Teaching Technology to Support Teachers in the Classroom
As the winter holidays approach, classrooms can become increasingly chaotic. Students looking forward to their break can become easily distractible and lose concentration, posing challenges for teachers. Therefore, teaching technology becomes more and more important to manage behavior in the classroom.
Classroom management software like Senso’s Class Cloud helps to empower teachers and create a well-rounded, collaborative classroom environment. This blog explores some behavior management software features and strategies that are most popular with teachers and para-educators.
Creating a Responsive Classroom
Students learn best in an engaging, open classroom environment. However, for teachers, fostering independence and encouraging students to contribute in class can make the classroom disorganized if not managed successfully.
Teaching technology can allow students to engage in creative collaboration and make a contribution to lessons in a variety of ways. Beyond being a way for teachers to regain control over classes during lessons, classroom management software can provide a whole new suite of ways to learn. We therefore recommend enhancing lesson plans with technical tricks that are helpful for both students and teachers alike.
Share Screens for Presentations
Key to the empowerment for students to take control of their learning is in the class presentation. However, for an efficient lesson in which every student gets to share, setting up a student’s presentation, connecting their device to the classroom’s main screen, and displaying work or even sound can be time-consuming and difficult. Schools need a simple solution to best optimize this form of collaborative assignment.
The screen share feature of many classroom management software packages is great for teachers to share their lesson plans and key learning resources, but can alternatively be beneficial for students sharing their work. Teachers can select which screen to share from either the thumbnail or list mode on the teacher dashboard. Students can then take control of lesson time and show their work, while the teacher maintains control of the classroom and what is shown to the rest of the class.
Launch Windows to Other Devices
Student devices in the classroom allow for independent learning at each student’s own pace. Educational websites, online quizzes or visual and interactive lesson content can help students feel more involved in their learning and able to explore learning in an unconventional way.
With the launch feature, teachers can override student screens to immediately refocus student behavior to display learning materials on each screen. This can also be useful to ensure all students can find and have access to key resources for learning quickly and easily.
Avoid Distractions in the Classroom
Depending on the level of disruption in the classroom, different levels of technology use are suitable. Some internet usage can be beneficial to learning and independent research, but teachers must set limits. As devices become more and more essential in the classroom it can be difficult to set limits and restrict certain actions and web access while still benefiting from the use of technology.
By turning off WiFi access, disabling sound or locking screens, teachers are empowered to take control. This is a quick, efficient way to redirect certain students’ focus in the classroom without disrupting other students’ learning unnecessarily. Instead, teachers deal with the primary distraction while learning can continue on uninterrupted for other students.
Real-Time Monitoring
One crucial problem with technology in the classroom that can become an issue for teachers is being unable to see what students are doing. Without appropriate monitoring, devices can become a distraction for students without it being obvious for the teacher. This is especially true for older students with more independent learning tasks in the classroom. Despite no obvious signs of disruption, a quiet classroom may not be as attentive as it seems.
By viewing each student’s screen in a thumbnail or tile view, teachers can easily spot which students are not focused on their work. Once identified, teachers can use other communication features to send a message to the student, restrict their access to the internet, or even freeze their screen with a lock screen message. This allows for efficient behavior management because teachers can address each individual problem without disrupting the classroom.
Teaching Technology from Senso Supports Teachers and Educators
If your staff are reluctant to use your school’s software, then a more supportive software bundle can help encourage them to see the benefits of technology in the classroom. Try out our software today so see if it is right for your school by booking a Free Demo with Senso.