(I know it’s supposed to be Ask a Catechist day, being a Wednesday and all, but…I forgot to schedule a guest poster for today. Mea culpa).
I’ve had more success with contacting parents via text-message than by any other format, even personal phone calls. I have a list of about 20 parents for my parish children’s choir, and I’ve tried all of the usual methods to keep them updated: sending home notes, e-mailing, calling them individually (which works, but takes a long time). Text-message blasts have been far more effective.
I use a free program called Handcent SMS on my Android phone to set up contact lists and email the entire list with one “blast.” I opted for an unlimited text-messaging plan because I knew I’d be sending out a few of these mass-SMS messages every month, and that can add up pretty quickly. I know that FlockNote is a more robust way of sharing information with a parish via multiple platforms, including text-messaging, although I haven’t had experience with it myself. And I know that there are lots of options out there for iPhones, but since I am (AND SHALL REMAIN, VERIZON, DO YOU HEAR ME) an Android user, I haven’t tried them.
What I would love would be to do the same thing with my high school students, most of whom have cell phones, but I am guessing that wouldn’t work with our Safe Environment guidelines.
Do you share your cell phone number with your students and/or their parents?
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