Celly VS Remind - Classroom Communication

For the past several years, I have used Remind in my classroom, but at the GRITC conference I was introduced to Celly. They both offer a great resource for connecting with students outside of class time, but they have different features. What is the best fit for your classroom? Let's have a look!

The below information is what I have found through online articles and using the sites myself. If you have additional or different information, please share! I am still learning.

Remind

I'm starting with Remind because it is my tried and true platform. 

Remind started as a one-way text/email service, but they have recently added a chat feature. The one-way messaging is a great way to get a message out quickly without having to reveal your phone number, worrying about replies, or typing in emails one by one. I've enjoyed using this to remind students and parents about due dates, field trips, and upcoming events. 

The new chat feature opens the floor for one-to-one communication. Teachers initiate a chat session with a student (or if you change your settings, students can initiate the chat), and they can essentially email each other via Remind. I don't find this feature useful to me as I already have my school email address forwarded to my iPhone, and I can reply quickly from there when I am available. 

Students and parents sign up for Remind by texting a class code to a specific number or sending an email to the class code email address. No account is needed and sign up takes only a few seconds. This is very useful as creating an account takes time and no one needs another password to remember. Remind also has an app students/parents can download and messages can be read from there.

You can also schedule Remind messages to go out (I typically schedule a set of messages for the week on Monday) and add attachments to the message.

Celly

Celly is very new to me. We used it at GRITC, and I enjoyed it! I played around a lot, joined a few education topic cells, and began reading reviews. 

With Celly, you create "cells" or groups. Students join the cell, and everyone in the cell can chat together. Collaboration is key to a successful classroom! Celly also offers private chats for one-to-one communication. 

There are three cell types in Celly:

1. "Curator" - The cell creator (teacher) receives all messages privately first - then he/she decides if the message needs to be sent to the whole group or left private. (This is my favorite for classroom use.)
2. "Open" - All messages are sent to the entire group.
3. "Alert Only" - Only the cell creator can send messages - no one can reply. (Great for large groups where replies would be overwhelming.)

Celly provides a joining guide for parents and students.  It can be accessed through the website, app, or text messages. If you use the website or app, you must create an account. You do not need an account to use the text feature.

Celly also offers options to send attachments, photos, and POLLS! I love the idea of the poll feature. You can also schedule messages.

This program will be wonderful for classroom collaboration. Students can answer each other's questions (as I approve the message), make comments on readings and homework, and see that everyone needs to ask a question sometimes!

Pros/Cons

Remind - Pros

• No account needed for sign up
• One-way messaging feature is fast, simple
• Schedule messages
• Add attachments

Celly - Pros

• COLLABORATION
• Different cell types for different situations
• Mass messages can still be sent to the class
• Add attachments/photos
• Send polls

Remind - Cons

• "Chat" is the equivalent to email (I don't need another place to check)
• No Polls (without app)
• Lacking collaboration

Celly - Cons

• I have not experienced the text feature yet, but I feel it may be overwhelming if you are a part of several cells and receiving texts for all messages.
• Creating an account to use the app/website can take time and may deter parents from signing up.

Both programs offer great resources for the classroom! This year I am going to venture out with Celly and see where it takes us. I can still send mass messages like Remind, but it also opens the floor for collaboration and students to ask questions that can benefit the entire class at once. 

What about you? Do you use Remind? Do you use Celly? Are you thinking of switching from one to the other? I want to hear about it!

Periscope

Have you heard of the new Periscope craze? It is hitting the ground running and getting attention from around the world! I first heard about it through Instagram from teacher friends. Periscope is an app in both the App Store and the Play Store. It links from your Twitter account. You can watch live streams on your computer if you find a link from a twitter post (you can't watch directly from the Periscope site).

Yesterday I watched the sunrise in Miami, church clips from three different states, waves rolling on the shores of California, the sunset in Australia, and several teachers chatting about many different things! Just this morning I have walked the streets of New York, swam in Puerto Rico, watched others swim in Lake Placid (I've seen that movie - I'm not swimming there!), driven down a country lane in Europe, got stuck in traffic while listening to the radio in Moscow, and ended up in too many bedrooms. 

The premise of Periscope is to explore the world through someone else's eyes. It is a lot of fun seeing life happening anywhere around the world. 

Lucky Little Learners streamed this morning and posted about a blog with 25 Periscope tips. I joined her stream too late to comment (she filled up really fast!), but I did enjoy watching it and following along on her blog. She has wonderful tips on kicking your Periscopes up a notch. I posted my first Periscope last night, and it didn't go well - but I look forward to implementing her tips and trying again soon!

Will I be using it in my classroom? -No.

Periscope is a wonderful experience, but it is a live experience. There are too many things that could go wrong (inappropriate comments or images) to display or "let students loose with" periscope in the classroom. There are also many student privacy rights that must be considered if you display your classroom on periscope.

I've heard several other teachers discuss working closely with another classroom/person to do private periscopes. I use Skype for this, and I don't see any reason to fix what isn't broken. 

Are you using Periscope? Who is your favorite person to follow on Periscope? Post your Periscope name below! Follow me at @ReevesintheMiddle.

Social Butterly

I have a thing for social media. The connections, network, and education it provides are incredible! Don't get me wrong - I am ALL for face to face communication, but social media is a great tool!

I am the PR Pro for my school, so with school sites, personal sites, and educator sites - I run:

2 Twitter Accounts

1 Facebook Account

2 Facebook Pages

1 Yammer Account

2 Blogs

3 Instagram Accounts

1 Pinterest Account

1 Remind Account (with 3 classes)

+ Youtube, Teachertube, ETC!

It's a lot of work keeping those up! Thankfully with an iPhone, iPad, and MacBoook it's easy and typically does not take up that much time (except for pinterest - I'm pretty sure I've lost entire days in there!). I use Instagram to update students on a lot of announcements. Apparently, "Facebook is for old people." 

I'd love to share my Educator Social Medias with you! Please feel free to like/follow/share them all! Of course, this blog is the first one!

Click here for my Teacher Twitter!

Click here for my Teacher Instagram!

Please comment and let me know what you use for your classroom! Keeping students and parents involved and informed is very important in our current technology age.