Best Practices for Communicating with Families

Teach Better TeamBlog, Connect Better

TL;DR: Strategies for best communication practices, including being proactive, making time for what’s important, keeping it simple, and being consistent. Using ClassDojo, ClassTag, SeeSaw, Remind, emails, phone calls, notes, postcards, and social media as tools to communicate and stay connected with families. Now more than ever, parents and teachers need to work as a team for the benefit of our … Read More

Using Videos To Communicate with Stakeholders

Chad OstrowskiBlog, Connect Better, Tech Better

TL;DR: Using videos to communicate with stakeholders is an underused tool that provides many benefits! You can record and edit videos easily on your smartphone, and share with stakeholders by posting on your LMS, social media, or even sending a letter with a QR code link to the file. Don’t spend too much time making your videos perfect; just be … Read More

Tools for Digital Communication with Students and Families

Teach Better TeamBlog, Connect Better, Tech Better

TL;DR: Communicating with students and their families is necessary to fully support students. Tools for digital communication include Remind, Google Classroom, emails, Seesaw, Flipgrid, Google Meet, ClassDojo, ClassTag, and more! When we think about a normal school day, we as teachers spend hours each day with our students. Then our students go home and spend hours with their families. This … Read More

Assessing and Addressing Student Needs

Jennifer AppelBlog, Lead Better, Manage Better

TL;DR: 3 steps to ensure we are addressing the needs of our students, including tips for assessing the situation, coming up with a plan, and re-evaluating. Assessing where our new students are using a Google form, and using that information to meet their individual social and emotional needs. I LOVE the first day of school.  It is something that I … Read More

Using Google Sheets to Promote Reading Engagement

Kari PitstickBlog, Engage Better, Tech Better

TL;DR: Using Google Sheets to log reading can promote reading engagement. Shifting our former practices can help us inspire lifelong readers. This post includes a link to an online interactive reading log. The use of technology is growing substantially in our society, thus in our classrooms.  I definitely see the value of doing some things the “old-fashioned” way, without the … Read More