Translate your Gmail (and Loop Mail)

Now that we are using School Loop, more lines of communication have opened up between parents and teachers.  Parents can even use School Loop in Spanish and Chinese.  

That means that some parents are now communicating and sending emails in their native language to teachers, but many times a teacher does not speak or read this language.

Gmail actually has Google translate built into Gmail, which can easily translate messages in other languages into English.  So if you have your Loop Mail being forwarded to your Gmail, you can instantly translate it into English.  

Forward LoopMail to your Gmail

The first step is to make sure you are autoforwarding your Loop Mail from School Loop to your Gmail account.  Here's how to do that:

Translate Mail into English
Next, you can translate the email into English.

Google Translate isn't a Perfect Solution
Google Translate is not perfect, so you must be aware that the wording may be off.  Here's a fun example of how "not perfect" Google Translate is.  

If you are not a fan of the Fresh Prince, and are looking for a more recent song, check out this Frozen Google Translate video.

Check with your School for Procedures and Translation Services

Also, while you can translate this email into English, you can't translate your response in Gmail.  Many schools in our districts have a translator who will translate responses or contact parents for you.  While translating the emails in Gmail is helpful and you get an idea of what the parent is saying, I would not recommend using Google Translate as your communication method.  Please speak with your department chair or IVP to find out your school's procedures for translation services.

Filtering your Gmail

One of the questions that I keep getting asked is how to stop the daily emails from School Loop.

In School Loop, you can choose to turn off the daily emails, however you will still receive changes in grade emails.  This email is important because it can help you determine if you accidentally made a mistake and overwrote a grade.  The trending emails are nice too, if you see a student's grade trending up or down, you can talk to them to tell them that they are doing a great job, or ask them what is going on.  It's a good idea to read these emails, but I don't necessarily need to look at them each day.

You can create a filter in Gmail that sends all of the incoming daily School Loop emails into a Gmail Label (think folder).  So you can still check those emails when you want, but they will skip your inbox.

Here are instructions on how to create a filter in Gmail.

You might set up filters for weekly sports schedule emails, attendance report emails, emails from list serves, etc.  

What are some other filters that you have set up?