The increasing popularity of smartphones these days has greatly helped our educators.
Teachers have started using smartphones and apps to help them in their day to day tasks & for better teacher student or teacher parent relationship. Sensing these opportunities, edtech startups like Arch The Way have come up with a WhatsApp-like simple messaging app built for & dedicated to teachers. From a security perspective, the teachers don’t have to share their phone number or take any student’s/parent’s contact details.
Teachers have to just sign up on Arch The Way app or the website and create their classes. Each class is assigned a unique class code. Students or parents have to subscribe to this class code via the app to connect to the teacher. Now teachers can freely send messages, files & schedules to the entire class or to any particular subscriber.
It was really great to see the way today’s teachers are establishing a robust connect with their very own students & parents, which is much required. In a recent talk, Arch The Way showed and shared exclusively with EdTechReview, 10 messages sent by teachers in 2015 from which teachers around the globe can take a cue for this New Year:
1. Talking about the Students with the parents: ‘The day was good, but in the afternoon your son had hurt himself a little while playing, he cried. I guided him on things he should keep in mind so that he probably doesn’t do the same mistake again. I calmed him and asked him to visit the library with me after the first aid. His mood was changed, he found a new book and read it with smile. Here’s his photo!’
2. Applauding good performers & encouraging others students to work hard: ‘I am slowly getting to all the students with their name inchworms. Many students are able to match the letters, but are unable to say the letters. When practicing with the clips please begin from capital letter and go in order. I’ll be working on getting through them all by Friday [I hope]. Yay to Preston and Aiden in the pm class for getting their matching and spelling right! so proud of my kiddos in both classes, they are doing well. We had our library time today so look for books to read and write Titles in a reading log. Ask your children where the title is and what a title is.’
3. Sharing their heart out to build long-lasting relation with students: ‘I would like to thank everyone for coming to our buffet lunch earlier. I must agree that this is the most tiring buffet preparation we ever had. I would like to specially mention Pamel, Ridine and Ruthy for waking up really early to do the purchasing of the ingredients. You have showed hard work and sacrifice just to meet the demands. Of course, I also acknowledge all the effort inserted by each one of you. Nothing will be possible without you, guys. Congratulations to all of us! Goodnight :)’
4. Sharing Life Teachings: ‘We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started’, shares a teacher from middle school.
5. Open discussion with students: ‘If you have some suggestions for a productive class discussion and atmosphere, please do not hesitate to express it… thanks..’, writes the teacher.
6. Sending out homework & other reminders: ‘Good evening everyone. I hope you remember that homework for my class is due tomorrow. Rahul Modi should be extra careful because he missed out the deadline last time also’, teacher writes to parent.
7. Wishing on auspicious occasions: ‘WISHING ALL THE STUDENTS A VERY HAPPY AND PROUD INDEPENDENCE DAY’
8. Helping them through difficult situation: I know differential equations can be tough in the beginning but I also know that my students are awesome. Keep practicing and soon you will master them..
9. Conduct Short Quizzes: ‘Hi Little Psychologists, we will have a short quiz on the app. I am about to send you a few very short questions based on today’s class and you will send back the answers via the feedback. Let’s see how many of you paid attention in today’s class 🙂
10. Link to any article that you find informative: “I read a nice article on human digestive system. please do read it http://goo.gl/8lfLhc”
I think a teacher wears multiple hats, and we need the teachers to be aware of the modern age and what people need. My recommendation is that just like them, you can also connect with your class in a bling, without the hassle of exchanging contact details & other gruesome processes. Get the Teacher’s App Here or sign up on the website here!
