Yesterday I felt like I put a man on the moon. I screamed in joy when I finally saw a lesson I created, assigned to the class, was actually done and posted on Seesaw from one student. I can’t even tell you the many steps that went before that moment of triumph. So many steps to just create the lesson on a new and unfamiliar platform. But the hard part was the connecting. It required an additional download of an app and then logging into a different app to use the newly downloaded app. It took two phone calls, one to a teacher much savvier on the platform and the other to the student, my guinea pig, to figure out what he was seeing on his end, so I could figure out the solution, on my end. When if finally posted, it worked, I was over the moon. I have cracked the code, I foolishly thought to myself. Now that I know what to do, I just need to get everyone else on board.

 

From there, I made a video with screencast to carefully explain exactly what to do. I uploaded it to YouTube and then sent a link to the families through Class Dojo. After several hours, I could see that only 4 people looked at the message. So I sent the message with video link through text or e-mail, whatever contact information I had on the other families.

 

Today, my grade level team posted activities we developed for the kids to do. Our first ones. I waited in anticipation for the logging on, and doing and posting to begin. I had slept restlessly the night before, as I worried about the difficulties students would have logging on. I waited for an hour or two for evidence that more kids made it to the moon.  Nothing. No one. Not even the kid who made it through the day before. So much effort and so little evidence that it is working. I am frustrated with the high of learning, creating and the low of it now getting to the intended audience.

 

From the digital backpack, Clever, I could see on my end that students were logged in, just not on the actual app that delivers their activities, Seesaw. So I quickly sent messages to the kids that were in Clever, the digital backpack, with what to do to get to the app, Seesaw. More nothing. No one. By mid-afternoon, I decided to go old school and create step by step written directions with simple language and clear screenshots.

 

I have just gotten back from the post office, where I dropped in the snail mail bucket Clever badges and step by step directions on how to log onto Clever (digital backpack), how to download Seesaw (Lesson delivery and response app) and how to do an activity in Seesaw. Earlier I joked with my husband, that when this was all over perhaps I could get a job in tech support. Today, I am not so sure. I no longer feel like the man is on the moon. More like the rocket went up and then exploded in mid-air.