Author: Rachelle Dene Poth
One of the most important tasks that educators have today is to facilitate a means of communicating with students and families. There are many traditional options available ranging from paper format such as quick notes sent home, newsletters, to emails and phone calls. These are still great ways to communicate and establish connections with the students and parents.
However, with so many digital options available, these traditional methods of communicating can now be converted into much faster means of sharing information.
The act of connecting and being accessible to students and parents, regardless of a difference in schedules, can be done instantly. Depending on the type of communication that you want to have for your classroom and parents, there are many possibilities to choose from. It simply takes figuring out what you hope to accomplish and to do better through this new method of communicating.
However, with so many digital options available, these traditional methods of communicating can now be converted into much faster means of sharing information.
The act of connecting and being accessible to students and parents, regardless of a difference in schedules, can be done instantly. Depending on the type of communication that you want to have for your classroom and parents, there are many possibilities to choose from. It simply takes figuring out what you hope to accomplish and to do better through this new method of communicating.
In my classroom a few years ago, I sought some help in finding ways to stay connected with the students so that when they were absent from class or had questions, that they would be able to reach me and obtain the information that they needed when they needed it. I did not want the opportunity for learning to be lost due to a lack of communication and availability. And this “disconnect” was something that I felt I needed to resolve. So I looked for ways to open up the means of communicating with students and parents.
Options for Communication
1) Celly
Once I recognized this missing element in my classroom, I looked into the options available. After doing a bit of research, I came across Celly, a messaging tool, and decided to give it a try. At first I simply used as a way to send reminders to students about what was coming up in class, what students had missed if they were absent and used it as a way for students to ask me questions. I noticed an improvement in the classroom right away. And it did not take too long to see the other possibilities of using a messaging tool.
Some of my favorites were sending a picture of a page in the textbook, a worksheet, sharing websites for study materials, and even to do fun activities like have a scavenger hunt. My uses for it have evolved over the years, and I have used it for field trips, to make sure students have a way to reach me and with the Spanish club for school. There are other groups in the school also using Celly in the same way as I did when I started: to have a way to communicate and connect when needed. I have seen so many benefits from using it in my classroom and continue to hear of the great benefits from the students themselves. When the students tell you how helpful something is, or how thankful they are to be able to ask questions and get help when needed, this is our evidence that something is truly beneficial and is being used with purpose.
Some of my favorites were sending a picture of a page in the textbook, a worksheet, sharing websites for study materials, and even to do fun activities like have a scavenger hunt. My uses for it have evolved over the years, and I have used it for field trips, to make sure students have a way to reach me and with the Spanish club for school. There are other groups in the school also using Celly in the same way as I did when I started: to have a way to communicate and connect when needed. I have seen so many benefits from using it in my classroom and continue to hear of the great benefits from the students themselves. When the students tell you how helpful something is, or how thankful they are to be able to ask questions and get help when needed, this is our evidence that something is truly beneficial and is being used with purpose.
2) Bloomz
Perhaps you need a way that can really provide better ways to connect with parents and enhance the collaboration between teachers and parents. If you have to set up meetings, want to share student progress information and keep parents informed regularly, then you may want to try Bloomz. Bloomz is another great tool which offers the ability for teachers and parents to communicate quickly, to share information about students’ progress and behavior and even send photos and videos. With Bloomz, teachers create their classes and invite parents and can instantly share information with each other and within the group.
The features available allow you to take care of many different tasks all in one place. You can upload photos of events and activities, have parents sign up for volunteering, and it helps to do away with many other traditional paper tasks such as having sign-up sheets, sending permission forms and other papers. Bloomz continues to add new features, most recently, newer features were student timelines, behavior management, and also some fun things like being able to post Valentine’s Day cards on student timelines. It also offers translation into 84 languages and many other features. If these are some areas that might help your classroom, then maybe Bloomz is where you want to start.
The features available allow you to take care of many different tasks all in one place. You can upload photos of events and activities, have parents sign up for volunteering, and it helps to do away with many other traditional paper tasks such as having sign-up sheets, sending permission forms and other papers. Bloomz continues to add new features, most recently, newer features were student timelines, behavior management, and also some fun things like being able to post Valentine’s Day cards on student timelines. It also offers translation into 84 languages and many other features. If these are some areas that might help your classroom, then maybe Bloomz is where you want to start.
3) Remind
Depending on what type of communication you are looking for, another option would be to use something like Remind. Remind has been a popular tool for communicating between students and teachers, for professional development sessions as well as conferences. It is a great tool that helps to keep groups connected, to send information quickly and even to create some some fun activities like sending out challenges to encourage participation in events and win prizes.
You can set up your own class, invite members to join and by using the different tools for notifications and settings, really create a space for sharing information and staying connected. Remind offers a way to help a school community support student success at the class level, school level, and beyond. Students can easily join their class and connect directly with the teacher for help when they need it.
You can set up your own class, invite members to join and by using the different tools for notifications and settings, really create a space for sharing information and staying connected. Remind offers a way to help a school community support student success at the class level, school level, and beyond. Students can easily join their class and connect directly with the teacher for help when they need it.
How to Decide?
Deciding where to start is not always easy, especially with so many options available, so just choose one, try it for a while, learn about the options and features and decide if it is a good fit for you and your classroom needs. If not then there are many other options out there and you will be able to find something that works best for you. Sometimes it takes longer, but don't forget to ask other colleagues and share ideas through social media in the different groups that you use to communicate. And you can even ask the students what they think it about it as well, their opinion matters.
These are also great ways to stay connected with other educators and see what's going on out there in the world of teaching and learning and what you can bring back to your classroom.
Each of these three tools are free and can be used on any device which really makes it great for communicating quickly and being accessible. And these are the goals: to be accessible to students and parents, and facilitate communication for the best interests of the students.
I use each of these tools with my different classes and I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Feel free to contact me at rdene915@gmail.com or connect with me on Twitter @rdene915, share your stories and experiences!
These are also great ways to stay connected with other educators and see what's going on out there in the world of teaching and learning and what you can bring back to your classroom.
Each of these three tools are free and can be used on any device which really makes it great for communicating quickly and being accessible. And these are the goals: to be accessible to students and parents, and facilitate communication for the best interests of the students.
I use each of these tools with my different classes and I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Feel free to contact me at rdene915@gmail.com or connect with me on Twitter @rdene915, share your stories and experiences!
