Effective communication between school and home has proven to make a difference in a child's attendance, behavior, socio-emotional development, and grades. I have always appreciated parents that are ready and willing to create a partnership that focuses on their child's needs. But, this does not always come easily. The most common barrier would be lack of or incorrect contact information provided. However, there are also language barriers that we struggle with from time to time.
TalkingPoints is a platform that was created to eliminate communication barriers so that families are able to be more involved in student success. It takes into consideration the barriers created by language, culture, socioeconomic status, time, knowledge, perceptions, and technology. Teachers are able to sign up for free to have access to basic features. However, there is a paid option for administrators or district that offers more features.
With over 150 languages to choose from, you can almost guarantee that you will find the language you are looking for. Unfortunately, while Chuukese is an option, it is not able to translate messages to this language. Hopefully, since it is an option it is something they are working on. However, they do have Marshallese, Tagalog, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and a few other Pacific island languages that could be beneficial.
Talking points could be accessed using a web browser, mobile device (does not have to be a smart phone), or by downloading the free app. All options are easy to navigate through. Starter guides are provided in different languages for teachers to share with families. There is also a powerpoint created for the option of presenting the platform to parents. (TalkingPoints for Families PPT)
After signing up, you are able to add contact information for students and their families. This is where you could choose a home language for each contact. Messages could be sent to individual contacts, specific student families, or to the whole class. Translations are done automatically, based on the home language chosen, for all messages sent and received. There is also an option to have both the original and translated messages viewable. TalkingPoints also provides sample Poll questions for you to send to all contacts so that you could get a better idea of what your students' lives are like at home. Messages received from students and families are only sent to and viewable by the teacher.
One feature I found interesting is the Readability Flag feature. This tool flags messages that are written above a 6th-grade reading level. Clicking the flag will explain why the message was flagged so that you could make necessary changes. Abbreviations, acronyms, and misspellings are highlighted as you create your messages. Clicking on the highlighted words gives you suggested changes or the option to ignore the highlight.
When first testing the platform, the messages took awhile to send to my personal phone number, so I had sent a message to the Help Desk inquiring about it. Although they had stated that Talking Points is not supported outside of the U.S. states, I received the initial message a few minutes later and messages sent thereafter went through just like any other message.
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