Simplify Parent and Student Communication with Remind

As teachers, our time is so precious because we always seem to have so little of it, yet so many things to accomplish, so you should know about Remind. It is a tool that will make communication with parents and/or students easier.

Wouldn't you love to be able to make less phone calls and contact all of your parents or students at once? Remind allows you to keep in touch with parents and/or students without them having your cell phone number or you needing theirs.

The sign up process is simple and you can use your Google login, so then there is no extra username and password to remember.

Before your users can sign up, you need to decide how many classes or groups you will have and create each one.

Because I teach high school, I have one class/group for all of my parents and then separate classes for each of the class periods I teach during the day (English 1 Period 1/2, English 1 Period 6, Creative Writing Period 4, English 1 Honors Period 7/8).

This allows me to send important messages to all of my parents at once about important dates and reminders (conferences, concerts, marking periods ending).

I set up separate classes for each period I teach so I could send out different messages as needed about homework, supplies, etc. You can always play around with just one class and add more as you go on.

Once you have created a class, there are two ways people can sign up and join that class. The first option asks the individual signing up to send a text message to the phone number listed with the message listed. Make sure the message entered is exactly what is displayed on the screen (yes they need to put in the @ symbol).

If done correctly, the service will send a text message back letting them know that enrollment was successful and asking for their name. After that, there is no reason to text that number again.

You may want to let parents and/or students know that that number is NOT your phone number and they cannot reach you through it. It is for sign-up purposes only.

You can print a PDF of this invitation to hand out to students or parents. I included it in my syllabus packet at the start of the year. You can also display it in class and give students time to sign up then or display it at Back to School Night or conferences for parents.

The second option is to encourage students and/or parents to sign up is by sending the invitation directly to their email. Simply list the email addresses of all of the individuals you want to include and the invitation with directions will be sent to them.

Once you have your classes all set up and people subscribed, on your home screen you will see all of your classes on the left and all of your subscribers on the right.

The top center is where you select who a message will be sent to (you can select multiple classes), write the message and either send it or schedule a day and time for it to be sent. The bottom center lists all of your sent and scheduled messages.

So what kind of messages do I send? To parents I send reminders about Back to School Night, report card conferences, upcoming school events (concerts, sporting events, etc.), and upcoming due dates for projects, tests, etc.

Because you can schedule the messages ahead of time means no last minute rush to notify parents of report conferences the next day. Schedule your message now, or schedule all of your messages for that kind of thing if you know the dates ahead of time, and forget about it.

To students, I send a nightly message about homework. Because I plan out my homework on a monthly/unit basis I also schedule these in advance in chunks at a time.

I also send out the occasional shout out, praise, or encouragement to a few students or to a class (you can't send messages to one individual).

Some other features that I haven't really tried out yet are the "stamps," attachments, and voice clips. When you send out a message or a message with a question, users can "stamp" to show their response. You can also attach photos, documents, or PDFs. Let's say you are reminding students and/or parents about an upcoming test; attach the review sheet to the message.

If you download the Remind app you can send voice messages, not just text messages. You don't have to download the app onto your phone though to use Remind; everything can be done online just as easily and the best part is that it is completely FREE.

I hope that you will try out Remind and that it will make at least one part of teaching easier for you!

Introducing Text Annotation Using the Gradual Release Process

A guest blog post by Lisa Jarvis, Homegrown Teacher

Students can struggle with reading for a variety of reasons: rich vocabulary, lack of background knowledge, the author's writing style. And all of these are reasons why students may struggle with O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi." Therefore, it is vital that the teacher scaffold this text.

I use a close reading activity with this short story to have students work on how to annotate a piece of text. It asks students to highlight unfamiliar vocabulary, key details about the setting, and examples of characterization. This is important as the students analyze how these elements impact the plot. Finally, this story is a great way to either introduce or review allusions to the students.

After teaching for six years, I have learned a lot about classroom management and the delivery of an effective lesson. One way in which I accomplish both of these tasks is through the gradual release process.

This process is essential in helping the students learn or understand any new concept. It follows the ME/WE/TWO/YOU pattern. This pattern can be completed within one piece of text or multiple texts.

In this example, I divide up the text and start with a think aloud. I read the text to the students and state my thoughts aloud to the students as to why I am highlighting certain elements and what/why I am writing in the margins. The key is to have students writing in the margins, not just highlighting. I continue the process as a class, with partners, and then the students finish the text by working independently.

The most rewarding part is that by the time the students get to the individual section of the activity, most feel confident enough annotate the text by themselves and do a decent job at it. I know that in a time crunched society time is of the essence, but believe me, it is time well spent! Your students will appreciate it!

Improving the Writing Process (or Why I'm Loving Google Drive)

This year I am trying to go as paperless as possible with the writing process with my students, or
perhaps a better way to say it is I am trying to go as copy-less as possible.

In the past when we were working on an essay, I would have a step by step packets put together for all of my students. These packets were great because all of the materials were done and put together at the start, no last minute creating of documents. Students who were ahead or behind had all the papers and directions they needed. Like I said, these packets were great until students lost them and days of work disappear.

This year I am not jumping right into essays. I am using the writer's workshop model to work on stories that matter with my students (that should sound familiar to all you elementary teachers using Lucy Caulkins resources).

My hope is that after writing stories and poems that connect directly to their life experiences and increased exposure to the writing process of drafting, revising, editing, and publishing, students will be able to incorporate the writing skills and techniques into later essays and larger writing assignments.

So where does the paperless/copy-less part come in? For as much of the writing process as possible, I use Google Drive. Instead of handing out paper copies of assignments, I share the document with the students on Google Drive. 

Like the packets I loved so much, everything is in one place for students, but the big difference is that students can't lose the assignment, which means their hard work never disappears and I never have to make extra copies.

Students then write their draft in Google Docs, a Google Drive app similar in function to Microsoft Word. I can comment, make suggestions for revisions, and directly edit their papers in Google Docs. 

During peer review, students can share their writing with each other using Google Docs and then make comments and suggestions.

When sharing with others, Students have the option of letting those individuals edit, comment, or just view the files they are sharing. I would suggest having students select comment so that their peers are offering suggestions rather than making direct changes to their work. This will also help you resist the temptation of fixing any errors for them.

My favorite part of Google Drive is that once a file is shared, it is always visible. There is no resending each time changes are made. 

My other favorite part is that Google Drive is connected to your Gmail account so it can be accessed anywhere. When a writing assignment is due, there is no scramble to print or excuses of "I forgot to email it."

Tip: If your students do not already have Gmail accounts and have to create them, ask them to write down their usernames and passwords on index cards. Collect those cards and hold onto them because someone will always forget their username, password, or both. Always.

If you teach lower grade students and don't want them all to have email addresses, you could create a class email address that all students could log in to in order to use Google Drive.

Google Drive allows you to create documents, but also presentation slide shows, forms, spreadsheets, etc. To learn more about these Google Apps and others, check out this summary of a recent #2ndaryELA chat about Google Apps for Educations. The summary includes teachers favorite apps and features, how they use then in the classroom, and apps and add-ons they'd like to try out next.

If you have any questions about Google Drive or want to share how you use it in your classroom, please leave a comment below.