Monday Musings...Parent Involvement

I've worked really hard this summer at setting a schedule for myself.  Getting into a groove of sorts when it comes to blogging.  My hope being that if blogging becomes a habit, it will stick with me once school starts.  I feel like I am pretty close to being there.  I got a little off track whilst in Vegas...but who doesn't get off track in Vegas?!?

I've been playing around with ideas for Monday and it seems that Monday is for Musing.  

upon further google-fication, I found this:

1. mus·ing

   ˈmyo͞oziNG/

   noun

   1. 1. 

      a period of reflection or thought.

      "his musings were interrupted by the sound of the telephone"

      
      

   adjective

   1. 1. 

      characterized by reflection or deep thought.

      "the sad musing gaze"

Just in case you weren't really sure what it meant!  ;)

So, lately I've been thinking a lot about parent involvement.  Mostly because my teacher world was turned upside down at the end of last school year when we packed up every last paper clip and hauled it all to a new building.  With that move comes many new amazing opportunities as well as a few minor details to work through.  For me the biggest detail is parent interaction.  

I'm one of those crazies who really likes getting to know my families.  I really try to go to birthday parties and dance recitals and soccer games whenever I can.  In 18 years of teaching, it's never hurt me...only helped grow relationships.

In Montessori that is even more important because we live and learn with these families for 3 years!  Stinks if you have to hang out with someone for 540 days that you really can't stand!  So, as I am planning and plotting for the new year, I am trying to figure out the best way to stay in daily contact with parents.  You see I am accustomed to seeing my parents every day because in the past, they had to drop off and pick up their kiddos from my room.  They had to look me in the eye and form relationships.  I know, some of you are rolling your eyes, hyperventilating and saying a prayer for me at this point but I promise, it has always been a good thing and here is why.  If I am invested in YOU as well as your child, it's much easier to have those tough conversations about YOUR precious baby than if we have never laughed about the trip to the grocery store, or cried over the lost loved one or dished about our favorite tv show.  Relationships matter!

It makes me human to them...and in turn, they become human to me.  I may not always love everything that comes out of their mouths or agree with their parenting techniques or their lunch choices but if I am a little more invested in the human being that birthed the child I spend 8 hours a day with, it opens up a whole new realm of possibilities.  For all of us!

So, as I think on that I know that I will be using Bloomz to communicate with families on a personal and professional basis.  When I say personal, I mean this is how we will make connections.  How I will share stories about our days, ask for volunteers, make appointments and celebrate achievements. This is how I will share the story of our school year and as a side bonus, show parents how invested I am in their child.  The nice thing is, Bloomz allows for a two-way story to unfold.  It allows for feedback and praise and excitement and encouragement.  And what teacher wouldn't like a little praise and encouragement now and then!?!  It's not just me throwing out information but it also gives a platform for feedback and suggestions and ideas.  That's a good thing and helps me grow as a teacher and a human!  

So, how do you invite families into the life of your classroom?  What do you do to make them an important part of the story?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

Tech Tuesday on Wednesday!

I know, it's Wednesday and I'm doing a Tech Tuesday post but...Vegas...  

What more can I say!?!

I know I've mentioned how fabulous the Bloomz parent teacher communication app is but since I'm here in Vegas showcasing it for them I've been playing with it a lot and loving it even more!  My latest find is the Parent Teacher Conference sign up feature!  It is AMAZING!

                   

First off you see this screen.  This is where you get to decide what your schedule will look like.  Do you want a lunch break?  How long should each conference last?  How much time do you want between them?  And the screen shot doesn't show it but right below notes is an alert option to alert you to the next conference if you'd like!  WHAT?!?

                      

Once you have logistics set click next and here is your sign up sheet!  You can go in on this screen and trash times you don't want to make available!  Click next again and you can choose who the sign up goes to.  So, if it's whole class, great but if it's just one parent you have that option as well!

                   

Click done and one more screen pops up.

                    

A neat and tidy email to your parents letting them know they can sign up.

We all know that plans change and schedules get wonky so if that happens, rather than the typical 87 phone calls back and forth about a new time, parents can hop right back on Bloomz and erase their time releasing it to others to sign up for and they can pick a new time! 

How stinkin fabulous is that?!?  If you haven't signed up yet, you probably better do it now!  

Click on this link and it will take you right there!

Tech Tuesday

There are a myriad of technology choices out there for communicating, creating, organizing and surviving in the classroom.  I've dabbled with a few different choices in my classroom and a few months ago I shared my new love, Bloomz! So, I thought I would make Tuesday a day to share my latest tech find with all of you.  For this week, I want to share a little bit more about Bloomz as there seems to be quite a buzz about it around the web.
Having used a variety of communication apps in my classroom, I thought I would compare Bloomz to Remind 101 as it seems to be used by many and a lot of people have questions about how the two compare.

Remind 101 is a solid app that I used for most of the past school year.  My son's teacher used it as well so I experienced it form a parent and a teacher standpoint.  It was instantaneous, short and sweet.  I likened it to a tweet or a short text. It was okay.  But okay just isn't good enough for me.  I was limited on characters so had to make my messages as short as possible or send multiple messages.  In my mind, multiple messages defeats the purpose of Remind.  It's supposed to be short and sweet.  I always felt like I needed just a little more information when I got messages from my son's teacher as well.  Another huge deficit of Remind 101 is that the communication is one way.  I could send out a short little message but if it wasn't understood or if there were any questions, I got calls, texts and emails seeking clarification.  Frankly, that was a waste of everyone's time and many times I just skipped Remind and used Facebook instead.  It is my understanding that parents can now respond but even with the change, it is still just a messaging app.

Bloomz solves these problems and does so much more!  Like Remind, I can send a message or reminder and it immediately posts to a parents phone.  This is big.  In this day and age, parents are too busy to stop and check email as often as we would like and I am not interested in sending out 20 text messages to share quick reminders.  Difference is, with Bloomz I can send a short or long message with as little or as much detail as I want.  I can add a picture, a sign up, a reminder, etc or I can just send a sentence.  As a bonus, I end up building our classroom community because my post can be commented on by others so then we have a conversation going on rather than just a message from me.  This allows families to make connections, get to know one another and in some cases help one another out so I am not always the keeper of all classroom information.  I'd say the biggest plus of Bloomz over Remind101 is that it has so many more capabilities beyond simple messaging and as a result, I only need to use one app - Bloomz - to take care of all communication needs.

Click here and check it out this summer and you won't be disappointed!