PodKeeper
222 South Church Street, Suite 100
Charlotte, NC 28202
222 South Church Street, Suite 100
Charlotte, NC 28202
© 2024 PodKeeper. All rights reserved
An event can be anything (1) specific to your class (e.g. class party, field trip, listing of when a class project is due), (2) specific to your grade (e.g. music performance), (3) a school-wide event (e.g. Curriculum night, PTA / PTO fundraiser), or (4) an out-of-school event where the entire class is invited.
We recommend at the beginning of the year you create an Event for each of the upcoming events for the year, so parents have them on their calendar and know what’s coming up. For those events where you need to track attendance, you can request RSVPs. You can also set up automated reminders, so you don’t have to worry about it as the event gets closer.
When a new event is added to the Pod, you receive an email letting you know. If you decide to receive fewer emails, you can customize which ones you want by clicking on your name in the upper right-hand corner, going to Settings and selecting Email Notifications. People who have received a Pod invitation but haven’t yet accepted will also receive notifications of new events (and discussions) so they will not miss out on anything in the meantime.
There are two ways to set up multiple events based on your needs:
Yes, for any event you can save it to any of the most popular online calendars – Google Calendar, Yahoo Calendar, iCal and Outlook. Within the event, simply click Save to Web Calendar, choose which online calendar you use, and then save to your calendar.
No, if you want to invite someone to an event, he/she needs to be invited to join the Pod.
To edit or cancel an event, click the Edit button from that event’s page. You can then edit any of the information and decide if you want an update email notification to be sent to the Pod. From this page, you can also click the Cancel Event button which will cancel the event and send a notification to the Pod.
When you originally create an event, you’ll be given an option for reminders to be sent to all Pod Members automatically. At any time, you can also click the Send Reminder button, add a message and specify who the reminder will go to.
A discussion is how you communicate with everyone in your Pod. Start a new discussion for each new topic. A discussion can be used to provide parents with an important update, request help with something, or ask a question. A new discussion can be started by the teacher or any parent.
The default is to include everyone in the Pod in a discussion, but if you have a topic that is only relevant to a select group of Pod members, when you start a new discussion, you can select which members will be included.
When new information is added to the Pod, you will receive an email with the information. You can customize which ones you want by clicking on your name in the upper right-hand corner, going to Settings and selecting Email Notifications. People who have received a Pod invitation but haven’t yet accepted will also receive notifications of new discussions (and events) so they will not miss out on anything in the meantime.
There are two ways to reply to a Discussion:
There are two ways to control the email notifications you receive about new information in your Pod.
When you start a new Discussion, below your message you will see the option to select who can view that discussion. The default is for the entire Pod to receive it, but if you select “Only these specific people,” you can specify who can see this particular discussion. Once a group is selected, it cannot be changed for that discussion. To change who can see a discussion you will need to start a new discussion with the desired group.
An Urgent Discussion is meant to be used for any type of notification that you want members to really pay close attention to. These discussions will be marked Urgent on the Discussions page and in email notifications. To make a discussion Urgent, simply click the Urgent box when creating a new discussion. The discussion will remain Urgent unless you decide to edit the discussion and no longer make it Urgent.
Have a class wish list? Want volunteers for a class event? Need parents to sign up for conferences? The easiest way to manage all of these is by setting up Lists and asking the parents to sign up.
Lists are a particularly helpful tool with many different uses for a class. Here are some examples where using Lists can help your class organization: Create a wish list of class supplies and items a teacher needs in the class; Set up a schedule for parent-teacher conferences and ask parents to sign up for time slots; Ask parents to sign up for times to come in to volunteer in the classroom. Be sure to click “Notify Pod of this List” link if you want an email notification to be sent to all the Pod members letting them know a new List has been added.
To add an item: Click on the Add a Row link. Put in the requested information and click Save.
To edit an item: Click on the little green pencil icon, change what you want, and click Save.
To delete an item: Click on the red “X” icon, and confirm that you want to delete it. Once it’s deleted you will have to add it again if you want it back.
Find the item you want to sign up for. Then click the little green pencil icon, and click the Sign Me Up circle. Click Save, and you’re all set.
Yes. Find the item you want to sign someone else up for. Then click the little green pencil icon, and click the dropdown menu and choose the person you want to sign up. Click Save, and you’re all set.
Whatever you want to share - permission slips, photos, flyers, links to resources – make it easy for everyone in your Pod to access them by putting them in the Files.
Files are a way to share information with everyone in your Pod. Files can be any kind of document such as a class list, permission slips, classroom policies, homework strategies, photos, short videos, etc. In the Files section, you can also store links to any website that you want to easily access, such as the school website, PTA / PTO website, math and reading websites, links to interesting articles, etc.
To add a new file or link, just click on the New File link, then upload the document from your computer, tablet or phone that you want to add, or copy and paste the website link into the open field. Click Save, and you’re all set. Please note that an email notification will NOT be sent letting Pod members know that a new file or link has been added. If you want to inform them, create a quick Discussion letting them know and include the direct link to the Files section: http://www.podkeeper.com/uploaded_files
Each Pod can store up to 1 GB of files. You can upload the most common file formats, such as Microsoft Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), PowerPoint (.pptx), PDF, JPG, PNG, GIF and more. The maximum file size allowed is 5 MB. If you ever need more storage space, please contact us at [email protected]
It’s quick and easy to invite all of the parents in the class to join your Pod. Just Click the Invite Others link and paste in a list of email addresses from a document or an existing email. You also can type in any email addresses. View the message to be included in the invitations to join the Pod that will go out and edit as you’d like. Then click the Send Invites button and an email will go out to everyone. Reminders go out automatically if they don’t sign up right away. You can always add additional members and send more reminders.
To ensure the privacy of each Pod, the only way to invite people to a Pod is by using the Invite Others link and providing the email addresses of the people you want to invite. A personal email will then be sent to each person you have invited.
This section covers additional topics that aren’t covered in the other Help Center sections.
Click on your name in the upper right-hand corner of the website, click Settings, and you will be on the My Account tab, where you can update any of your account information.
To see the other Pod members, click on the Members link. There you will see a list of everyone in the Pod. Each Pod member can add his/her child’s name, as well as a phone number, if he/she chooses to do so.
It’s important for you to get email notifications so you don’t miss out on knowing when new events are added and when someone sends out an important update. If there are certain notifications you’d like to not receive anymore, you can click on your name in the upper right-hand corner, go to Settings, and select the Email Notifications tab and mark which notifications you want to receive.
Once you’re logged into your account, click the green Create a New Pod button. Then name your Pod, select the category and save it. To then see all your Pods, you can just click on the name of the Pod and you’ll get a dropdown with all your Pods. You can easily jump back and forth between them.
You can create three Pods as part of your subscription. If you need to create more Pods, email us at [email protected]. We will provide you with the ability to create additional Pods for a small fee. However, there is no limit to the number of Pods in which you can be a member.
Yes, the person who creates the Pod can customize it by adding an image (e.g. logo of your school, a photo of the class, etc.). Click the More button (the one with the 3 vertical dots) then Pod Admin, then the Customize tab. You can add an image by either uploading it from your computer, laptop or mobile phone or providing a link to the image. For best results use a PNG that's less than 100 KB. We accept PNG, JPG or GIF, and file size can be up to 5 MB. The aspect ratio can be anything from 1:1 (square) to 3:1 (horizontal rectangle). Once an image is added, it is easy to turn the display of the image on or off as needed, and you can easily change the image with a few clicks whenever you want.
If you are no longer a part of the group and want to leave the Pod, click on your name in the upper right-hand corner, go to Settings, Leave a Pod and select the Pod you want to leave. As an alternative to leaving a Pod, you can simply adjust your notifications so that you receive only the types of emails you want to receive from that Pod.
PodKeeper for Teachers is an annual subscription. Although our standard price is $59 per year, we are currently offering a special price of $39 for the 2017 Back to School season.
There’s nothing you need to do, as your subscription renews once a year at the beginning of the school year. We will email you a few weeks beforehand to remind you about the automated renewal.
Just email us at [email protected] with a subject line of “Don’t Renew” and let us know that you don’t want to renew, the reason why, and provide the email address of your account. Then we will email back with a confirmation that the renewal will not go through.
If your question wasn’t answered in the FAQs, feel free to drop us a note at [email protected]
The person who created the Pod is considered to be a Pod Admin. There are two types of Pod Admins: Pod Admin and Pod Admin with Sharing. Both types of Pod Admins can edit and delete any information in the Pod. A Pod Admin with Sharing can also give Pod Admin rights to other Pod members. Note that all members of the Pod can add information, including create new events, start discussions, create a new list, etc. Pod members can also edit or delete information that they have added themselves.