Family & Community Advancement
TalkingPoints Resources
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In SY2021, the Boston Public Schools purchased TalkingPoints accounts for each school. TalkingPoints is a two-way multilingual family engagement platform allowing educators and administrators the opportunity to communicate with families in their native language (including English speakers) via the web, mobile, or text messages.
Note: Please review the TalkingPoints Policy and additional resources linked below to support your understanding of usage and management parameters.
How to Access the TalkingPoints
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- Teachers and School Administrators access the TalkingPoints platform via Clever.
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Step 1: (Chromebook or Laptop). Go to Clever: www.bostonpublicschools.org/backpack. Be sure to sign in using your BPS Gmail and password.
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Step 2: Under “Staff Link”, locate and click the TalkingPoints icon.
- Step 3 (Optional-- Mobile App Access): In order to use the TalkingPoints Mobile Teacher App, you will need to download the application via the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. To use the mobile application to communicate with families, you will first need to log in to TalkingPoints on your Laptop or Chromebook via Clever and create/set a password for the Mobile Application.
- Classroom roster set up: Rosters are automatically created by the District, so automatic access to your specific classroom roster is available. Those without classes set up in Clever will need to talk to your school leader to be added manually to the school account as a teacher or administrator. Once your roster is manually created by your school, then log in to www.app.talkingpts.org using Google SSO or via your smartphone to use TalkingPoints.
- Updating student information: Users can make changes to rosters within TalkingPoints (see here for instructions). However, if parent language preferences need to be updated, please complete and forward the linked “Parent Preferred Language of Communication Form” to Welcome Services. If you have questions, you can contact Welcome Services via email at welcomeservices@bostonpublicschools.org or telephone at 617-635-9046 / 617-635-9010.
- TalkingPoints for Schools + Districts Product Updates - SY 21-22 - CLICK HERE to read updates to the "New permission levels" and general updates from TalkingPoints for schools. (Updated June 7th, 2021)
Parent Resources
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TalkingPoints for Families (Available in the 9 major languages of the District)
Getting started guide for families
Getting started guide for families - Spanish
Video Tutorials:
- (Arabic) How to Use TalkingPoints
- (Cantonese) How to Use TalkingPoints | 如何使用TalkingPoints
- (Haitian Creole) How to use TalkingPoints| Kijan "TalkingPoints" lan mache
- (Mandarin) How to Use TalkingPoints | 如何使用TalkingPoints
- (Somali) How To Use TalkingPoints | Casharro Sida Loo IsticmaaloTalking Points oo Maqal-muuqaal ah
- (Spanish) Talking Points | Como Funciona Talking Points
- (Vietnamese) How to Use TalkingPoints
TALKINGPOINTS QUICK LINKS
- TalkingPoints Policy (Note: Policy contains links to a myriad of TP resources)
- TalkingPoints for District Admins - Resources
- TalkingPoints for School Admins - Resources
- TALKINGPOINTS QUICK POCKET GUIDE (Training Videos & Resources)
- TalkingPoints for schools one-pager
- Video Captions with Translations
- TalkingPoints Professional Development for Increasing Parent Engagement
- How to Access TalkingPoints - OIIT
- TalkingPoints More Than Messaging Poster
- SY/23 Back School Virtual Webinar Series (Teachers & Administrators
- Boston Public School Admn Webinar (10-2-20)