Extra! Extra! Communicating Classroom Happenings

Want to switch up your classroom newsletter? I've heard more and more comments from teachers jokingly questioning if parents even read their newsletters or online updates. You all work so hard to communicate classroom happenings, updates, and reminders ~ your newsletters and site updates are awesome! If you have any doubts, why not give them a reason to tune in that they can't resist?! Whether you want to make your class news more interactive for families or transform it completely, there's an idea here for you. Be sure to share your own for your fellow teachin peeps as well.

Student Voice! Empower your students by putting them in control of communicating the incredible learning adventures taking place in your classroom or grade. Think about all of the skills and strategies that can be developed and strengthened by student-led news. Students will be so motivated to share with an authentic audience outside of the four walls of their classroom. Families will be excited to tune in to see what the student leaders have to share!

Consider:

Student-Led Newsletter ~ Have your students create and share the news! Students can collaborate on a shared GoogleDoc to communicate classrooms happenings via pics and text. Students can go off of a basic template or switch up the format as they see fit. The doc can be uploaded to your class website or blog to share with families.

Student-Produced Video Newsletter ~ Put your students in charge of celebrating classroom learning adventures by creating a newscast. Rotate roles through your weekly job assignments or set up a special schedule just for the newscasting. Students can upload the videos to a shared folder in Drive and can be embedded right on your site or blog.

Options for sharing the above news (aside from embedding on your site/blog):

• Attach a QR code to their take-home folder or assignment notebook that links to your class website. Families can scan the code to access your site quickly from their mobile device.
• Blast a message via REMIND with a digital copy of the news attached.
• Add a QR Code to a corner of your paper newsletter. The code can link to the student-created video or collaborative doc.

Classroom Twitter Account: You can make a private or public classroom account for families to connect with. Students can take turns sharing classroom updates. You can even add images or attach links to files, videos, student creations, and more! What an awesome, real-time way to keep families informed. Not to mention how this opens the door to really knock down the walls of the classroom and connect with experts or other classes...check out the bottom of this post for more info :) One class tweeted a question to NASA - NASA responded quickly with an amazing visual tweet. Another class ended up getting a NASA visit via a video-call too. Let's make these opportunities available at our students' fingertips too!!

Not ready for that transformation just yet? Bring your current newsletter to life:

• QR Code : Add a QR Code to a corner or portion(s) of your newsletter. The code can link to a picture, online website, video, study guide, spelling list, weekly vocabulary, an answer to a question, a Google Form/Survey/Permission Slip, class digital story, student book trailers, an audio file and more!
• Add a link to a brief, pre-recorded video of a talking avatar such as Voki, Tellagami, or Chatterpix. Utilize these to share special events on your own OR spotlight a student sharing a concept, must-read book, or highlights of the week.
• Take your hard copy to the digital world. Either post it online at your class site OR consider blogging about classroom adventures and events. Print hard copies for families that request them.

Instead of telling families about the class activities, consider saying less and include essential questions or "just enough" to provide opportunities for conversations at home about classroom learning adventures. Many times, parents don't know what to ask kids about what's going on in the classroom. Adjusting your newsletters or class updates can offer an awesome opportunity to involve parents while also strengthening your students' voice.

SCIENCE example: Rather than telling parents about our buoyancy activities in Science this week, I might say: Ship Shape / Sink or Float? Be sure to ask your young scientist about his/her aluminum boats. How were the sinking and floating boats different? Based on what they know, have your student hypothesize and test out objects at home. Encourage your child share your family findings on our class blog! 

MATH example: Instead of sharing about the geometry concepts we developed and strengthened in class this week, I might spark a conversation with: Our Mathemeticians have been busy exploring Geometry in our world. Ask your child what examples his/her group discovered on our school hunt this week. Be sure to check out our collaborative book that displays our Geometry Graffiti around our school. Your child is invited to add on to our book to include pics of Geometry from around the house.   

Just a few ideas to enhance your home-school communication and empower student voice! Hope something here sparked an idea that started dancing in your brain ~ I'd love to hear about it. Share your thoughts below or give us a shout if ya want to collaborate on some ideas together.

As always, Take, Tweak, or Toss!