End of July?! Already?!

Getting ready to go back to school is so difficult especially because I enjoy my Netflix tv series and is so hard to getting used to not watching them ALL day long.  I've been at my school the last two days because I like to get my classroom ready 2 1/2 weeks in advanced so I can be extremely lazy the last week before I go back.  My productivity does not end there, I have also been preparing my Meet the Teacher night "stuff."  

Last school year, I started using Remind 101.  It has been out for a while but it took me a while to just jump into it because of the excuse "I send a newsletter home every week with information!" However, parents are more apt to reading text message than the pretty newsletter in the folder, which is in the backpack, which is where ever their child left it when they got home...What I can say about using Remind 101, is that it is AMAZING.  I love being able to send out little pieces of information to the parents throughout the day.  I sen out picture day reminders, field trip reminders, Red Ribbon Week theme reminders, etc...but what I also found useful was when we would have "lock down" drills/real ones, it was helpful to let them know what was going on as a whole. There are new features with a May update that allows the parents to send a direct message to the teacher (i.e. text message). Another way of communication for the 21st century human.  


Behavior Management could not get any more simple than using Classroom Dojo.  How many of you use the ticket system? the star system? the sticker system? It's exhausting and tedious.  This app has you set up your class with each of your students and track their behavior using a point system. You can also set up how students get points such as they turned in their homework on time, had their materials ready to go, kept their hands and feet to themselves, etc... You can also set up how students lose points (if that's something you're into).  In my classroom, I made a "Reward" poster for the students after they have reached so many points for the month.  Classroom Dojo's most recent update allows you to set up "Groups" for your group projects or just your table groups. How awesome, right?! I cannot wait to get the groups going.  Your parents also sign up using your classroom code and can track their child's behavior.  Another feature, like Remind 101, is that parents can send direct messages to the teacher.  #21stcenturyhuman Classroom Dojo also allows you send pictures to your parents, which is a great way to send positive behavior in action for your parents to enjoy and even get a little teary-eyed while they are at work (it has happened).

I have provided you a link to my "Meet the Teacher" night flyer for parents to download both apps using QR codes and will also add the class codes once they are set up.  The QR codes are for both iPhone and Android phones. Enjoy!