Using Seesaw as a way to develop relationships with whaanau

Date: 22nd/July/2018 Reflection: Using Seesaw as a way to communicate and build relationships with whanau

The What? A description of the incident/experience with just enough detail to support doing your “So what?” section. Description about who, what, why, when, where

Since we have adopted the use of Seesaw, the online portfolio, the response and the interactions with the whanau have been very high and positive. As I used something similar in the previous centre I worked at, I knew that this was going to make a great change in the way we build relationships with our whanau and let them know how much I know about their children as well as the fact that parents are now able to see what the children are learning at school. For the last few months, I have been encouraging all of the families to join Seesaw so that they can see the updates on what the children are doing. I have been talking about the Seesaw in the classroom, so that the children also understand how this is used by the families. Some children ask me to take photos of their creations, and send it to their family through Seesaw. I would really like the children to be doing this independently in the future. The great thing about Seesaw is that the app is on the family member’s phone so that the parents/family members will get the notifications as soon as I post an item. Some parents comment on posts which create relationship building as some families share stories about their children and interests. Family members who do not live in Hamilton and do not get to see the children often really value Seesaw so that they feel connected in the child’s lives and what he/she is learning/playing at school.

So what? This is the sense-making section that asks you to surface general meaning, significance, your position/viewpoint: actions; emotions (pre-during-post)

I really enjoy the use of Seesaw and how I can develop deep and meaningful relationships with the whanau. As the individual post is private, this opens a way to interact and it results in both us the parties developing each other’s knowledge about the child, I think that is the most wonderful thing about using Seesaw. It is a way to enhance my relationships with our whanau. It lets the whanau know how much I know about the child, and also it becomes a great platform to share new knowledge with the whanau. For example, as we endeavour the play based learning philosophy, it is important to share the significance of the play based using examples I see in my classroom, and talk about why this is important for children’s development. It becomes a platform to get to know each other among whanau and celebrate their children’s learning together.

Now what? This section makes connections from the experience/ incident to further actions. For example, what would you do differently/the same next time? How come? What are key points, lessons to share with your colleagues, network and/or group outside the network? (idea, product, process, concept?) how will you do this?

I will keep using Seesaw and aim to get all of the families to join the Seesaw. I only have a few more families to join. My next aim is for the children to be able to use the Seesaw from the Ipads. They will need to learn the process of scanning the code, and then taking photos, putting descriptions and uploading their post. This is something I would really like to work on with the children.