Catching Up - Tool #6

Many of the websites and programs presented in this tool are not resources that my students could use on their own because of their age, it just wouldn't be safe. However, I think with a little teacher creativity these tools would be great to use in a whole group setting or even with parents!

Two websites I chose to explore were Twitter and Today's Meet. I tried to get creative and think of other ways that these sites could be useful for my classroom since my students couldn't be the ones to use these programs alone. I think these sites would be a GREAT way to keep parents informed! Using Twitter I could send out daily updates and reminders to all parents who subscribe. Today's Meet would be an awesome way to set up a very simple, user-friendly "Teacher Meeting" with parents who may not be able to come to school. This site allows you to create an "open meeting" for a specific amount of time. Parents and teachers can log in to this meeting site and have a simple Q&A session about homework, classroom expectations, projects, class parties - anything really! (I wouldn't use it as a parent conference tool though... it's a little too impersonal for that. I would stick to using it for group meetings) I could definitely see myself using both of these resources in the future.

Meetings online can introduce parents to classroom expectations!

Twitter updates can remind parents about upcoming school events!