Because I compile information from all the seventh grade teachers, I usually send out an email on Friday asking if anyone has something to contribute. Then it's just a matter of copy/paste to include all the information our team wants to share.
A simple email to parents works well, and that's what I did for several years. Last year, I discovered Smore, and I love it because I can include pictures, videos, web links, and forms.
To get started, create an account (there are free, pro, and educator versions) and click the orange "Start a new flyer" button. You can also duplicate a previous flyer so you can keep the same format all year if you like.
There are some easy templates to follow, or you can choose to start from a blank flyer. It's very easy to make your newsletter look great, so don't be intimidated by starting from scratch.
You have some options with design, background, colors, and fonts.
Once you've decided on a look, you can start adding material. It's all very intuitive and easy to change if you decide you don't like it. Items can be dragged around to change the order they appear in or deleted altogether.
Sending a Smore flyer is easy: I used copy/paste from Powerschool and created a "Seventh Grade Parents" mailing list. I can also share my newsletters over social media like my class Facebook page and school Twitter account. Flyers are also printable.
One of my favorite parts about Smore is the analytics. I'm not usually too much of a data geek, but I love checking to see how many people read my newsletter (226 last week!). Analytics will also show you how much time viewers spend on your page and what they do there.
Click here to view last week's flyer.
If you decide to create a newsletter, I'd love to see it!
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