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October 23, 2016 · Leave a Comment

5 Simple Ways to Keep Your Classroom Connected

Classroom Management· parent communication

In the new world of technology, it hasn’t been as simple and easy to stay connected with your students and their families than it is NOW!  With so many new ways of sharing news, sending out reminders, and staying connected to increase productivity and effectiveness in the classroom, there really isn’t a good reason why all teachers shouldn’t use these new avenues.

Here are five simple ways that I have found easy, simple, and effective in staying connected as a educator!

Image result for remind logo

If you haven’t heard of the remind, download it right now!!!  It is a simple way to send quick messages to parents on upcoming events in the classroom to their phone!  Parents can be added by scanning a QR code that takes them directly to your classroom profile or you can invite them by typing in their e-mail addresses or phone numbers.  I usually invite parents immediately after collecting their contact information at the beginning of the year.  It is fast, free, easy, and effective.

Have you ever considered creating a CLOSED Facebook Group for your classroom?  You can accept requests of only students’ parents in your classroom, and it is a fast and fun way of sharing pictures!  No longer will you have to burn pictures on a CD-ROM at the end of the year to share.  Now you can share those pictures regularly throughout the year.  Just make sure that parents sign a consent form to allow their child’s picture be posted.

Image result for seesaw app

This has to be my favorite new way of communicating with my parents this year!  It is so simple to set up, and I can send student videos and work samples to their parents directly.  It also serves as a blog for our classroom and helps me store students’ data safely as I can set strict privacy settings on their files.  If you are required or are thinking of creating a digital data folder for your students, this is the best tool that I have found.  The best part is it’s FREE!

Image result for blogger logo

Blogging is great way of putting your students’ learning on display!  As a parent, I love seeing and knowing all about my child’s learning, so that is why I appreciate and love blogging.  Not only does it showcase your students work and experiences, it also allows parents to be part of the classroom and understand more on how to support it at home. And did I mention?!  It’s FREE!

Yes, you guess it!  The Old Fashioned Way of emailing, calling, and meeting in person will never get old.  Having direct communication with parents directly has helped me tremendously throughout the years and have allowed me to build strong relationships to support my students’ learning at home.  Through these avenues of communication, I have learned so much about my students from their families and have helped me to  build a strong family and community inside my classroom.

Related posts:

3 Ways to Keep Your Classroom Organized
5 Things to Do Before the First Day of School
4 Easy Cricut Projects for the Classroom
Previous Post: « To the New Teacher Down the Hall
Next Post: Dear Teachers, Let’s Continue to Build Love, Acceptance, and Respect in the Classroom »

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Hello There!

My name is Ha. I am a Primary STEM teacher from Texas, a passionate educator of little ones, a teacher-author of interactive educational resources, a lover of Makerspace and STEM, a mother to two, a wife to my high school sweetheart and a forever learner. Welcome to my site!

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Ha ~ Happy Days in First Grade
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Turn your anchor chart rack to a cute and easy photo op for your students using a glue stick and streamers! 🍎🎉

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May all of our students always feel this way in our classroom and and in our schools. 

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This activity right here is one of my favorite act This activity right here is one of my favorite activities for the beginning of the year! 🌟

I make a BIG speech bubble out of black butcher paper and cut out yellow circles for Emojis. ☺️😀😍🥳🤩😟😫

As one of the things on our class Scavenger Hunt during Meet-the-Teacher Night, the kids are asked to take one of the yellow circles and draw the face of an emoji that best describes how they feel about being a first grader. 

This activity is so simple and fun but gives me such information on how the kids are all feeling even before the first day of school!

Using this simple tool, I am able to address any anxiety or stress that they may have during our FIRST Morning Meeting! It’s so powerful to know even before school begins what I need to do to help ease them into first grade! 💕 

We also use the data collected for a graphing activity and then discuss what we can do to help make everyone feel happy and better. 

I love this activity and will definitely be doing this again this year! Swipe to see the before picture.

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One of the best things I did a couple summers ago One of the best things I did a couple summers ago was that I made these privacy folders before school started! 🎉

The kids absolutely love the positive sayings and I love that it allows them space to focus on their own work. 

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