Seeing Seesaw

One of the highlights of my recent trip to California was a visit to Seesaw Learning Journal's home base in San Francisco. Knowing I was going to be there early August, I reached out to Seesaw through my connection as a Seesaw Ambassador. They delighted me by welcoming me in with open arms! Extra bonus: they had just moved to a bigger office to house their 44 employees the week before, so I got to see their new, expanded space. 

Their open office design had definite zones for different types of work activities, and spaces named with school-centric names. "The Playground" defined their lunch area, for instance. I got to meet several employees, and enjoyed lunch with Emily & Natalie who gave me a warm welcome indeed. We got the opportunity to talk in depth about Seesaw, and they also were able to ask me questions about what is or isn't working from my side. I also had a lengthy conversation with Co-Founder Carl Sjogreen--about Seesaw, San Francisco, and two people we both happen two know (in that "it's a small world," "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon" sort of way. It's not everyday I get to just sit and chat with a leader in edtech! Additionally, before I left, I got to take part in one of their favorite brain break activities: a very competitive game of Codenames!

Visiting Seesaw and getting a feel of both the climate and culture of this company really was one of my favorite parts of my trip--seriously, right up there with wine in Napa & biking across the Golden Gate Bridge! 😉

The rock star feel I got from this visit also stems from the fact that I am a big proponent of Seesaw. I piloted it two years ago with 2nd and 3rd grade. Last year I was able to have my school using it in 5 different grade levels. Fingers are crossed we'll get our whole Lower School on board this year. I was proud of the 74% parent connection we had last year, but want more so I can bring it closer to 100%. I've got some definite ideas in the works on how exactly to build that greater connection this year. Both parents and teachers gave rave reviews last year about the use and ease of Seesaw as a learning engagement tool and a way to showcase in class learning at home. I love that it's easy enough for Kindergartners to master the app, taking charge of creating and saving their digital work here (with only a little guidance at the beginning).

To learn more about Seesaw, start here or check out their Help Center.

To find the Seesaw Activity Library (with 1500+ activities written and created by Seesaw Ambassadors): Teachers, find it within your login of Seesaw, or check out this video from Richard Byrne at FreeTech4Teachers.

Start here if you are interested in becoming a Seesaw Ambassador.

Seesaw Logo from https://help.seesaw.me/hc/en-us/articles/203816959-Seesaw-icon-and-logo; Activities' Library Screenshot from https://web.seesaw.me/seesaw-plus/; pictures from my visit Aug. 8th to Seesaw's HQ in San Francisco, compiled using the LiPix app.