Remind Review for Teachers

In this modern era, the process of teaching and learning can be done online without having to go outside. It is especially great with the pandemic that is still on-going and people are better off staying at home to prevent the virus from spreading.

There are a number of learning platforms created to facilitate both teachers and students. One of the names that are known by many is Remind. Remind refers to a communication platform that aims to help every student going to the top. This one can be used anywhere, including in the classroom and at home. If you are a teacher and are interested in using this platform, you may want to check out the review of the product to make sure if it is worth using or not and if you and your students can get the benefits or not.

Remind Review for Teachers

About

Details:

    • Grades: Pre-K-12
    • Subjects and skills: Communication and collaboration
    • Best for: Productivity, classroom management, behavior management, parent communication
    • Price: Free
    • Platforms, Website

Remind is the name of the website and app that makes it possible for the teachers to send messages to individuals or groups without having to show their personal contact information. It is 100% safe and friendly. With this, the teachers can share messages in the terms of text, audio, video, links, files, and images. Talking about the messages, they are able to be translated into more than 70 languages. The good thing is that it can be done even on mobile. Upon getting messages, both parents and students can also respond to them. However, if they want to disable this feature, it is also possible. Apart from everything, every user can collect funds for fundraisers, supplies, or events. To be able to collect funds, they will be charged per transaction.

Everything can be started by adding members. There are several ways to add members, including sharing a link, asking them to send a class code to a five-digit number, and sending them PDF with written instructions in it. If this tool is used for the kids below 13, it is a must for the parent to provide email verification. Once the text is confirmed, they will start getting all messages through either email or SMS.

For the students, one-on-one math coaching is also offered by Remind with teachers that have earned certifications. For any student who is interested in this, they can try the first session for free. However, the weekly sessions cost $40 per session that lasts 40 minutes. Just like the first session, there is also Remind Chat that is free. This one has three tiers offered by Remind Hub. Apart from the other differences, another difference that sets the free and paid version is the offered message characters. While the free version only offers 140 characters, the paid one offers 10,000 characters.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

    • The messages can be translated into more than 70 languages.
    • Sharing files and links with caregivers can be done easily.

Cons:

    • It is possible for the adults with no confident with tech to have a hard time with this.
    • Not every resource is ready to be accessed.
    • The length of the message in free version is limited.

Reviews

From Common Sense reviewer:

    • Marianne Rogowski, an Instructional Technology Facilitator:

Engagement:

“The interface is clean and simple to use but could be friendlier and more inviting. It has few features beyond messaging, but there are advantages to the tight focus”

Pedagogy:

“This supplemental tool can help older students keep track of assignments and develop effective communication skills, and it encourages involvement from parents and guardians.”

Support:

“There are ancillary resources, but most require personal information to access them, even with a registered account. The onboarding PDF for parents comes only in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.”

From community:

    • Amanda H., a classroom teacher:
      “They’ve recently changed the character count so even individual messages are limited to 140 characters. The 140 character limit for whole group announcements was Remind’s biggest flat – making that applicable to individual messages as well means it is no longer useful at all. I can’t limit all my communications with students to 140 characters and I can’t ask them to receive 2 or 3 or more texts every time we communicate. I will be researching and finding another service for the fall. (It also sucks that they are implementing this in the middle of the school year.:/)”
    • Mandy F., a classroom teacher:
      “I love Remind for simply keeping in touch with Parents. it is especially helpful to communicate with my Parents who speak a different language. I love that it has a translator for both myself and the parent to use. The only con I have is when I am sending a group message to inform ALL parents, there is a limit on how may characters may be used. I usually have to send multiple messages to get out what I am trying to tell the whole class.”
    • Steve M., a school district administrator:
      “Remind is a fantastic communication tool to help students know what will be expected on any particular day–NO SURPRISES!”
    • Kaitlin M., a classroom teacher:
      “I love this app! I use it in all of my classes and it seems as if all of my students that sign up for it love it too. There are only two drawbacks I can think of. First, not all students may have the means to download this app. Second, there is a message size limit. Other than that I highly recommend this tool.”
    • Demina N., an educator:
      “This is my first full year using remind with my students and parents. As a teacher this is a great communication tool to keep my students and their parents informed with information, due dates for assignments and test as well as a great communication to inform parents about their child. My students are able to communicate with me without giving out my personal phone number and the remind messages come straight to my phone.”

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