Planners are a thing of the past. Most kids write in them, and then forget about them when they get home. During my practicum, I cannot remember how many times I’ve had to chase down kids for permission forms because they kept forgetting to bring them in. Many teachers nowadays have a system in which they can communicate information to students and parents after they head home for the day. From my experience, I have seen teachers use a daily blog system – it is the student’s responsibility to check the blog daily for homework reminders, and other resources that the teacher may not be able to “hand-out” in class, such as videos/photos, etc.
However, running a daily blog can be tough. You need to be in front of a computer with all of your thoughts in one place before you can type up something for your students tonight. With an app like Remind, teachers can send short simple messages to students and parents to remind them of certain things, share photos, etc. There are four main factors that Remind boasts in terms of connecting teachers to students/parents. They are the ability to connect: 1) Instantly, 2) Safely, 3) Efficiently and 4) Freely. One major feature of this app is security and safety. Teachers do not see any of the students or parents phone numbers, and vice versa. The teacher sets up an account and others can join the class through text, email, or online via a unique class code.
