In a new article for K-12 Dive, former Superintendent of Palm Beach County Schools, Robert Avossa, shares how educators can free up their time from administrative tasks to focus on students. The solution? Implementing the right EdTech tools that can save time in the classroom while promoting community.
In a new article, former Superintendent of Palm Beach County Schools, Robert Avossa, explores what makes great teachers so special: relationships.
In the wake of the pandemic, educators faced an even bigger challenge: building these powerful but often time-consuming relationships with students… while teaching remotely.
Avossa cites research that shows strong student-to-teacher relationships lead to higher rates of retention and academic achievement, as well as lower incidents of behavior interruptions.
While it might initially seem counterintuitive after the last two years of distance learning, Avossa says there is a real opportunity to leverage EdTech for building these relationships. Most importantly, he thinks great EdTech tools can support this goal without over-burdening teachers’ schedules.
“Teachers like Paul Wojcik, a math teacher at Crooms Academy in Sanford, Florida, are now using a discussion platform that flips the classroom by giving students real-time feedback, motivating them to dig deeper into the materials and encouraging more substantive engagement with both teachers and peers.
As Paul told me, ‘When given the opportunity in class as a learning community, their curiosity grew. Many students were willing to not only ask questions of other students — they also respectfully critiqued other students’ claims and accepted critiques in return.’
These technologies aren’t unlocking any deep secrets about human relationships. Instead, they are tackling the challenge of relationship-building from two angles: They’re creating a context for students to engage more deeply in their learning while also giving teachers more time to focus on the connections they otherwise might not have time to make.”
Excerpt from “Emerging tools can help make student-teacher relationships stronger than ever”
