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  Dr. Kara Stern, Smore Resident Educator

  A veteran educator, I've gone from teacher, to principal, to Ph.D., to ED @ www.mathforamerica.org, to head of school, and now Resident Educator at Smore. I geek out on pedagogy and my Libby app :)

  More posts by Dr. Kara Stern, Smore Resident Educator.

Dr. Kara Stern, Smore Resident Educator

Sometimes, you gotta meet folks where they are.

And where are they, exactly? Well, they could be anywhere, of course — but wherever they are, many of them are definitely listening to music. And guess what? You can tap into that with your school newsletter.

With a little creative license, of course 😉

A Spotify playlist is a fun, unexpected way to hook your readers. Here’s how you do it:

1. Open up Spotify on your computer, you’ll find an option on your left to create a playlist.
2. Click that, and title your playlist Welcome Back, (insert name of mascot) Families!
3. Upload a logo. Then edit your profile name to suit your playlist. Like so👇🏽

Then, the fun starts.

Think about what you want to say, and play around with finding song titles that match your message. You can move titles around, and delete any that don’t quite work.

Next step is to add it to your actual newsletter.

Try this:

1. Title your newsletter: “[Mascot] Back-to-School Playlist.”
2. Then, take a screenshot of your playlist, and embed it as a big photo at the top of a Welcome Back template.
3. Link the photo to the actual playlist or add a button link (because anyone can listen to it, even if they don’t have a Spotify account.)
4. After that, it’s just follow newsletter best practices: use titles & minimize text with bullets, numbers & photos.

Here’s a template to get you started! Have fun 🤩 🎵🎤.

Free Meet the Teacher Template

Sending out a Meet the Teacher template to families or students is a great way to start building those all important student-teacher relationships. It gives students an opportunity to get to know you in a way that feels personal (but also in a manner totally controlled by you!)

Smore BlogDr. Kara Stern, Smore Resident Educator

Using ESSER Funds to Improve School Communication

Wondering how to spend ESSER & Title 1 Funds? Communication technology is essential for reaching multilingual families & supporting students from at-risk communities.

Smore BlogDr. Kara Stern, Smore Resident Educator

The #1 Best Way to Start the School Year? A Welcome Letter to Parents

We’ve put together a Welcome Back school newsletter template with placeholders for all the need-to-know info as students head back to school.

Smore BlogDr. Kara Stern, Smore Resident Educator