#5 – Communication (TLC) Tools

 

When it comes to connection with students, parents, and the world, it is important to find a method that is effective for everyone. Two methods I want to discuss are Remind and Class Dojo.

 

Remind is one of my current go-to tools. I coached many teams and one way we would communicate is through the use of this tool.

 

How this tool works is by providing communication to students and parents where they are. Meaning that reminders and other class-related (or team related) announcements can be sent directly to each parent’s phone (and sometimes the student’s phone if they are allowed to have one at their age). 

Simple to use

If your community can text, they can use Remind.

Two-way messaging

A direct line between the people who matter most to student success.

Built for education

Making communication easier for educators—not more complicated.

All that needs to happen in order to set this up is to have each recipient (whoever wants to receive the reminders) text the generated number the class code for the class in which they want to join. Then, that member will receive any and all updates sent to them from a one-way number that they cannot reply to. This protects the teacher by allowing them to not give out their personal number and this also alleviates the need for paper flyers, paper calendars, and paper reminders sent home with your students.

 

Being a form of one-way communication is great, but there is also the option to actually engage in two-way communication with both parties’ numbers being kept private. I like this because the teacher and parent are protected and not required to share their real phone number with anyone except the remind company, and they are allowed to communicate quickly. I say quickly because some parents, at least the ones that I have interacted with, usually do not prefer email, and having the ability to text any quick questions is very helpful.

 

Because of how easy this tool is to use, I can definitely see myself using this in the classroom in order to communicate with my students and their families. I might even see myself looking into the paid version if I think it will benefit my students and their families greater.

I also love how versatile this tool is, you are not confined to just school/families, you can use it for teams, clubs, and even a group of friends!

The paid version has some features like voice calling, long messaging, and even community engagement statistics that the free version does not.

The other tool I like for communication is Class Dojo.

 

Here’s a video explaining Class Dojo:

 

The reason I like this tool is mostly because of how simple it is to use. It is easy to set up, it is easy for parents to join using any device, and it even translates messages into 30+ languages in order to reach as many families as possible.

Here's another video on how Class Dojo can provide parents with peace of mind while they are away from their student.

With the many features this tool has I can definitely see myself using this tool in my future classroom. It is so versatile because of the many things it can accomplish through the use of just one app. I love that you can communicate with the parents and provide them with photos of their students performing in the classroom.