Teacher-Family Communication Apps: ClassTag vs TalkingPoints

Comparing Teacher-Family Communication App ClassTag vs TalkingPoints

Classtag Talkingpoints App Comparison

“ClassTag is a communication tool that makes life easier for the teacher. It is a Signup Genius, Remind, calendar, and class website all in one!”

– Beth Lafferty, 4th Grade Teacher at Lipscombe Academy

Off the Charts

As the comparison chart above shows, ClassTag offers teachers and families so much by way of features. The best part is that you get all of these amazing features absolutely free!

ClassTag’s goal is to empower teachers to reach every Family in order to achieve better engagement, participation, and support. 

While TalkingPoints does focus on communication as well, it lacks the Google integrations that make ClassTag the superior product for keeping families up to date on everything going on with their child in the classroom, including their grades with Google Classroom.

Scheduling Meetings and Events

Scheduling events is something teachers do all too often, and no matter the event, ClassTag has you covered. No more sending home flyers that don’t leave the school building or sending out robocalls that are blocked.

All-in-One Scheduling Simplicity

ClassTag is best for those who want the simplicity of one platform for all teacher-Family communication. Whether scheduling the annual book fair or setting specific conference times, ClassTag has you covered. Plus, you have the ability to request volunteers when creating the events. Families can simply choose their volunteer time slot in ClassTag and you will be able to see which families are showing up and when.

Ultimately, ClassTag gives you the ease and convenience of scheduling absolutely everything within one app. It’s so much easier than juggling between multiple tools.

TalkingPoints lacks the scheduling capabilities of ClassTag, which would leave teachers to find another app to use for scheduling.

Google Integrations

With so many educators using all that Google has to offer, we’ve designed our ClassTag platform to seamlessly integrate with the entire Google suite.

ClassTag’s integration with Google Classroom, Calendar, and Meet automatically help you keep families organized, present, and up-to-speed with their school-related dates.

For example, if you’re holding conferences, a Family can choose one of the time slots you’ve made available on our app. Then, through ClassTag’s Google integration, that appointment is “auto-magically” synced into their Google Calendar. But wait, there’s more!

You can hold any meeting with families virtually through Google Meet. As ClassTag conferences (and yes, events) are placed in Google Calendar, your Meet conference link will be included automatically. An added benefit is that families will receive automated reminders about their appointments, all without you having to click a finger. Talk about convenience, flexibility, and accountability!

ClassTag also integrates with Google Classroom allowing teachers to import and roster sync classes, and with the ClassTag Chrome extension, you can message families through ClassTag without ever leaving Google Classroom!

Keeping Families in The Loop

Keeping families in the loop of everything happening in your classroom is a fantastic, and necessary, way to maintain Familyal connection and engagement.

Reach Every Family with Automated Digital Newsletters

At ClassTag, we designed the Weekly Summary, an automated newsletter for families with all your upcoming classroom activities for the week. Our Weekly Summaries are sent as an email or SMS with a link to view a personalized copy according to families’ notification preferences. TalkingPoints doesn’t have a weekly newsletter option.

As a teacher, you can either customize your Weekly Summary message or just sit back and let ClassTag do all the work. We’ll automatically pull everything you have scheduled for the week ahead, pop it into your summary, and deliver it on your behalf. Simple, informative, and engaging!

Accessibility and Engaging Every Family  

Multiple Languages and Modes of Communication

Serving ELL families can be a communications challenge if you don’t share the same home languages. With this, both TalkingPoints and ClassTag offer language translation into 150+ languages.

Use ClassTag and your messages will be automatically converted into any of the 150+ languages available, according to Family-set preferences. Yes, connecting with every Family in their preferred language gets your physical messages across. But, it also communicates a deeper message of intention and inclusion on your part.

Access to Technology

If you want your communication to reach and engage every Family, then having one of the best apps for teachers is necessary. TalkingPoints allows families to access messages via the app or SMS, but the functionality is reduced for SMS users. But what about families who have little, or even no, technology resources? This is where ClassTag excels.

ClassTag allows you to send messages to families through their own established choice of text, email, app, or website. But for those with limited or no technology resources, our app has your back. You’ll be prompted with smart, actionable alerts and recommendations to ensure connection happens. For example, you’ll be notified as it becomes obvious which of the families may not have tech access. Then, you’ll be able to print your communications to send home.

TalkingPoints only works to its fullest in the app, leaving families with limited technology out of the loop.

Connecting with Difficult-to-Reach Families Through Your Teacher-Family Communication App

Finally, both ClassTag and TalkingPoints offer Family engagement tracking. Both platforms allows you to see which messages have been read and which families are not responding to posts. However, ClassTag takes it to the next level!

You can easily see how many families have read each message you send without even opening the stats tab. Plus, ClassTag alerts you when families are not responding to help you quickly reach families you may be missing. This feature is fantastic for busy teachers who value their Family communication, but don’t always have time to delve into the data.

ClassTag is Simply THE BEST!

There isn’t enough time in the day to navigate from one app to another to meet your communication needs, and with ClassTag, you don’t have to.

ClassTag has all the features you need including sending announcements and messages to families, scheduling conferences, and even requesting items and volunteers.

Our all-inclusive app will lighten your workload while increasing Family engagement.

Still curious? Classtag is free for you forever and that’s a price that’s worth your time. Go ahead… give it a try!

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