Connect with Tech

Purpose: I aim to build one-on-one relationships with my students and their families through a wide range of communication.

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When I first entered my placement at BJHS, they made it known that communication is a vital part of being a teacher. So, when communicating with my CT on how he likes to interact with his students and their families, he responded that he primarily uses email. However, he did mention that the school's main source of communication is the app Remind. 

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Personally, I have used Remind as a student for many years now, yet I used it as a way to interact with others in my class, not my teachers. It didn't occur to me until he mentioned that schools use it as well, that this would be a very effective way to go about communication. With sending emails, I feel as though those can get lost in transactions and literally. For Remind allows the student and their families to receive notifications right away once a message has been sent. 

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Remind "helps educators reach students and parents where they are". This app allows you to send messages one-on-one, to the entire class, etc. This app overall, is a great and easy way for all to stay in touch and communicate.

 

 I am excited to continue researching other apps that could correlate around the idea of communication, and see which has the best response to everyone. For feedback is also a crucial part of communication. 

I have used GroupMe throughout my educational career. In High school, we used it to communicate with our sports team, whereas in college I have used it to communicate with my classmates and or RA's. 

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I think this app is very beneficial, in the sense that you can use it to speak to people individually, in groups, and share photos/calendar dates/ etc. The app has a feature where you can join your campus and or school. This would be beneficial because it would be easier for families to find your information easier. 

 

I would say that the only limitation and or constraint that I can see is that you aren't able to make calls directly through this app; however, within your personal profile, your email and phone number are presented.

 

Overall, the app connects to the purpose of finding ways outside the classroom to communicate with students and their families. It is easy and effective, and I look forward to continuing to use throughout my career. 

This week I am choosing the app TalkingPoints. TalkingPoints is an app that allows teachers to communicate with families and students in their home language. TalkingPoints has over 150 languages that teachers can use within the app to build healthy relationships with their students and their families.

 

I think that this app is very beneficial, for nowadays schools are accepting more and more ELL or ESL students on a daily basis. Currently in my placement, our school is very diverse. It is almost every day that we get a new student that enters the ESL program. Primarily the students speak Spanish, so a lot of the time we need to convert signs, assignments, paperwork, etc. into Spanish for them to take home.

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One constraint I see within this app is when it comes to translation. It was listed that grammatical and spelling errors could disturb and or affect the translation. This might cause problems if a teacher is writing an email quickly and sending it without checking to make sure there are no errors. Typically, in my placement, we have one of the ESL teachers and or Spanish teachers review our memos before sending them, but in this case, we would be relying on the app. 

 

I feel as though this app and website I visited, is a great tool to use inside and outside the classroom. As I have mentioned before communication is a main aspect within teaching and the educational system.

 

It sometimes can be difficult, but by doing this research we are finding new and easy ways to get in touch with our students and their parents. I look forward to continuing working with this app and figuring out ways I can implement it within my own classroom. 

Purpose: I aim to build one-on-one relationships with my students and their families through a wide range of communication.

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When researching different apps, technology, and software, I came across a website about the app TalkingPoints. Their website gives insight into what TalkingPoints is and how it allows teachers to communicate with families in their home language. TalkingPoints has over 150 languages that teachers can use within the app to build healthy relationships with their students and their families. I think that this app is very beneficial, for nowadays schools are accepting more and more ELL or ESL students on a daily basis. 

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For example, at my placement, for every worksheet we send home regarding parents, we attach both an English and Spanish version. Primarily in our school, Spanish is the most used second language. 

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Also when doing my research I came across 

the app SchoolStatus. SchoolStatus allows teachers to track their student's attendance, grades, and discipline. This app also allows for there to be teacher-parent communication about all of their student's data. This app is very easy to use, for it highlights each component both teachers and parents are looking at when it comes to their students; easy access to grades, messages, phone calls, etc. I feel as though this app could be also beneficial to students, for they are able to see how they are doing in school, along with being able to communicate with their teacher. 

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I feel as though both apps and the websites I visited, are great tools to use inside and outside the classroom. As I have mentioned before communication is a main aspect within teaching and the educational system. It sometimes can be difficult, but by doing this research we are finding new and easy ways to get in touch with our students and their parents. 

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I am looking forward to looking deeper into what technology, software, and or apps can help me reach my purpose. 

I have not used Remind throughout my educational career; however, I think it is a great resource for teachers and families to use. 

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Remind allows teachers and guardians to communicate directly through the app, using one-on-one text messages, whole class, and phone class, and it even now offers an online tutor. 

 

I think this app is very beneficial, in the sense that you can use it to speak to people individually and in groups. It also allows for messages to be sent in real time, and you can even schedule announcements to be posted prior to discussions. 

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A constraint this app could have is the ability to use it. For example, parents or guardians might not be very tech-savvy; therefore, they might struggle using the app. Another constraint this app has is that there is a word limit within a single response. So, if you needed to send a long message, you would have to send multiple instead of one. 

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Overall, the app connects to the purpose of finding ways outside the classroom to communicate with students and their families. It is easy and effective, and I look forward to continuing to use it throughout my career. 

This week I am choosing the app schoolstatus. Schoolstatus is an app that allows families and their students to communicate with the teacher about all of their students' data. This communication can be done through messages, phone calls, emails, etc. SchoolStatus also allows teachers to track their student's attendance, grades, and discipline. This app is very easy to use, for it highlights each component both teachers and parents are looking at when it comes to their students; easy access to grades, messages, phone calls, etc.
 

I think that this app is very beneficial because it allows families to see all aspects of their student's educational path. A lot of the time we aren't able to see those other aspects within other apps. Also, I feel as though this app could be beneficial to students, for they are able to see how they are doing in school, along with being able to communicate with their teacher. 

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I do not see any specific constraints in the app; however, we can also go back to guardians not being tech-savvy. We also don't know what sort of technology both the students and families have at home, so this might not even be an option. 

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I feel as though the website I visited, and what I did in the app showed me great tools to use inside and outside the classroom.

 

As I have mentioned before communication is a main aspect within teaching and the educational system. It sometimes can be difficult, but by doing this research we are finding new and easy ways to get in touch with our students and their parents. 

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