Our latest tool in the box
“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”
John Ruskin
We, at Milk, live by Ruskin’s sentiments. We’re constantly looking to modify and tweak, and innovate and improve our student planner app.
Our mission? To enhance the working lives of teachers, lightening the load, while increasing the effectiveness of their teaching.
Our latest tool in the box is…
… the new 2-way chat function.
By default, all messaging in Milk is a 1-way broadcast. This means the teacher remains in control, without the need to field a flurry of questions and queries.
Teachers can message an entire class or select individual students. They may wish to target groups such as School Band, Ski Trip, or U13 football squad.
The new 2-way chat function on Milk…
… allows teachers to open up communication should they wish to do so.
Granting parents or pupils the right to reply is just a click away, on the message setting.
Discretion guaranteed
If you want to liaise with a parent, without their child knowing, you simply click “Send to parent only”.
Early intervention
A quiet word with a parent makes all the difference if you’re hoping to nip something in the bud before an issue escalates.
We’ve written before about the power of enlisting the help of parents.
Parents want to help with homework. Trouble is, they often don’t know about it in the first place.
Homework = success
Teachers know there’s an undeniable correlation between homework completion and exam success. It’s a no-brainer but studies argue the case further. As one meta-analysis of studies conducted between 1987 and 2003 stated:
“With only rare exceptions, the relationship between the amount of homework students do and their achievement outcomes was found to be positive and statistically significant.”
74% of parents said Milk makes it easier to understand homework.
Milk (My Interactive Learning Kit) boosted homework submission by 44%.
Communication
With Milk, instant messaging is easy. Which means that you’re less likely to put off those awkward but essential enquiries to parents, such as “Johnny appears not to have done his homework.”
Better still, the teacher will see if a parent has seen the message. And what’s more, they’ll see the exact time and date.
No one likes nasty surprises, and that includes parents. Tackling problems as and when they surface defuses situations before they get out of hand. If issues arise with particular students, teachers can work with parents to derail bad habits at an early stage, long before they become entrenched.
So, enlisting the help of parents…
… just got a whole lot easier. The holy trinity of teacher/pupil/parent is at the heart of education.
We’d suggest keeping feedback short, sweet and straightforward. Milk is all about saving time not wasting it.
It may simply be a matter of scheduling a phone call. These days, with multiplying means of instant messaging, no one likes a call out of the blue. And there’s wisdom in allowing a cooling off period.
Oops!
One feature we love on Milk is that, unlike email, you can edit messages even after they’ve been sent. It’s no longer a case of send in haste, repent at leisure.
Did you get that?
“Message read report” lets teachers and school leaders know whether parents and pupils are engaging with comms.
With all the data stored conveniently in one place, and easy to find, tracking students is so much simpler.
Plus, the all-new “Homework summary” displays past, present and outstanding homework on one page.
Final thoughts
Education is all about relationships, and the Milk app oils the wheels of communication between teacher, parent and pupil.
And why not use the 2-way chat function to relate good news stories to parents?
We ring to complain, but praise is the great motivator. How much better to finish the week with messages of praise home. Although older students may feign indifference, all pupils – and, indeed, teachers and parents – thrive on praise. We all need Brownie points once in a while.
We really hope that you’re maximising your Milk.
And we’re always on hand to help.
Always give Tech Support your Milk ID.
You’ll get all the support you need.
Mike Dowling and the team at Milk
“The truly human society is a learning society, where grandparents, parents, and children are students together.”
Eric Hoffer
