How to Initiate Use of Classloom as a Schoolwide Communication System — A Quick Guide

Classloom is a communication and collaboration platform which allows teachers to create class-based parent and/or student groups and communicate with those groups in a secure and robust environment. Many public and private schools use Classloom as a school-wide communication platform. This article is a guide to help you start to use Classloom as your school communication system.

1- Create an Account with Your School Name

By creating an account under your school’s name you make it possible for the account to be managed by the school administration or IT department. Also, it makes it possible to search on the name of the school to find associated groups. Even if you are experimenting with Classloom for a single class or group, creating the account in the name of the school allows you to scale up later, and to transfer the members of one group into another, which you would do when students move from one class to another. The account owner can add new members or delete memberships easily and actively monitor what is going on in your school groups. There are many school administrators who would not allow the use of a platform like Classloom if they were not able to control those functions.

2- Introduce Classloom to the Teachers in a Staff Meeting

Any application comes to life only with the usage, so you will need to motivate the teachers to use whatever system you select. Explain the benefits of Classloom to your teachers. Tell them how Classloom can save time, increase parent and student engagement and increase the overall success of the students and the school.

3- Create a Pilot Group for the School Faculty and Staff

Since Classloom is a free application, you can afford to start gradually and allow people learn about its functionality as they use it. An easy way to do this is by creating a pilot group of school faculty and/or staff members and to use this group for communication on a regular basis.

Since Classloom is designed as a group communication platform, in order for teachers to become familiar with Classloom’s features, they need to be in a group and use the functions.

Once in a group, teachers can become familiar with how Classloom works (those who use social media will find the interface familiar). One of the first topics of discussion can be whether it is a good idea to use Classloom or not.

You can also use this group as a school intranet platform or as a staff communication platform to share announcements and quick notes between teachers. The administration can use it to send memos or resources to teachers, and teachers can then respond.

Once the school staff is comfortable with the Classloom interface (it won’t take long if the staff is used to Facebook, Twitter and similar applications), you are ready to expand.

4- Create a Parent and/or Student Group for Each Class

Creating class-based groups is the best way to put all parents and teachers for one class together. Depending on the age of the students, you may choose separate groups for parents and students, or you may choose to invite students, parents and all teachers of a class to join the same group. Consider the organization of your school, the goals you have for the group, and the maturity of the students when you decide whether to have one group or several for each class. Name your groups with the class name used at your school, whether it is “4A” or “Ms. Smith’s Class”.

5- Invite All Teachers Who Work with the Class

Before inviting parents or students it is better to invite all teachers, especially if the class has different teachers for different academic areas. You may make some or all of the teachers moderators of that group

6- Create a Group Update/Class Communication Plan or Policy

Classloom is accessible 24/7 and is open for interactive communication so you can share updates at any time. While some Classloom user schools prefer to give their teachers the responsibility and freedom to update content as desired, other prefer a formal communication plan that sets forth how, when and what kind of information will be shared in the class groups. Creating a plan may make your staff feel more comfortable using Classloom, particularly if your school/district tends to have a lot of formal policies.

When you answer these questions, even if you do not choose to create a written policy, make sure all teachers have a clear idea about how, when and what to share on Classloom. A staff meeting would be a good place to discuss written or unwritten policies.

7- Put Content into Your Groups

Before inviting parents, prepare your group page with a cover photo and a group profile. Put up a welcoming message as well as information about how you will be using Classloom. You can also record important calendar dates, such as exam schedules, and put up some photos of your class or students (if your school or district requires it, make sure you have a signed photo permission slip before posting a student’s picture). Add some announcements and upload some informative documents to your group before inviting parents or students.

Pre-populating your page makes the users more comfortable when they log in and will help them become familiar with Classloom functions.

8- Send a Classloom Information Letter and Email Address Request Form to the Parents

You can use this Classloom Introductory Letter and modify it to suit your circumstances or you can create your own letter. Along with the letter, send parents this Email Address Request Form. By starting with a familiar style of communication, parents can be informed about Classloom before they receive an online invitation to join. Hopefully this will result in a high percentage of parents accepting the invitation to join.

9- Talk about Classloom at a Parent Meeting

Most schools have some sort of open house at the beginning of the year and this is often the best-attended parent function of the year. Introduce Classloom at your school’s best attended parents’ function. Tell parents about Classloom, answer their questions and invite and motivate them to check it frequently. If you like you can use this presentation in your parent meeting.

10- Open Student Groups If Desired

You can create class-based and/or subject-based teacher-student groups. Student groups are useful for sharing digital content with students and increasing their engagement with the subject matter. No more “I’ve forgotten what the assignment was.”

You can create unlimited groups and invite unlimited members to each group. Teachers who lead extra-curricular activities may wish to create groups for participants in those activities. Groups can be created for group projects, pull-out programs like tutoring or enrichment, or for all students taking a particular subject.

11- Invite Parents and Motivate Them to Engage with Classloom Groups

It is not usually difficult to motivate the parents of younger children to use Classloom; in fact parents of the youngest students often crave information about how their children spend the day and what they should be learning. Motivating parents of older students to check in frequently may be more difficult, but if you focus on publishing information they find useful, many parents will use Classloom. This article can give you more ideas.

Classloom is a free, easy-to-use social networking platform designed specifically to promote communication between school and home. As with most initiatives, laying the proper groundwork and having a good idea of what you want to accomplish will lead to more success. To maximize the effectiveness of Classloom, you need to gain the support of the faculty, teach them the ways Classloom can help them, and then engage the support of the parents and/or students.

Start a Classloom account today; it is totally free. Once you realize what it can do for you, share it with your colleagues. www.classloom.com

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Classloom is a free app for teachers which improves teacher-parent/ teacher-student communication and collaboration to be more efficient and interactive. Classloom makes it easy for teachers to share all class related events, homework assignments, exam schedule, documents, announcement and photos with parents or students.

Just a desktop or mobile device with an internet connection is enough to access the system.

With Classloom teachers save time and energy and have more engaged parents and students.

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Open a group for your class invite parents or students and start sharing! Create your own parent portal.
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Originally published at blog.classloom.com on August 20, 2016.