Literacy Matters - Winter 2020

the home and create a place of open communication and a constant effort to strive for success (ClassDojo.com).

through which teachers have found the most success in their classrooms can be found in the implications or “how-to” section. Traditional Communication Class newsletter. Classroom newsletters, whether electronic or more traditional hard copies, continue to be used in some classrooms. Typically, a teacher will send these communications in a weekly or bi-monthly schedule. Because the entire class receives the letter at once, the teacher is prohibited from giving personal messages to caregivers--whether negative or positive. The teacher must have access to a copy machine and paper as well for this method to succeed. By including children and volunteers in the process, it simplifies the creation and distribution of the newsletters. Class newsletters in a traditional paper format have the benefit of being put directly in the hands of the child and presumably accessible to the family and caregiver. They can then be shared among multiple stakeholders and kept as reminders and visual aids. The accessibility of the information to families and caregivers with diverse language and literacy needs must be addressed. Visual cues and graphics, informing the children of the content of the letter, and ideally, having the newsletter translated into the multiple languages as needed, can aid in the comprehension and use of the newsletter. School phone messages or “Blasts.” This communication method was made popular with the addition of phones in the classroom and home answering machine. Presently, it may send texts and phone messages to any cell phone or number listed on the child’s school enrollment information. These messages are generally administrative and may include emergency notifications, absentee and/or tardy notices, school fee reminders, and school closure updates. Field trip reminders and special event notices may also be sent out through these blasts. Alternative Communication Methods Class Dojo. Class Dojo is a communication application that allows teachers to communicate with caregivers through messages, reports, behavior, and media taken within the classroom. Class Dojo is in over 180 countries and is translated into over 35 languages. It estimates reaching approximately 10,000,000 children a day. The opening banner on the webpage for the app states: “Bringing Families into the Classroom!” (Classdojo.com). The app attempts to close the gap between school and the classroom, through allowing direct teacher- caregivers communication at any time throughout the day and evening. Caregivers get direct messages from teachers and can check on their child’s progress and points in the classroom. With new additions to the app, Class Dojo has started to reach children at home after school. The app targets caregivers to encourage out of school learning at home. Teachers and students can share their learning experiences by adding photos and videos to their Dojo portfolio. The app encourages teachers to cultivate a positive atmosphere through promoting their students in a wide variety of areas, for example promoting kindness, helping others, or working hard. The teacher awards points to individual students and/or the class for doing good deeds and working to their fullest potential. The company’s stated aim is for Class Dojo to allow education to flow into

Seesaw. Seesaw is a communication application that allows teachers and students to communicate with caregivers and share work samples, recordings, and general messages with one another ( https://web.seesaw.me/ ). Results shared on the website show opportunities for teachers to share authentic, real-time communication with caregivers, and students. It boasts that with Seesaw, caregivers can share their children’s work with others, including friends and extended family members. A useful element of the app is the ability to translate messages into 55 languages by the tap of a button by both teachers and caregivers ( https://web. seesaw.me/family-communication ). Students can take pictures of their work, record themselves reading and speaking in any language, and show step-by-step how they are solving problems or decoding to create a portfolio of their learning. From there, the teacher can share the portfolio with caregivers so that they can see first-hand the work that is happening in the classroom. The goal of the app is to increase student and caregivers’ engagement in the academic work that students are doing in school. Further, this app allows teachers to communicate individually and through mass messaging to all caregivers in the classroom. Remind. Remind is a communication application that gives teachers the ability to communicate with caregivers through text messaging and phone calls ( https://www.remind.com/apps/ ). The main goal is to streamline communication and improve caregivers and student engagement in schooling, based on the criteria described in Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The app addresses the goals of the ESSA Family and Community Engagement elements by getting families involved with the app, supporting meaningful communication, and protecting the private information of those in the classroom ( https://www.ed.gov/family-and-community- engagement?src=rn ). Teachers can send mass text messages to the entire class list of caregivers; they can message back both in the group chain and individually. Caregivers and teachers are also able to translate those messages into multiple languages and send photos of students’work and accomplishments back and forth. At a high school in Florida, attendance increased by 60% after implementing Remind school-wide. Teachers used Remind to send inspirational messages, remind students that snacks were available for those who needed food, and to schedule one-on-one meetings with students who needed a check-in. This happened without a change in workflow for teachers, who could simply send a text message instead of call, email, or use an alternative form of communication and reached students and their caregivers in a positive way. In this school, Remind is changing the way that teachers can communicate with their student’s caregivers, and in doing so, are giving caregivers a quick, familiar, and easy way to stay engaged in their child’s education. Bloomz. Bloomz is a communication application that allows teachers to connect, coordinate, and communicate with caregivers in a user-friendly way. Teachers can take snapshots and post pictures of students working for all caregivers to see, or also, can send class updates, including the lessons that were learned for the day for the

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| 38 | Literacy Matters | Volume 20 • Winter 2020 | scira.org

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