Ten Things Schools and Teachers Can Do Free With Cel.ly

You are probably familiar with Remind 101 and Class Parrot, but perhaps you haven't yet tried Cel.ly because you thought you already had your texting needs covered or maybe initially it looked too complicated; however, Cel.ly is in a whole other league from those other popular tools and is well worth the effort. A tool with enterprise level power that is completely free is too good to pass up.

A reminder to teachers: Don't take the risk of texting your students directly. It's just not worth it when there's another way to have the same result with none of the risk. Don't put yourself in a position of having a "he said/she said" that could end up in court. ALSO: Group texting is a pain in most apps. Cel.ly solves all of the above.


Here are ten things your school (or district or classroom) can do better and cheaper with Cel.ly.


1. Set up a cell for your entire district for mass notifications, for example, "No school tomorrow due to Hurricane. Check local radio stations for updates."

2. Set up cells for each of your campuses, "Hispanic Heritage Night Tonight 6 p.m. Hope to see you there!"

3. Create QR codes for each cell so that parents can easily sign up. You can use any number of QR code creators (like Zebra Crossing) to make an SMS message. All users have to do is scan the code, and a message is automatically created to the correct number with the correct text information. Here's a sample you can scan to see how it works, or you can go to this URL. (The video below shows how to create this code.)

4. Use your school's cell to collect votes for student council, homecoming queen, and anything else for which you need to gather opinions.

5. Create a cell for each class you teach so that you can do knowledge checks in class or send homework advice. 

6. Ask school sponsors and coaches to use Cel.ly for away games and field trips to notify parents exactly when to pick their students up.  No more waiting around until an hour after the group returns.

7. Send reminders to your students, "Don't forget to study for the quiz tomorrow."

8. Use Cel.ly to create a "Twitter Wall" where Twitter is blocked.

9. Create tip lines for bullying, crime, etc.

10. Schedule messages up to 90 days in advance so you never forget to remind students, teachers, parents, or the public about important events.

Here's how to create a cell and a QR code to direct people to it . . . 

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