ISTE Standards

I have been using Remind to connect with parents and students about various things in my math class. I have had a hard time getting all parents and students to participate.

1) Are there any features in Remind that make it more attractive?

2) Is there anything out there that might be worth trying instead of Remind?

------------------------------
Jaime Hutchins
Teacher
Middletown City Schools
------------------------------

Hello,

My daughters teacher used Remind last year, and so did my building principal. I thought it served the purpose of relaying info fairly well, but didn't encourage two-way communication. I know a lot of teacher s have had success with Class Dojo, so you might check that out. In my district we use Infinite Campus, and there is a way to send mass emails to parents through that. That is what I used and it was successful. However, again there was no two-way communication. I wonder if you could create a class webpage, on something like Google Sites, where parents can communicate ore freely with you. Then you could possible put class pictures and projects that might keep the parents interested. Just a few thoughts!

------------------------------
Noelle Clark
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-05-2020 21:04
From: Jaime Hutchins
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

I have been using Remind to connect with parents and students about various things in my math class. I have had a hard time getting all parents and students to participate.

1) Are there any features in Remind that make it more attractive?

2) Is there anything out there that might be worth trying instead of Remind?

------------------------------
Jaime Hutchins
Teacher
Middletown City Schools
------------------------------

A couple more options for you to consider:
1) My daughter's intermediate school used Bloomz for communication. It has mobile app that is easy to use and helped me to keep on top of the messages from different teachers.
2) If your school/district uses a LMS that is probably the way to go, as it provides consistency across teachers. The district I work in is going with Schoology for Middle school and SeeSaw for elementary for the fall.

------------------------------
Janine Feil
Tech Facilitator
Arlington Heights SD25
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-08-2020 10:24
From: Noelle Clark
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

Hello,

My daughters teacher used Remind last year, and so did my building principal. I thought it served the purpose of relaying info fairly well, but didn't encourage two-way communication. I know a lot of teacher s have had success with Class Dojo, so you might check that out. In my district we use Infinite Campus, and there is a way to send mass emails to parents through that. That is what I used and it was successful. However, again there was no two-way communication. I wonder if you could create a class webpage, on something like Google Sites, where parents can communicate ore freely with you. Then you could possible put class pictures and projects that might keep the parents interested. Just a few thoughts!

------------------------------
Noelle Clark

Original Message:
Sent: 07-05-2020 21:04
From: Jaime Hutchins
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

I have been using Remind to connect with parents and students about various things in my math class. I have had a hard time getting all parents and students to participate.

1) Are there any features in Remind that make it more attractive?

2) Is there anything out there that might be worth trying instead of Remind?

------------------------------
Jaime Hutchins
Teacher
Middletown City Schools
------------------------------

Hi Jaime,

I have used remind and enjoy using it. As soon as I met parents at open house I had them subscribe on their cell phones via the app code. Students and parents had their phones out and were happy to subscribe when meeting for the first time. I would try to change the text messages up that I sent by using video, pictures, and links.   That seemed to help quite a bit. In addition, if I attended a parent conference, I would bring the remind information just to double check and determine if the parent and student was getting my messages. Plus, I would  cut and paste  my remind messages in our contact communication documentation system that stakeholders (principals, guidance, district office)  were able to access.  Lastly, I would  push out the same message in  email since people have various communication preferences.  Let me know if you have success this year with any other methods.

Denise

------------------------------
Denise Wright, M.Ed.
STEM Educator
Ocean Bay Middle School
@DenisecWright
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-05-2020 21:04
From: Jaime Hutchins
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

I have been using Remind to connect with parents and students about various things in my math class. I have had a hard time getting all parents and students to participate.

1) Are there any features in Remind that make it more attractive?

2) Is there anything out there that might be worth trying instead of Remind?

------------------------------
Jaime Hutchins
Teacher
Middletown City Schools
------------------------------

Hi Jaime,

I also teach in your district and we have been using Class Dojo with great success in our building.  Not only is it a great way to connect with parents (including a tool for translation), it is also great for classroom management (points), collaboration between teachers (sharing classes), remote learning (portfolios) and student access.  I would be very happy to zoom with you and show you what this product can do to see if it might be a good fit for you.

Terri Miller,  Technology Teacher, Middletown City Schools

------------------------------
Terri Miller
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-05-2020 21:04
From: Jaime Hutchins
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

I have been using Remind to connect with parents and students about various things in my math class. I have had a hard time getting all parents and students to participate.

1) Are there any features in Remind that make it more attractive?

2) Is there anything out there that might be worth trying instead of Remind?

------------------------------
Jaime Hutchins
Teacher
Middletown City Schools
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 7/10/2020 10:41:00 AM
From: Terri Miller
Subject: RE: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

Hi Jaime,

I also teach in your district and we have been using Class Dojo with great success in our building.  Not only is it a great way to connect with parents (including a tool for translation), it is also great for classroom management (points), collaboration between teachers (sharing classes), remote learning (portfolios) and student access.  I would be very happy to zoom with you and show you what this product can do to see if it might be a good fit for you.

Terri Miller,  Technology Teacher, Middletown City Schools

------------------------------
Terri Miller
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-05-2020 21:04
From: Jaime Hutchins
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

I have been using Remind to connect with parents and students about various things in my math class. I have had a hard time getting all parents and students to participate.

1) Are there any features in Remind that make it more attractive?

2) Is there anything out there that might be worth trying instead of Remind?

------------------------------
Jaime Hutchins
Teacher
Middletown City Schools
------------------------------

My district is also trying to decide on one platform (or two) to use PreK to 8th this year.  In the past years, different teachers were using different platforms so families with multiple students were having to check multiple locations to receive communications regarding what is happening in their child's classrooms.  Has anyone use the following platforms and would recommend one over the others: Bloomz, ClassTag, Dojo, Remind, or Seesaw.

Thanks for the reviews or recommendations!

Kirsten McLendon

------------------------------
Kirsten McLendon
Technology Coordinator
LaSalle Public Elementary Schools
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-05-2020 21:04
From: Jaime Hutchins
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

I have been using Remind to connect with parents and students about various things in my math class. I have had a hard time getting all parents and students to participate.

1) Are there any features in Remind that make it more attractive?

2) Is there anything out there that might be worth trying instead of Remind?

------------------------------
Jaime Hutchins
Teacher
Middletown City Schools
------------------------------

Hi Kristen!  I was wondering if you had anyone reply back to you with more information on using Class Tag?  Our district would like us to look into that instead of using ClassDojo this year.

Thanks so much!
Sara

------------------------------
Sara Allen
He'eia Elementary School
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 07-16-2020 09:12
From: Kirsten McLendon
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

My district is also trying to decide on one platform (or two) to use PreK to 8th this year.  In the past years, different teachers were using different platforms so families with multiple students were having to check multiple locations to receive communications regarding what is happening in their child's classrooms.  Has anyone use the following platforms and would recommend one over the others: Bloomz, ClassTag, Dojo, Remind, or Seesaw.

Thanks for the reviews or recommendations!

Kirsten McLendon

------------------------------
Kirsten McLendon
Technology Coordinator
LaSalle Public Elementary Schools

Original Message:
Sent: 07-05-2020 21:04
From: Jaime Hutchins
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

I have been using Remind to connect with parents and students about various things in my math class. I have had a hard time getting all parents and students to participate.

1) Are there any features in Remind that make it more attractive?

2) Is there anything out there that might be worth trying instead of Remind?

------------------------------
Jaime Hutchins
Teacher
Middletown City Schools
------------------------------

No, I didn't get any feedback, sad to say.  Our staff decided to go with ClassDojo from the "research" the teachers did.

------------------------------
Kirsten McLendon
Technology Coordinator
LaSalle Public Elementary Schools
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-05-2020 15:30
From: Sara Allen
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

Hi Kristen!  I was wondering if you had anyone reply back to you with more information on using Class Tag?  Our district would like us to look into that instead of using ClassDojo this year.

Thanks so much!
Sara

------------------------------
Sara Allen
He'eia Elementary School

Original Message:
Sent: 07-16-2020 09:12
From: Kirsten McLendon
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

My district is also trying to decide on one platform (or two) to use PreK to 8th this year.  In the past years, different teachers were using different platforms so families with multiple students were having to check multiple locations to receive communications regarding what is happening in their child's classrooms.  Has anyone use the following platforms and would recommend one over the others: Bloomz, ClassTag, Dojo, Remind, or Seesaw.

Thanks for the reviews or recommendations!

Kirsten McLendon

------------------------------
Kirsten McLendon
Technology Coordinator
LaSalle Public Elementary Schools

Original Message:
Sent: 07-05-2020 21:04
From: Jaime Hutchins
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

I have been using Remind to connect with parents and students about various things in my math class. I have had a hard time getting all parents and students to participate.

1) Are there any features in Remind that make it more attractive?

2) Is there anything out there that might be worth trying instead of Remind?

------------------------------
Jaime Hutchins
Teacher
Middletown City Schools
------------------------------

I'm sorry no one was able to provide any feedback on here!  The reason why I was asking is because I have always used ClassDojo in the past, but were told by our Principal to check into Tag.  From what I could find ClassTags main focus is to empower teachers to reach every parent and get better communication/engagement.  Versus ClassDojo whose main focus is creating happier classroom through managing and rewarding student behavior, meanwhile parent communication comes in second.  I guess in the virtual distance learning age, communication with parents would be my main goal when choosing a platform to utilize.  You may want to bring this up to your prinicipal as well! Best of luck!

Aloha,
Sara Allen

------------------------------
Sara Allen
He'eia Elementary School
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-05-2020 15:53
From: Kirsten McLendon
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

No, I didn't get any feedback, sad to say.  Our staff decided to go with ClassDojo from the "research" the teachers did.

------------------------------
Kirsten McLendon
Technology Coordinator
LaSalle Public Elementary Schools

Original Message:
Sent: 08-05-2020 15:30
From: Sara Allen
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

Hi Kristen!  I was wondering if you had anyone reply back to you with more information on using Class Tag?  Our district would like us to look into that instead of using ClassDojo this year.

Thanks so much!
Sara

------------------------------
Sara Allen
He'eia Elementary School

Original Message:
Sent: 07-16-2020 09:12
From: Kirsten McLendon
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

My district is also trying to decide on one platform (or two) to use PreK to 8th this year.  In the past years, different teachers were using different platforms so families with multiple students were having to check multiple locations to receive communications regarding what is happening in their child's classrooms.  Has anyone use the following platforms and would recommend one over the others: Bloomz, ClassTag, Dojo, Remind, or Seesaw.

Thanks for the reviews or recommendations!

Kirsten McLendon

------------------------------
Kirsten McLendon
Technology Coordinator
LaSalle Public Elementary Schools

Original Message:
Sent: 07-05-2020 21:04
From: Jaime Hutchins
Subject: Crowdsourcing -> Connecting with Parents & Students

I have been using Remind to connect with parents and students about various things in my math class. I have had a hard time getting all parents and students to participate.

1) Are there any features in Remind that make it more attractive?

2) Is there anything out there that might be worth trying instead of Remind?

------------------------------
Jaime Hutchins
Teacher
Middletown City Schools
------------------------------