Thursday, August 30, 2018

Remind is #MoreThanAMessage !




Ya'll....we need to talk!  If you know me, you know that I am all about passion for education and for engaging all stakeholders in the power of education!  Remind has launched a brand new campaign called #MoreThanAMessage!  If you have used Remind at any time in your life, whether as a parent or a teacher, you know and believe in the power of Remind as just that....more than a message!

With one of the Remind founders,
Brett Kopt at ISTE 2014!
I've been a user of Remind since back in the day when it was called Remind101.  Admittedly, when I speak about Remind, I STILL sometimes refer to it as Remind101!  I'm working on it!  I have had the pleasure of meeting the amazing brains behind this phenomenal tool at ISTE years ago!  Here we are back in 2014!

Schools across the world have so much on their plates with creating curriculum, creating safe environments that students can thrive in, creating school culture and climate and everything else that goes along with running a school!  The one thing that is sometimes hard to master and implement well is engaging families in a meaningful and measurable way.  Well, Remind has sought to create a tool that addresses just this!  The entire purpose of Remind is simple and can be put into two words....FAMILY ENGAGEMENT! When families are engaged in their student's learning, students feel valued.  They feel appreciated.  They feel important.  And most of all, they feel like they matter.  We know that students are more successful when they have parents that are engaged in their lives and in their education.

Schools have typically relied on emails, Robo calls and letters sent home to parents to communicate.  This one way communication is just that, ONE WAY!  How do we know that parents are reading the emails and notes sent home or simply pressing the "#" button to note that they've received the Robo call?  Remind creates a 2 way communication between schools and families, creating meaning and engagement behind every message and piece of content delivered.  The simplest message sent to a parent about their child's education can make the BIGGEST difference!  Students and their families begin to become invested in the same goals.

To learn more about Remind and the #MoreThanAMessage mission, immerse yourself in all of the information goodness HERE!



Besides all of the awesomeness of Remind, being able able to appeal to parents and students that speak another primary language is another way that Remind bridges the gap in communication.  As it's stated in the video above, "When you are able to help a parent, you are helping a child!"  Remind makes that a seamless process!

The vision and values of Remind speak volumes to who they are as a company and to what they strive to do each and every day for teachers, students and families all across the world.


Have you used Remind before?  What's your Remind success story?  Who have you impacted through using this amazing educational tool?






Friday, August 10, 2018

What I did this summer...




As the school year begins, and you run into colleagues and friends that you haven't seen all summer, the same question seems to pop up..."What did you do this summer?"

I can truly say that this was the most busy, professional growth, fulfilling summers that I've had in a VERY long time and I LOVED every second of it!!!

The summer began with me attending ISTE in Chicago.  Read all about my experience in Chicago here:  http://natasharachell.blogspot.com/2018/06/iste-2018thats-wrap.html
Meeting so many new edtech friends, learning about all kinds of new edtech possibilities for the classroom and catching up with old (in time, not age, lol) friends was amazing!  I always look forward to attending this conference as it's the largest edtech conference in the world and brings together passionate, innovative educators from all over the world!  This year didn't disappoint!

The week after ISTE, my family and I attended our annual family vacation to Myrtle Beach!  We had an amazing time, as always and got to spend some quality time with each other before the hustle and bustle of the new school year starting, my oldest returning to his senior year of college and my youngest starting high school!  CRAZY!!!  We enjoyed a lot of beach and pool time as well as ate a TON of food!  I even read 2 books!  That felt GOOD!  I haven't done that in a VERY long time!!!  I read, "Girl, Wash Your Face" by Rachel Hollis and "The Morning Miracle" by Hal Elrod.  Both are HIGHLY recommended!!!

The week after family vacation was spent in Los Angeles, CA, as I was selected as 1 out of 37 Google Certified Innovators!!!!  What an honor to receive such an elite certification!!!  Read all about my Google Innovator #LAX18 journey here:  http://natasharachell.blogspot.com/2018/07/im-google-innovator.html  This post does NOT do this experience justice!!!  Going into this experience, we had to identify a problem in education that we are passionate about.  In alignment with my dissertation research, I chose the topic of teacher attrition among new teachers.  Research shows that a lot of new teachers experience burn out and leave the teaching profession within their first 3-5 years of teaching, leaving classrooms and students without a highly qualified teacher.  I am very passionate about this topic, probably due to a previous job that I had that allowed me to work with paraprofessionals transitioning into teaching careers as middle school math and science teachers.  I can't wait to see where the next year of this journey will take my idea and I hope it makes a positive impact on retaining teachers to the teaching profession!

My friend's (@MariVenturino) book, Fueled By Coffee and Love, The Refill was released and I was honored to be able to be a contributing author!  This book is filled with the stories of teachers from all across the nation.  All proceeds of this project are returned right back into education!  Mari takes the profits from each sale and donates them to projects in Donor's Choose!  She's so generous!!!  And this truly is a labor of love for Mari!  Be sure to grab your copy, at only $13.00 on Amazon!

And then I got to spend some time with teachers all across the south east and share my passion and knowledge of Google with them!  Not only did I get to share my knowledge of this amazing educational resource, but I learned a LOT from those that I was with!  I met educators from North Carolina, Augusta, and Lagrange!  I expanded my professional learning network a TON and can't wait to share all that I've learned with my colleagues, teachers and students this year!

I was also fortunate enough to virtually be a part of Flipgrid LIVE where they announced a TON of updates to their already amazing product!!!  And in case you haven't heard...Flipgrid is now FREE for all students and educators!  They were acquired by Microsoft this summer and now all us have access to all of this powerful, student amplifying tool!  I was also a part of a "student voice matters" video that played during the event with several other amazing educators!  Lastly, as if that weren't enough (LOL) I was a part of the Flipgrid #GridGuides inaugural cohort!!!  There were about 20 educators that were selected to complete the requirements for the #GridGuides (Level 3) certification so it could be announced during Flipgrid LIVE!  What a HUGE honor!

Here's a look at my summer by the numbers!  Some other amazing things happened this summer and are mentioned in this graphic!  I found this template on Ryan O'Donnell's website: http://creativeedtech.weebly.com/  He has a TON of educational resources and templates ready for educator use.  Be sure to check it out!



What did you do this summer?  Did you learn anything new?  Take up any new hobbies?  Let me know!