Do you use Remind101?
If you are a teacher and you aren’t already making this awesome (free) tool work for you and your classroom, you are going to LOVE me today…
In a nutshell, Remind101 is a free service for teachers that allows them to schedule and send text messages to their students (and parents) without giving out their personal cell phone number.
Once you sign up and set up a teacher account (all you need is an email address), you are given a specific phone number and a “class code” (example: @school10) to share with anyone you want to receive your texts. I set up a different class (with a different code) for each of my three grade levels, but you can set them up for anything!
I did this at the beginning of the year on my syllabus by including a little section like this:
From there, you simply log onto your Remind101 dashboard and compose text messages to be sent. You can either send them immediately or schedule them to be sent out later. (I usually compose all my texts on Friday for the following week and schedule them to go out around 7PM the night before an assignment is due.)
Yes, I post all their assignments on Blackboard too; but, they ALWAYS have their cell phones with them. This has been a LIFESAVER for me with all the snow days, schedule changes, etc. this semester. And, the kids seem to really like and appreciate it too!
*I haven’t used it yet, but Remind101 also just released a new tool that allows you to send attachments (like handouts) with your texts, which I think has a lot of potential too.
I’m not being paid for this post at all, I just really really like it and think you will benefit from it too. The possibilities, really, are limitless. (In elementary school, for example, I see it being a great tool to use with parents to keep them updated on field trips, due dates, etc.)
So… What are you waiting for? Sign up now!
Have you had success with this too? Think you want to start using it? Start now or bookmark this page to remind you (haha, no pun intended) about it at the beginning of next year!
You’re welcome. 😉
I used remind 101 and I love it. I’m an advisor of a club of 60+ people so it’s a lifesaver.
Remind101 is my favorite, too! I’ve presented twice about it at PD sessions. I actually used the attachment feature for the first time yesterday, to send a copy of a rubric I’m using. Several kids said they opened it and used it– so exciting!!
I loved using Remind101 at my last job! The parents of my (elementary) students really seemed to appreciate it. I started teaching at a new district this year and we were specifically told not to use it. I was definitely disappointed!
Did your district have a reason for avoiding Remind101?
I use this with my high school kids. They actually ask me to send out reminder texts for things!
I used this with my AP students for major assignments, and they loved it! They even requested me to use it for smaller assignments, too. So useful!
As the parent of an eighth grader taking high school level English, i totally love Remind 101. I think I’ll love it even more when my son enters high school marching band later this year.
I love this! I’m definitely going to use this next year!!! I am really enjoying your teaching posts!!!!
This is our second year of Remind101, and it’s been awesome. The only thing I hate is the fact that the students who need it the most are the ones least likely to sign up to participate 🙁
I love Remind 101! I teach English and am also the coordinator for Link Crew which has 80+ members and remind 101 is a life saver!! I also use it for my English classes for big assignments and tests but not as a daily reminder. They are in high school and I provide them a two week daily assignment handout that they are to write their assignments down on.
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I’m a huge fan of Remind. I have used the attachment feature several times. I attached a handout to a message, and in another message I sent a photo of a no name assignment to the individual I thought it belonged to. I’m excited to use it again this school year. I like your idea of taking the time on a Friday to schedule messages to send out!