What sets Bloomz apart from other parent teacher communication apps? It's the fact that it is all encompassing. Bloomz incorporates every aspect of communication a teacher needs to effectively connect and inform a school community. Parents can rest easy knowing that they are completely in-the-loop with what is happening in their child's class and teachers save time because everything they've communicated and need to communicate is located in one place.

Bloomz has helped me so much, I put these eight ways it expedited and facilitated my classroom's communication needs in only ONE WEEK of school:

1. Parent Messages Parents messaged me with topics ranging from after school care needs to special event organization. In one week of school I received an inquiry to see if I received a note in a child's backpack, one parent gave me details on the Chinese New Year celebration she set up for our class, one child is going on vacation, a parent let me know they are not going to be attending an upcoming field trip, and each day various parents let me know who is or is not in after school care.  Email has pretty much been phased out at this point. Most all of my messages come in through Bloomz which is great because I'm already utilizing the app for posts so I can easily and quickly see when parents are trying to contact me.
2. Video Newsfeed Post I shared two videos last week. One video was of my students counting out 100 items on the 100th day of school. The other was a scene from our Valentine's Day Party. I went around to each student as they wished family members a Happy Valentine's Day. When parents see videos from school it is the most intimate and telling glimpse into their child's day.
3. Calendar Event I love creating calendar events because it cuts down on messaging communication. Last week I created an event with sign-ups for Read Across America Day and four parents signed up! 
4. Student Portfolio Piece I delegated the task of uploading a piece of student writing to each student's Bloomz digital portfolio to my assistant. Last week he posted a math journal prompt to each student's portfolio for parents to view. I asked students to respond to the prompt, "If math was a color...shape...sound..."  From this post I can see that the parent viewed and liked it. 
5. Spanish Class Update Each week our school's Spanish teacher posts an update to our classroom newsfeed. My class parents get a quick summary of events as well as the option to reply directly and privately to the Spanish teacher with questions or comments. Viewing specialist updates on my classroom news feed is beneficial to me as a teacher because I am made aware of the academics covered outside of my classroom. This knowledge gives me the opportunity to connect vocabulary or content to other areas of instruction within my classroom for maximum comprehension. 
6. Room Parent Update My room parent made a post outlining upcoming special school events. In one post she informed my class community of a school auction, re-enrollment application forms due, and a Chinese New Year Dragon Dance Celebration. Thank you room parent!
7. Administration Post My school's office administrator created a post to let parents know that after school club forms are due. She attached the PDF documents parents need to make an informed decision.

8. Curriculum Highlight What did you do in school today? When there is an interesting aspect of my curriculum I snap a picture and share a post to our classroom news feed. This is a quick bit of information for parents so that they have something to bring up about school with their child at home later that evening.

As you can see there is an IMMENSE amount of information for parents and teachers to digest in just one week of school. Before I utilized Bloomz app I feared I was missing something or that there was some aspect of school communication I forgot. Now all I have to do is scroll through one app to see everything happening in my entire school community.

How has Bloomz expedited or facilitated communication in your school community? Please comment in the section below.

Photo by Jude Miqueli