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If teachers around could have one wish granted, one thing you would hear and see over and over again is this . . . I would like more parent involvement. Parent involvement can mean a lot of things and look a lot of ways. It would be parent involvement in the education process in general, like helping with homework, asking questions about the learning, and supporting the teacher. Or parent involvement could mean physical help in the classroom, at special events or on field trips. Either way parent involvement in the classroom makes a huge impact on learning and our students.
Parent Involvement Made Easy
As much as we all would like more parent involvement in the classroom, we also do not have time to take on a full scale volunteer sign-up campaign. It can be time consuming to convince others to give up their own time. After all, as a teacher you already have so many responsibilities in the classroom. Balancing those responsibilities can be a daunting challenge!
But what if I told you I know of a way that you can naturally increase parent involvement without it using more of your very precious time and energy. Today I want to share with you two amazing apps that will provide you with valuable education tools AND help to increase parent involvement in the classroom.
App #1 – Why I Use Class Dojo
There are many reasons for using this great tool, but the most important reason for me is parent-teacher communication. Positive parent-teacher communication can change the life of a student. Research tells us that student homework completion can be increased by as much as 40% when parents and teachers have a good working relationship. I don’t know about you – but that sounds like parent involvement to me! So, that is the best reason I know to prioritize parent connectivity. AND BEST OF ALL – Class Dojo is FREE!
Here’s a video explaining why I love Class Dojo!
Not only do I use Class Dojo in my classroom, but my entire school as chosen to use it. Here are the reasons why my school has chosen to use Class Dojo from kindergarten through 8th grade:
1) Class Dojo pushes information to parents through text or email
Parents want to know what is happening with their child, but they are also doing the work/life hustle just like we are. They have made it clear that they do not want to go searching for information about their child, they want the information pushed to them. When we as teachers make it easy for parents to know what is going on, we also make it easy for them to get involved.
2) You can send pictures, videos and files to parents
Parents can participate in the school day instead of depending on their child’s version of what they did. In real time (or what seems like real time with scheduling) parents can read about and see what is going on in the classroom. It is so much more productive for a parent to say, “Tell me what the tooth fairy told you today,” than to ask the time-worn question, “What did you do in school today?” We all know the answer to that question. 😉
3) Class reminders can be scheduled in advance
During your prep period, you can schedule all the reminders (picture day, field trips, etc.) for the upcoming week. Instead of being inundated with multiple reminders and request at once, you can space them out throughout the week. You can also send them closer in time to the actual event which helps with remembering and involvement. Parents feel as though you are in constant communication with them but you are not using all your spare time to create parent reminders.
In addition, Class Dojo shows you which parents have opened the message. Again…an amazing time-saver! Now you know who needs further communication and who does not. I LOVE this feature because I can ensure that every parent has received those time-sensitive messages. This builds confidence with my parents that I am on their team and will not leave their student out of our activities (and will keep the parent from missing out on important information).
4) Parent messages can be individualized or sent to a group
While you can message the entire classroom, Class Dojo also allows for smaller group or personal communication. So, if your picture or video is only of a few of the students in your classroom, you can send it just to those parents. I’m sure we all have a love – hate relationship with group texts. Well so do the parents of our students. We can make sure that the messages we send are meaningful to them.
5) Class Dojo allows you to create photo albums
When you want to send more than one picture, you can create an album of up to 10 pictures. This helps to ensure that the message feed does not become cluttered throughout the day. This is an especially good option for field trips and special events!
6) Class Dojo has Student Portfolios
Your students can get involved in the parent communication too! By uploading pictures, videos or files (think book reports, sharing time, creative art projects, etc.) they want their parents to see into their personal student portfolio. These private portfolios are only visible to that student’s parents but help to provide an insiders look into the student’s activities and progress. The information shared through the student portfolio makes a super conversation starter for parents in the evening. And this means more parent involvement!
7) Built in Privacy features
Only those who are invited into Class Dojo can see the student’s work and teacher messages. This allows you to create a private environment for sharing about your classroom. But there are built in ways to allow other significant people in the student’s life to see into the classroom. Grandparents, aunties, uncles…all those important people in the child’s network, can participate in the child’s school experience.
8) Class Dojo still uses Incentive Points
Class Dojo began as a method for tracking incentive points in the classroom – and they still do that. But today they do so much more! In my school, teachers rotate to different classrooms to teach in their area of expertise, and Class Dojo allows for all the student’s teachers to use the same incentives and communication tools instead of using different methods that just confuse students and parents alike.
And . . .
9) Class Dojo has QUIET HOURS
This company understands the value of your personal time – and they help you make your personal life personal. Quiet hours allow all of your communication to push through during “office hours” allowing you take keep family time for family. If you choose to schedule reminders during off hours you can using the scheduling feature.
DID I MENTION THAT THIS IS ALL FREE?? If you have not experienced Class Dojo fully, do it today! I promise it will not only help you save time and be more efficient with your communication, but it will also be an integral part to increasing parent involvement.
App #2 – Why I Use Epic!
In my classroom, January is the month when students “begin” to read (although we have been laying the foundation all year). It is one of the most important months because they are so excited about reading. I want to take advantage of this excitement and I want to encourage that passion as much and as quickly as possible. After all, reading – even pleasure reading – is fundamental to future academic success.
Epic! is the second resource I use daily in my classroom. It is a customizable, digital library for kindergarten through 8th grade students that you can access with your phone, tablet or computer.
You can select books for your students based on their interests and reading ability. The program includes audiobooks for students who need assistance and Read to Me books that use pop out words to help students track with the reader. It is truly an amazing app!
How I use Epic!
1) Individualized Reading Program
Epic! allows you to differentiate student reading by selecting titles at the appropriate level for each student. From the books assigned, students can choose their preferred book. For older students, you can also include a quiz option at the end of their reading.
2) Small Group Reading Program
You can place students in groups and assign books to each group. Students can experience books and complete projects together, learning how to work cooperatively. This is also a great way to make sure that your guided reading groups are reading the same books outside of the group time. Later, you can refer back to these same stories in order to practice comprehension skills, or use as an example. Shared experiences help to build great learning.
3) Additional Reading Practice
Whether students are English language learners, struggling readers, or simply students who do not receive as much reading supervision at home as they need, Epic! is my answer. All you need is a device and your students can interact with books they enjoy. As teachers we all know the benefit of reading every night. But despite the great benefits, there are many students who do not get this daily reading time due to a number of reasons. Parents may be busy, students may struggle with reading and therefore not enjoy it, students may be new to the language and not understand what they are reading. Epic! helps to get around all those reasons and make daily reading easy.
This is also an especially helpful remedy for non-English speaking parents. Once they know how to use this program, parents can empower their students to experience reading at home – in both English and in their first language.
4) Progress Monitoring
And the best part is that Epic! gives you a report about the assignments your students have completed. You can know at a glance how each student is progressing. Although not the totality of my progress monitoring for my students, Epic! does play a part. At a quick glance I gain more data about my students, their reading habits and their reading level, without taking a lot of time from classroom lessons or personal time.
By making reading easy, we open the door for parents to be more involved. More involved in supporting reading, more involved in homework and more involved in their chid’s education.
For parents who are interested in their own account, Epic! provides a subscription option – but it is FREE for teachers and students.
Increasing Parent Involvement . . .
- Increasing parent involvement does not have to be difficult or time consuming
- Use technology to help make your job easier
- Use technology to help parents feel more connected
- Class Dojo is an easy way to increase parent communication from the classroom, make them feel part of the classroom and the learning that is happening and thus increase parent involvement
- Epic! is an amazing reading app that allows parents to be more involved in supporting reading at home, supporting good reading habits and seeing the progress their child is making
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