Practical Uses
Did you know that these resources are not just for school announcements or handbooks? Our SchoolSpeak schools how found so many ways to use these resources. For many administrators and teachers, using these resources is a great way to provide information to parents online. As you work through your SchoolSpeak implementation, parents will begin to use SchoolSpeak as their first stop for information – instead of emailing the teachers and school administration. Here are a couple of examples of how schools have used these resources.
Newsletters
Newsletters are a great way to communicate with parents – from the principal newsletter to the classroom update to club news. Schools can “send out” newsletters via the announcement resource to share important messages with other SchoolSpeak members.
The announcement resource is a great fit for newsletters. Using the ‘active date’ functionality you can post the newsletter for a week or more at a time. And, if a parent needs to review a prior announcement, they can just click on the Newsletter quick link to see previous editions. Plus with the bulletin resource’s ability to link to other websites create a simple link within your newsletter that will bring the parents right to the information they need to know. There is no need to retype information that is contained in other resources on your school site or in SchoolSpeak.
When creating your newsletter - take advantage of some of the templates that are already loaded in the SchoolSpeak newsletter template folder within the editor window to create a visually interesting communiqué. If your school already has a newsletter template that you would like to continue to use, please contact our support group and we can setup SchoolSpeak to use your current template.
Links to Educational Websites
Education today is no longer tied to a formal printed textbook. Teachers are utilizing websites to augment the tools they provide for their students. Do you have a weekly magazine for your students? Is it online? Create a new bulletin resource that links to the weekly newsletter each week. And if you find a site that complements your class curriculum this week, create a new bulletin resource for it so that parents can easily find it and students can reference.
Club and Afterschool updates
SchoolSpeak is not just for the academic part of your student’s lives. As an administrator you can also setup groups that are dedicated to clubs, afterschool activities and even the parent-teacher organization in your school. Once you have created the groups, add an announcement link to their Quick Links section so that they can communicate with their members easily and without involving the SchoolSpeak Administrator.
Book/Chess Club
Parent Teachers Association
Many of our schools have parent teacher associations that vital to success of the school. From fundraising support to volunteer opportunities, these associations are a key part of school life. One of the most important functions of these kind of organizations is communicating with the parent community. SchoolSpeak is a great fit for parent teacher groups – create a group with a bulletin resource for announcements of upcoming activities and webpage resources to post meeting minutes and contact information.
Using the Resources in the Classroom
Teachers who use SchoolSpeak have found new and innovative ways to use these resources in their classroom groups. You may use either bulletins or webpages for the following ideas – it all depends on your preference. Here are a couple of ideas:
- Weekly Word Lists
- Projects
- Subject oriented weekly updates for parents
- Library and media centre updates
- Classroom Newsletters
- Reading lists and summer reading/math work
- Announcing class trips with links to the venue
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