TEACHERS | TalkingPoints

I like using this TalkingPoints because I don't need to share my personal mobile number with families. I also like the possibility to have the message translated to the parents language of preference. I could also see using this with older students who are English Language Learners. The information gets to the person who needs it, and they can respond immediately or later now, just like text messaging. However, it is not the easiest to use for families who are not "tech savvy." I don't know if the parent version of the app is set up the same as the teacher version but my explanations of how I use the app did not help the parent. Also the English to Korean translation may not be the most faithful or accurate. A parent mentioned that my message was confusing and requested to get English messages. It may be that my message have too many English conventions that are difficulty to translate to Korean. A "tips and tricks for making your message/ announcement translation ready" would be nice. And stronger translations. Overall, I would recommend TalkingPoints. And if they continue to improve it, will recommend it to any school system I am in.

I have used this app all last year and was very happy with it. However, the latest version is absolutely terrible and as much I used to love it I may have to stop using it altogether. My messages never load on the app on my phone and I can only check them on the computer. Today I have carefully selected two groups of families and send them two different reminders with specific information. When a confused parent got back to me a few minutes later and I looked at what she actually received and realized that one of the messages meant for some people went to everybody. So, some families received two mutually excluding messages within minutes. How did something that used to be so good got so messed up? Now I am nervous about using it because I don’t want my parents receiving messages that are meant for somebody else. Please return the old version!!!

I have used Talking Points this past school year to communicate with parents of English learners and it’s been the most parent-teacher communication I’ve had. Some parents mentioned that the translation is confusing and in same cases they preferred English, but overall, it has been very very handy! I definitely recommend it to any teachers, but especially those in ESOL. I’ve had only 2 challenges with it: A. Many times I can tell that I’ve gotten messages but they do not load on my IPhone. Most school days I leave the website open on my work laptop for quick texting with the parents, but if I want to see the messages on my phone, sometimes I can’t read them. B. Sometimes I receive a message that appears as 2 lines long and I think I’ve read what the parent said. At random times, I’ve clicked on the parents’ original message (some languages I understand) and discovered That their message was actually much longer, and a good part of it never got translated.