Activating Student Voice with Seesaw’s Multimodal Tools
Dr. Adam Maitland
A Success Story from Experience in Special Education Classrooms Inclusive Curriculum Recognizes Value Of All Students Dr. Adam Maitland, EdD has a wide range of experience teaching and working with students of varying ages and ability levels. He currently teaches 5th grade science and social studies in Knox County School District in Knoxville, Tennessee, and has taught high school, middle, and elementary grades and Special Education previously. He is a Doctor of Education, Curriculum and Instruction, and Instructional Leadership, and his dissertation, Investigating Evidence-Based Practices and Interventions Using Multifaceted Learning Theory for Students in a Special Education Self-Contained Classroom, on how educators can use evidence-based practices to assist Special Education students in learning the necessary skills to meet state standards. He has worked with students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as those that struggle with behavior or emotional challenges, are cognitively impaired, or medically fragile.
One Size Does Not Fit All in Education Throughout his career, Dr. Maitland has identified that a “one size fits all” approach does not apply to instruction, and that there are opportunities to use different tools and modalities to reach every student in the general education and Special Education classroom alike. By recognizing and celebrating that each student had value and contributed to the classroom, Dr. Maitland was motivated to find an edtech platform that gave every student a voice and choices. He found that platform in Seesaw, the only Learning Experience Platform for elementary that connects students, teachers, administrators, and families in a learning loop so that each stakeholder can be an active participant in a child’s educational journey. Seesaw allowed his students to select the learning tools that best fit their needs, abilities, and comfort levels, all while providing their families with insights into what they were working on inside the classroom. He was able to easily differentiate instruction to best engage his students, and customize the content to capture evidence of specific academic goals and progress to share with families and administrators.