Teacher Interviews on FreshGrade

  • FreshGrade creates a window into the classroom, letting parents be part of the learning even when they are not there
  • Great as she can take photos in the classroom and upload to FreshGrade immediately
  • You can take photos of a range of events such as a trip to the library or to a local tree outside to keep the parents in the loop
  • Parents are updated in the moment, that day or that week, instead of 3 times a year in a report card
  • Parents are informed of struggling students and can support the student before it’s too late
  • Parent engagement increases as the are notified every time there is a post and they can make comments on the posts
  • During parent teacher interviews parents always say how much they love the updates and communication even if they are not commenting on the posts
  • NOTE: glitches in the program… it may look like the parents haven’t looked at the post, but they have, it may not reflect what is actually being viewed
  • Convenient – you can communicate to parents when convenient – waiting at gymnastics, at bedtime, don’t have to photocopy and stuff into 20 backpacks and you have guaranteed delivery where you don’t have to worry if it gets lost
  • Video is a power for tool for showing the learning process – You can record oral language in French and English BUT can be difficult because of background noise in the classroom – Idea from student teacher is to get a microphone attached to the iPad to get rid of background noise
  • Success depends on teachers comfort with technologies
  • Nature walks – use an iPhone – take photos from the back of students as there is a concern with privacy with photos taken on your phone versus the approved iPads in the classroom
  • It can take a long time to make meaningful posts for every student, make your posts intentional and specific as parents don’t need a ton of photos – choose quality over quantity
  • Negative aspect of FreshGrade; 
    • You can’t tag stories or subjects
    • You can colour code, but the images aren’t joined together so it is not easy to see how different images are connected together
    • If parents aren’t looking all the time, they won’t see the connections in learning

 

What parents have to say…

  • It is a wonderful way to see what kids are up to at school – window into the classroom
  • A way to experience the learning without actually being there and keep up on announcements
  • Sparks conversation at home with video and photos
  • Really depends on the teacher and how they use it
  • Worry: kids are going to start to always expect a picture, or to feel they need to smile or look up from work and that it may change the feeling of learning in some way