Hello teacher,
So, your school recently created a XACROS plan. Congratulations! Whether you are a new or longtime user of XACROS, getting started is much easier than ever.
In this guide, we'll walk you through a number of steps to help you get started and better your experience using XACROS. It’s a simple process, and we’ve put together how-tos, tips, and other resources for using XACROS in your classroom—so lets jump right in.

• Before you hop on XACROS, we recommend reading through our short document about the overview of XACROS. (We believe it’s worth the 15 minutes read.)
  Click here to read it
• If your school is rostering, check your email (preferably school email) for instructions on how to log in and claim your XACROS account. Otherwise, create a new account and connect it to your school.
• Once you’ve logged in, go to your account settings to make your desired changes and to choose how you’d like to get message notifications.

• Getting your classes up and running takes just a few minutes. If your school is rostering, keep an eye out for an email about claiming your classes (already created for you).
• Otherwise, you need to create a class from scratch.
  Create a class
  Add students to your class
• From your "Class Details" section, you can also update your class code to make it easier for parents and students to remember.
  Change your class code

• Now that you have your class(es) set up, you’re ready to share out your first message. When composing messages, keep our guidelines in mind for better impact.
  How to create an effective message
• Do you need some inspiration for your welcome message? We’ve crafted some message templates that you can customize for your class.
  Welcome message templates
• As more and more messages roll out, keep harnessing the quality in and out of class communication with your students and their parents.

An important part of building a positive XACROS culture is letting your class know what to expect, so take the time to think through what you want communication to look like for your classroom. Whether you’re communicating with parents or students, set the tone—and set your class/forum up for success—from the very first message you send.

Depending on who is in your class, here are a few tips and resources that might as well be helpful for you to share;
• If you’re communicating with your students, make sure they’re getting your messages right over the web, on their phones or emails.
  Sample letter to students
• If you’re communicating with parents, let them know how you plan to keep them in the loop, either in person or by sending materials home.
  Sample letter to parents

When it comes to ideas for using XACROS with your classes, the sky is the limit. As other teachers have always shared, you can do a lot with the XACROS plan.
Top 10 ways to use XACROS
Sharing messages with your community is the best way to discover all the features you can use, but if you're strapped for time, we recommend polling your class by asking students to engage more and react to what you share with them.