Using iMessage for Good and Not Evil

We all know our students use iMessage.  It can't be turned off on the devices, so how can we use it to our advantage in the classroom?  One way would be to use Remind (formerly Remind101), an app that uses texting to communicate with both students and parents about upcoming assignments, events, and other classroom information.

To start an account is simple and free.  Download the app from the App Store:
Open Remind from your Launchpad and choose to "Log in with Google."

Enter your usual "ih" network credentials (at least these most likely are the same for your SMSD Google account), and select "I'm a teacher."

Indian Hills is already an option when you search for our school, so select it from the menu.

Once your class/account is set up, there are a few ways to get students and parents to join:
  • Have them text a unique class code (much like Google Classroom)
  • Upload a spreadsheet of email addresses; here's a tutorial on how to do that
  • Send/post a link for them to follow
  • Or there's always a paper version of instructions

Because students under 13 have to have parental consent, I would send home this PDF (or something similar) and have the parents sign off.
Parent Letter

There are several resources available as to how to use this app in the classroom.  Note that your personal contact information nor theirs is ever visible via these exchanges.

Once your class is set up, you can attach files to your texts and set up specific times for reminders to go out, as well.  There's also a translate option if that's an area of concern.


Happy texting!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Insert Learning

Image
InsertLearning is a Chrome extension that lets you turn websites, Google Docs/Slides, or PDFs into interactive lessons, and it is the perfect companion to your blended learning lesson plans.   Click here to give it a try or watch the tutorial below: To start using InsertLearning, visit the website and simply click "Add to Chrome" and you will see it appear in your toolbar.  Sign in using your school Google account info and follow the prompts for a short tutorial. With InsertLearning, you can highlight text, insert a question or a discussion topic, add sticky notes with links to outside sources (YouTube, etc.), and more.  All of this can be done on any website, Google Doc, PDF, etc.!! If you find a news article or other resource, you can click on the Chrome extension to make it interactive and then add it to Google Classroom. You can search by keyword and explore the Dashboard for already-created content or create your own lessons*.  Resources to embed as
Read more

Classroom Screen: Widgets Galore!

Image
Classroom Screen was created by a teacher in the Netherlands because he couldn't find all the tools he needed for his classroom in one place.  It's a website that displays multiple widgets at a time; ideal for bell work, exit tickets, group work, and more. The widgets available are: Traffic light (think Macbook usage) Timer Stopwatch Clock & calendar Work symbols (ex. talk to your partner, work silently, etc.) Drawing tools QR code generator Classroom noise level Random name picker Dice See them in action here: All of these options are available on the website where you can upload your own background or choose from one of the stock photos.  Think about when you have multiple groups working and they need separate instructions: divide the webpage in half and use different widgets for each group.   I can see this website being used for students when they come in to journal or complete bell work and then for the end of class with action items and/o
Read more

Readsy

Image
Readsy  is a free website that " help[s] you skim large amounts of text by focusing your eyes on one word at a time without having to move them."   It was created by a computer science undergrad at Princeton.  Readsy is a great tool for struggling readers or others that get overwhelmed by a lot of text at one time.  Retention and comprehension should not be affected. To get started with Readsy, visit the site and have some text in mind to use, or you can choose a sample and Readsy will choose text for you.  You can copy and paste a URL (news article, blog post, etc.), copy and paste text (Google Doc writing sample, or student work), type into the site itself, or upload a file.  Once you have copied/pasted or uploaded your text, click "Readsy". Readsy defaults to 300 wpm, but you can adjust that speed to be slower or faster as needed. Here is a two-minute overview of Readsy in action: Next week, we will talk about the companion website: Spritz
Read more