schools Administrator. 
3. Click on Administrator Sign in with Google.

📊NEW: District & School Engagement Dashboards

🔍Admin Dashboard Overview

• Seesaw Help Center webpage: How to Use the School Dashboard
• View this 5 min. video to learn about the Admin Dashboard.

How to Add School Administrators in Seesaw

1. Navigate to the Administrator Tab. 
2. Tap Add Administrator.
3. Enter the name, job title, and email address of the administrators you'd like to invite.
4. The newly invited admin will need to check their email and accept the invite in order to access your school dashboard. 

🔊Messages for Newsletters & Announcements (with Translation)

Learn how to manage message settings, get visibility analytics, and streamline communication for family engagement.

• Using Seesaw Messages: Administrator
• Watch this 5 min. video:

Messaging: Translations

Support Families by leveraging Seesaw's translation feature in Messages. This is available on any device that is set to a language other than English. View this Seesaw Help Center page: How to translate Text in Seesaw for more information.  

Messaging: School Wide Settings

• How do Admins set school-wide message settings?
• View this 2-min. video. Customize message settings for your school. 

• Student/Family conversation settings
• Teacher and Administrator settings

Messaging: Admins can view all messages.

• How do Administrators View or Remove School Messages?

• View this 1-min. video to find out how.

Messaging: Parents cannot initiate conversations with teachers

The Seesaw messaging tool is wonderful for sending announcements and for utilizing the automatic translation feature. Parents will not be able to initiate conversations with parents.  This option has been disabled at the district level.

Messaging: 4 Tips For Administrators

Leverage Seesaw for your school-wide communication to streamline information for families, to celebrate successes, and to build community.

1. Create Announcement Groups (Click on Pencil, select "New Announcement," and create groups):   
   • All teachers and families
   • All students, teachers, & families
   • All Families (PTA, Teacher appreciation messages, etc.)
2. Name your Conversation (Announcement group) (Click "Edit Conversation Name" after the first) message is sent.
   • All School Announcements (teachers & families)
   • All School Student Announcements (students, teachers, & families)
   • All Families
3. Track views - see the total number of views as well as specific viewers.
4. Easily reference communication thread archive - view saved communication log.

Learn how to manage school-wide settings.

• How to Manage School-wide Settings

• Messages School Settings for Admins