A Perfect Pair

A Perfect Pair

I recently visited a fourth-grade teacher's classroom because she wanted some ideas on how to give her students a voice in their projects. She's a fabulous teacher who allows her kids to choose their "Genius Hour" projects.  She gives them a choice of any topic and creation tool, then lets them fly. In other words, she gives them the floor but not a ceiling. The projects that had come in so far looked outstanding, but she really wanted to hear the passion in their voice talking about their projects without having all 33 children stand up in front of the class for a separate presentation. 

I showed her how to install the Google extension called ScreenCastify which allows a student to record their voice as they click, draw, or point to items on the screen. Now her kids can narrate through their newly created Google slide decks or websites.  Once the video is recorded, it is automatically stored in Google drive.  From there, it can be uploaded into Seesaw Learning Journal, where students can see and comment on each other's work. The best part is that Seesaw also allows each student to print a QR code to post on the wall at Open House, allowing their audience to grow even more!

It all started with this question:

How can I not sit through 33 presentations, but still give my students choice and voice while receiving feedback from an authentic audience?

The answer: ScreenCastify and Seesaw, a perfect pair!