As a teacher, I welcome any tools that makes my job easier! I was so thankful when I found ClassTag. It provides a gateway to make daily communication with parents easy-peasy. After using it for a few months, I don't know what I'd do without it!
Let's take a closer look at 5 ways to use ClassTag in the classroom.
1. Parent-Teacher Conferences:
Meeting with parents is an important part of being a teacher. In the past, I would make copies of sign up sheets with days and times and send it home with the kiddos. Then after the sign-up sheets come back, the difficult job of coordinating everyone schedules begins. Talk about stressful! Not anymore!
With ClassTag, the sign up is all online so I can create time slots for conferences, add any details, and direct the parents where to sign up. This saves me soooo much time and is much easier! They simply sign up and the scheduling is all done!
2. Classroom Photos
With ClassTag, I can quickly upload photos of our day. Parents love this feature! They can see what we are currently working on in class, projects, homework, and presentations. Sometimes, when I'm teaching a difficult concept, I might snap a picture of a diagram from the interactive white board for parents to review with their child that evening. This has become a way for parents to feel more involved at school and quickly review and reinforce difficult concepts.
3. Class Volunteers
Parent volunteers are so welcomed (and needed) in the classroom. We use volunteers for guided reading groups, special events, and classroom parties. This feature on ClassTag is a real timesaver! You can very quickly request a certain number of volunteers for any activity, event, or even a field trip. Parents can respond instantly and before you know it, you have everyone needed for that special event!
4. Field Trips
You can access ClassTag instantly and from anywhere. Imagine you're on a field trip and you're going to be ten minutes coming back to school. What do you do? With ClassTag, you can quickly send a note to every single parent for your class to let them know. Maybe you only need to contact one parent and not the whole class, you can do that too! This is seriously one of the best things about ClassTag. Parents feel safer knowing that you can contact them right away, if needed.
5. Classroom News
When I first started teaching, I used to spend hours each week typing a newsletter for parents. I would email them to let know what we were working on in class, upcoming important dates, classroom supplies needed, and any funny stories. This took a lot of time. And I wasn't sure if parents were even reading my emails. Now, I can do all of those tasks and more in just a few minutes each day. You get notified who's read your messages. So far, parents have been amazing at responding to messages and asking questions. It's quick, easy, and best of all...simple.
After only using ClassTag for a few months, I don't know what I would do without it! It has become one of the most effective communication tools for my classroom. I highly recommend giving it a try. It's FREE for everyone!
New! ClassTag now offers a free Google Slides Presentation that you can use to present it to your parents for Open House or Meet the Teacher Night.
You can download a copy of the FREE presentation by clicking HERE!
