2 teaching apps that will save you time and energy! Seesaw meets Explain Everything

Marking and checking student work after every.single.lesson is almost impossible. There are not enough hours in the day to continually collect books, provide top notch feedback and return them within a reasonable time frame. This issue is universal for teachers, and one of the main reasons we all end up carting tens of books home with us each day, to mark while watching reruns of Seinfeld or if you're so included, The Bachelor. 

Over the last 5 years, I have dreamed of clawing back a few of those hours so I can watch my TV in peace,  preferably in a horizontal position, under a blanket!

Have I finally achieved this? For the most part, YES! Here's how!

A lot of teachers will already be familiar with Seesaw, the digital platform that allows students and teachers to post images, videos and typed notes onto a shared portfolio. 

I've been using Seesaw for years and had a lot of positive feedback. Parents love connecting to their child's learning and students love the ability to publish work to a wider audience. As a teacher and lover of all things assessment, I'm constantly using Seesaw for peer assessment. 

Here's an example of a writing task I did earlier this year. Students wrote this description after watching a short clip from Harry Potter (Diagon Alley scene) and after reading the J.K. Rowling excerpt. 

Underneath you can see how Bella provided feedback using 2 stars and a wish! 

Seesaw is the perfect platform for peer assessment because, as the teacher, I approve all posts and comments, meaning that if feedback is inaccurate, I can conference with students and they can edit comments before being seen by the writer!

Through this process of giving and receiving feedback, students are engaging with writing at a much deeper level. This has made such a difference, short and long term, to the quality of their writing and their ability to reflect and edit their work.

Seesaw is a great platform on its own and can be used in a multitude of ways. However, what I'm suggesting is your way to more peaceful TV watching, and involves not only seesaw, but also Explain Everything.

Explain Everything is an iPad app where students can draw, import videos and pictures and make voice recordings. These functions allow students to explain ideas and concepts, such as identifying angles in art, and record an accompanying explanation. 

Here is a video created using Explain Everything that was later published to Seesaw. 

What's fantastic is that students who struggled during the classroom lesson or needs more practice, now have access to a whole range of kid-friendly tutorials on Seesaw. 


As a teacher, this clip provides the perfect snapshot of student learning and gives me all the evidence I need to plan future lessons! What's more, students are much more likely to showcase the fullest extent of their knowledge because of the high level of engagement and their desire to explain their understandings to a wider audience. 

Working mathematically - TICK!

Given that I can access all of this information on my phone, and let's face it, provide feedback much faster through typing, using Explain Everything and Seesaw together, is a time saver and (ultimately) a life saver! As a part of my practice, I also require students to comment on my feedback, meaning I know they have actually  LOOKED at the feedback! 

While I know it will not be possible to use Explain Everything and Seesaw for every single lesson, you would be surprised how often they compliment your lesson sequences. 

Below I have some examples of how I have used explain everything so far this year.

Explain Everything: Area strategy (multiplication)

Explain Everything: Area & perimeter

I hope these suggestions prove helpful in your classroom and that you can claw back some of those precious hours to use how ever you see fit!

Jessica