Communicating with Remind

Ready to start a new school year? I know summer vacation always seems to fly by so fast, but I’m learning those years of teaching can add up quickly, too! How can I already be starting my 20th year?! One of the great benefits of teaching is the ideas you get from your colleagues, and today’s post is about one of those cool “teacher tips.”

Remind Me Again

A colleague in 2nd grade encouraged me to use Remind with my class as an easy and efficient way to communicate with parents. I had heard about this website before, and even briefly looked into it before moving on to other things. I’m definitely going to give Remind a try this year. (It used to be called Remind 101, but they have recently re-branded themselves to just Remind.)

Free for Teachers

Remind’s website requires you to create an account to register, but I simply used my Google account and got access that way. Once you’ve entered, you will need to set up a class. I called mine “Miss Camden’s 4th Grade Class at PES.” Since I’m a general ed elementary teacher that was the only class I needed to make. However, you can create multiple classes if that suits your teaching situation.

remind
Here’s the dashboard when you have created an account.

Remind Yourself

My friend also suggested that I subscribe to my own class so I could see my messages. This also can serve as confirmation that your messages have been sent successfully. To subscribe, you will receive a number code. Simply text that code to your @name that Remind will give you – that’s it. You will be able to see who in your class has signed up.

Privacy and Protection

The nice thing about Remind is that no one can see your phone number and no one can reply. There’s a cool app, too, that you as the teacher can download and use to send messages quickly – you don’t have to sit down at a desktop computer to do it. Parents don’t need the app, they just need to be able to receive text messages.

Lots of Uses

While I’m sure not all of my parents will join, it’s another way I will communicate what’s happening in Room 411. Communication has to be done multiple times and in multiple ways for the message to get through, so I’m not relying on this approach as my one-and-only way of sharing with families. It’s just another tool I can use. Here’s a link to their blog, which includes lots of resources for understanding the process and using it in your classroom.remind

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