This past Friday, I got the chance to present at my first Early Childhood Education conference. It was held at a local college for area educators, and it was so. much. fun. It was wonderful to get to share what we've learned in college classes with other educators. Our topic was "iCommunicate with Parents" and we talked all about technology to use when communicating with parents, since PA is huge on parent-teacher communications. We went beyond the classroom newsletter with what we presented. The three apps that we talked about were
Twitter,
Showbie, and
Kid Reports. (By the way, this is in no way sponsored, I just wanted to share links in case you were interested!) These apps, along with good ol' Facebook are great for keeping in touch with parents.
Showbie:
Showbie is a platform you can use to create an online, paperless classroom. If you work in a classroom that doesn't use a school wide platform such as blackboard, this is a great (free) alternative!
Twitter:
Most people know how to use Twitter, but this is great to use with parents to send out reminders about field trips, important days in the classroom, or link to helpful websites you think parents would like.
Kid Reports:
Kid Reports is a program for mainly child care centers to use. This system will push out information about an individual child or all the children in a family to parents or other pertinent family members. This can give parents a detailed report of their child's days and fill in the blanks they forgot to ask about at pick up. Teachers can also upload pictures and videos of a child throughout the day. These go only to the parent or family member so there's no privacy issues.
Well, that's a quick overview of the presentation I was fortunate enough to be a part of on Friday. I can't thank my professor enough for the opportunity to present for other educators! If you have any questions about technology in the classroom, don't be afraid to ask! Also, these blogs are great for technology use in an effective and appropriate way in the classroom:
2 Techie Teachers
Mrs. Banister's Blog
Before I go, I want to share this picture of my presentation group!
My professor, the head teacher of my college's preschool lab, me, and a fellow student!
Stay warm!
-Sydney Liz
