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“I got caught up in something and forgot the meeting was tonight.” How many times have you heard that from a student? Well, the BASIC group at the University of Buffalo found a great solution for this using the free app Remind: Safe Classroom Communication (available for iOS and Android) or on the web at remind.com.
With Remind, students can sign up to get text alerts any time you want to notify them about a meeting or event. They don’t even need to worry about sharing their phone number. The app was created with teachers and coaches in mind so it has privacy functions built in. Students simply text the code you create to a number and then they are signed up. Their phone number and yours are kept completely anonymous.
It takes a few minutes to get everything set up so I’m going to walk you through it. When you first download the app you’ll be asked to give your email and create a password. The next few steps can be just a bit more complicated so I’ve provided some corresponding screenshots to help you see what I’m talking about.
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When asked what your role is you’ll want to say teacher. This will set you up as the admin for the group messaging. Next, you’ll be asked to link your school. Since you’re not using this in a teaching environment just select “I don’t work at a school.” Then you’ll create your first class. Think of this as the group you’ll be sending messages to. You can start by creating a group for your entire BASIC chapter.
Now it will take you to a list of all the participants in your group. Tap the gear in the upper right corner to edit your icon, change any settings and create a custom code (the word students will use to subscribe to your group). After saving your settings you can add people by tapping the blue button.
You have the option to add them by giving in-class instructions, sharing a link and sending invitations to your contacts. You can start inviting people from your contacts (although it might be best to give them a heads up first), share the link on your group’s Facebook page or post the in-class instructions at your next meeting and encourage everyone to sign up.
Once you’re done with that you can toggle over to the Announcements section to send your first message. This is where you will select your group, type in your announcement (something like “Don’t forget BASIC is tonight at 7 in Campus Center Rm. 123. We’ll be talking about God’s amazing love and eating pizza!”) and then schedule it or send it.
The scheduling feature is great because this gives you the ability to plan out many messages ahead of time. If you tend to be busy the day of your meeting you can still send out a reminder that day without worrying by scheduling it ahead of time.
I think this could be a really helpful tool for your ministry. Please let me know if you’ve found any creative ways to use it and if you have any questions you can email me at chris@thebasicsite.org.
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