‘To Teach’ is one of the most honourable professions in the world. Teachers are the building blocks of society as they are responsible for moulding the generation of tomorrow. Therefore, this responsibility is not to be taken lightly. Educators undergo extensive training to ensure that the students assimilate the lessons they teach. However, each student is unique and has their own pace of learning and development. This can be quite challenging for teachers as they have multiple students under their wing.
But as education moved from in-person to online and mixed-mode of learning, and with the pandemic forcing everyone to resort to virtual classes, teachers must be equipped with the right tools to meet the expectations of the parents and students. To enable teachers to dissect these challenges, numerous teacher tools have come into existence. Here’s a closer look at the various aspects of teacher tools, the essential things to consider before introducing one into your school and how it helps teachers be more productive at teaching.
Table of contents
1. What are teacher tools?
2. How do teacher tools help create a more engaging classroom experience?
3. How to be more productive at teaching with teacher tools?
4. Importance points to consider when choosing a teacher tools for school communication
5. Top 5 teacher tools
A teacher tool is any tool that enhances or expedites the teaching process and helps teachers to teach better. For instance, it can be a tool that allows the teachers to conduct classes in a more organized and efficient way and communicate with parents quickly and efficiently to improve classroom productivity. Teacher tools have been gaining in popularity of late due to the digital revolution. As more schools begin to embrace the latest digital infrastructure, teacher tools rose to popularity. Interactive classroom technology tools such as smart boards were one of the first teacher tools. They have evolved over time to include the various functionalities that help the teachers and parents interact with each other from anywhere today.
These tools ensure that the needs of every student are met without overwhelming teachers. It paves the way for an ecosystem that is conducive to learning and growth. For instance, take the example of an exchange student. A teacher will naturally have difficulties communicating with the parents of those students as both speak a different language. Inherently, this could reflect on the children’s academics. But if a teacher tool can seamlessly translate the exchanges between parents and teachers, these challenges can be easily overcome.
How do teacher tools help create a more engaging classroom experience?
Children are usually brimming with energy and enjoy dashing about. It is natural for their age. Thus, capturing their attention during the entirety of a lesson is quite an arduous task. Studies have shown that the attention span of students is minimal and fluctuates with age.
So it is apparent that teachers might not be able to hold the attention span through its course. A student’s mind will start wandering off a few minutes into the lesson, reducing the quality of the content they intake. This negatively reflects on their academics. Therefore, it is essential to keep them involved for the entirety of the lesson. As online classes can have it’s own limitations, with modern tools, teachers can draw students’ attention by engaging them in challenges, competitions and quizzes.
With a teacher tool, a teacher can invoke numerous innovative methods to keep their students interested. That’s why teaching tools and techniques are crucial to the success of a lesson. These teacher tools function by streamlining the lesson delivery process and everything associated with it. This will ensure that the classes are fine-tuned for maximum efficiency. The end result is that the teacher tools facilitate student engagement by optimizing the class experience. This allows students to get the most out of their lessons.
Teacher tools are often very intuitive and require little to no training to use. However, there is an art to achieving max productivity with teacher tools. These tech tools for teachers have certain specialized features to aid in a particular area of education delivery. The tools must only be used for the situation they are designed to tackle to guarantee peak productivity. For instance, the best tool for online teaching may not always be the ideal tool for in-person classes. Therefore, it is vital to read the situation before settling on a tool. The right tool can do wonders, while an inappropriate tool will make the process more tedious.
Another thing to note for ensuring productivity is that specific tools hold the upper hand over more traditional ones. Email communication, for example, can be an easy to use tool for parent teacher interaction. However, the newest teacher-parent communication apps often have more updated features that enable smoother and interactive conversations than emails. This is because emails are made for general communication, while teacher parent communication apps are designed solely for the purpose of interactions in a school environment. The same applies to almost all teacher tools.
When it comes to teacher tools, managing and engaging with multiple software can be challenging. So it’s always best to find a teacher tool that unifies all the requirements of your school communication and classroom management.
Apart from that, planning out how you use the app will significantly improve productivity while using these apps. Additionally, teachers can use the following tips in tandem with teacher tools to ensure the highest levels of productivity and engagement:
- Teachers should be willing to explore the options available online and aid the school management in getting the best software that will help them move past the challenges and improve their productivity.
- Educators must create an outline of their goals. They should chart out what they seek to achieve with the tool. This will help them optimize the usage of teacher tools to ensure productivity is maintained throughout the school year.
- Teachers should promote collaboration tools. In times like these, where most classes happen online, parents and teachers need to work in unison to ensure uninterrupted education.
- Instructors must set time limits. This can sound counterintuitive, but it is an effective strategy in the long run. Creating a time frame for educational activities will promote a sense of positive urgency, promoting a sense of responsibility amongst pupils, which will pave the way for higher productivity.
Importance points to consider when choosing a teacher tools for school communication
The amount of teacher tools available in the market is simply vast. However, choosing the right tool can become quite the task as it is easy to get lost in the sea of choices. This is particularly relevant when it comes to school communication apps. Effective communication channels between teachers and parents are the pillars on which the foundation of modern education is built. Therefore, investing in the right communication tools is essential for the development of the school. Here are a few points teachers should keep in mind when choosing school communication tool:
- Instant communication features: always check for the likelihood of fostering interaction.The whole purpose of a parent teacher communication app is to facilitate continuous engagement between parents and teachers. If the features of the app are not conducive to this end, then it may not be the right choice.
- Intuitive and user- friendly interface:Go for a user-friendly interface. An intuitive design is a big plus when using a software for the first time. In addition to eliminating the need for training, it helps to shorten the onboarding process. This ensures that no disruptions are caused during the transition.
- Functionalities that match your current workflow: See if the teacher tool you want to adopt into your school comply with the existing infrastructure you’ve built. So it will be easy to upgrade your communication and make your workflow more efficient.
- Reliable customer support: Pick teacher tools with a reliable support desk. Having a robust customer support team will ensure that the user experience is always great. This is vital as immediate ticket resolution will prevent any delays from occurring. Most people overlook this point when choosing apps and the oversight could prove costly in the long run.
- Cross-platform compatible: Confirm the teacher tools you choose support popular platforms, so it is accessible in any smart drive or computers. There are a wide variety of devices available in the market, right from traditional PCs and laptops to smartphones and tablets. The school communication tool must be compatible with all these devices for optimum efficiency.
- Free to use for teachers, parents, and students: In school communication apps, one most crucial factor is that it keeps the school at the centre of the school ecosystem and ensures total control over the ecosystem. So as the app is oriented toward providing a safe ecosystem for the management to conduct communication, the school management must bear the cost of managing the app’s funding. So the school app should be free of charge to use for teachers, parents and students.
There is an endless variety of teacher tools available online. However, not all of them are suited for the needs of your school. The school’s needs should be ascertained prior to making the decision to purchase the app.
Here are five teacher tools to incorporate into school infrastructure to improve productivity levels.
Schoolvoice
Loaded with features, Schoolvoice is the ultimate school communication app. It enables communication to be handled from a single dashboard. Moreover, the school administration can oversee all communication and regulate the process if the need arises. The unique aspect of the tool is that it has a feature called Actionable Messages, which are messages with predefined actions allowing parents to respond almost instantly. It also comes with cloud storage where study materials and other files are stored, which can be accessed by the parents anytime from anywhere. One of the most engaging features of Schoolvoice is the private one-on-one chat functionality that enables the parents to initiate conversations with any teacher right from their smartphone or computer. The app also supports interactive sessions and live broadcasts to keep parents updated on the progress of their wards. The app is incredibly user friendly and free to use for parents, teachers and students
Remind
Remind is a teacher tool that focuses on parent teacher communication. It supports 100 different languages and incorporates power features such as language translation and video conference. Remind is focused on making education enjoyable and fun with its specifications reflecting this goal. The standout feature of Remind is the Stamp option. This allows teachers to send out questions to which a student can respond with a selection of stamps.
Classting
Classting is an educational app that can be accessed free of charge. It is particularly helpful for sharing files between teachers, parents and students easily and quickly. Classting also comes with a messenger option that facilitates direct communication between teachers and parents. Furthermore, Classting possesses a notice option for priority messages.
ClassDojo
An educational app tailored for student teacher communication, ClassDojo features a diverse array of options to promote greater involvement from the parent’s side. Teachers are able to share informative portfolios with parents that feature comprehensive information about the student’s progress using the app. The app also features a Story Mode where announcements can be sent to a small group of people as well as a mass messaging option to reach a wider group in seconds.
Edmodo
Edmodo is a communication app for schools that possesses features to aid in efficient classroom management. Polls, competitions, quizzes and other activities can be conducted via the app to encourage better education and engagement. Also, all interactions can be monitored in real time with the help of Edmondo’s user-friendly interface. The app can be integrated with other tools to nourish a productive learning environment.
Teacher tools are powerful additions to an educator’s arsenal to ensure the uninterrupted and holistic development of their pupils. In addition to boosting productivity, these tools can significantly increase parent involvement in the student’s school life making it a must have for all educational institutions.
FAQs
How can teacher productivity tools help you to do more in less time? ›
Ease and speed of assessment
Teacher productivity tools facilitate active participation by pupils and instant assessment by teachers, allowing you to mark and collate responses at the moment of learning, in real-time.
The effective use of digital learning tools in classrooms can increase student engagement, help teachers improve their lesson plans, and facilitate personalized learning. It also helps students build essential 21st-century skills.
What qualities do you possessed as a teacher that might serve as a beneficial tool in guiding your students in their journey in learning? ›- Patient and approachable. They say that 'patience is a virtue', and this couldn't be more true for teachers. ...
- Enthusiastic. ...
- Strong communication skills. ...
- Strong knowledge and a solid education. ...
- Disciplined and professional.
- Visualization. Visualization is very simply put, the ability to create mental images based on the words we hear or the text that we read. ...
- Cooperative Learning. ...
- Differentiated Instruction. ...
- Using Technology to your Advantage. ...
- Student Centred Inquiry. ...
- Professional Development.
- Productivity Tools Can't Do Much on Their Own. ...
- Set Up Systems That Support Your Productivity Tools. ...
- Pick the Right Productivity Tools for the Job. ...
- Learn How to Use Your Current Tools Effectively. ...
- Integrate Your Productivity Tools. ...
- Customize Your Notifications.
Productivity tools help you set goals, assign tasks, track progress, create reports, and communicate with employees in real time.
Why Good tools are important? ›The right tools increase efficiency. When your employees don't have the tools they need, it forces them to get creative and use what they have to the best of their ability. This can greatly hurt productivity in your workplace, which can also hurt your organization's bottom line.
What provides teachers in the classroom with more tools to support students? ›Technology in the Classroom Provides Teachers With More Tools To Support Students. In addition to resources like textbooks and worksheets, technology equips educators with various tools to help students develop a better understanding of the material.
What is teacher productivity? ›A. Productive Teacher: Being able to bring about high and consistent learning gains in all students taught across all courses or subject areas for which one is responsible over two or more terms of school years.
What is one of the most important things a teacher can do to ensure learning materials are appropriate for the children? ›To help make the best choices for the children in your classroom, be sure to: Talk to a trainer, coach, or administrator about materials that are most appropriate for your classroom. Watch how children play with materials. Introduce new materials when children seem bored or when they need a new challenge.
What are the good qualities of an effective teaching materials? ›
- Intended learning outcomes are: Clearly stated. Appropriate to the level of the course. ...
- Instructional content is: Appropriate to the level of the course. ...
- Work expected of students is: Appropriate to the level of the course. ...
- Feedback to students is: Clear.
- Arouse the learners' interest.
- Remind them of earlier learning.
- Tell them what they will be learning next.
- Explain new learning content to them.
- Set clear learning targets.
- Provide them with strategies to use in learning.
- Provide opportunities for meaningful practice.
- Online learning. ...
- Experiential learning. ...
- Differentiation. ...
- Blended learning. ...
- Game-based learning. ...
- Student-centred learning.
Feedback process and understanding
The single most impactful teaching strategy when used correctly, feedback (whether from the teacher or another source e.g. peer marking) needs to be specific, encouraging and actionable – pupils need to be able to understand where they could improve, and how.
Office productivity tools are applications that allow for the viewing, creating and modifying of general office documents (e.g. spreadsheets, memos, presentations, letters, personal database, form generation, image editing, etc.). Office productivity tools also include applications for managing employee tasks.
What is the most useful productivity tool? ›- ClickUp.
- Zoom.
- Slack.
- Chanty.
- Clean Email.
- Microsoft Teams.
- Trello.
- Internxt.
- Employee Productivity Tracking Software Tools. EmailAnalytics. Timely. Time Doctor. ProofHub. Everhour. TMetric. TrackingTime. Hubstaff. ActivTrak. iDoneThis. Bonus: 11. Teamwork. Bonus: 12. ZoomShift. ...
- Using Employee Productivity Tracking Effectively.
- Greater fulfilment. ...
- Better customer service. ...
- Greater revenue generation. ...
- Improved engagement. ...
- Building a positive culture.
- Inspect regularly. Regularly inspect your tools to make sure that they are in good condition.
- Wear gloves. ...
- Carry with care. ...
- Don't pocket sharp objects. ...
- Be aware of your surroundings. ...
- Use the right tools. ...
- Follow instructions. ...
- Clean and return.
Tools are particularly important in construction work. They are primarily used to put things together (e.g., hammers and nail guns) or to take them apart (e.g., jackhammers and saws). Tools are often classified as hand tools and power tools. Hand tools include all non-powered tools, such as hammers and pliers.
How do you take good care of tools? ›
- Read the User Guide. ...
- Use the Correct Equipment For The Job. ...
- Know Your Machinery. ...
- Inspect Regularly. ...
- Carry Out Regular Maintenance, Using a Schedule. ...
- Replace Parts When Needed. ...
- Clean After Use. ...
- Repair and Refurbish, Rather Than Replace.
The apostle James addresses and denotes the very gravity of being a master — translated in today's terms, a teacher.
What are the most significant support that a teacher needs to be an effective teachers? ›They are prepared, set clear and fair expectations, have a positive attitude, are patient with students, and assess their teaching on a regular basis. They are able to adjust their teaching strategies to fit both the students and the material, recognizing that different students learn in different ways.
What tools would a teacher use to develop effective lesson plans? ›- PlanbookEdu. It is one of the most useful online lesson planner that makes it easy for teachers of all grade levels to create, share and print their lesson plans. ...
- CommonCurriculum. ...
- Socrative Teacher. ...
- BetterLesson. ...
- Blendspace by TES. ...
- Core Learning Exchange. ...
- Copia Class. ...
- WeLearnedIt.
Labor productivity: measures the total economic output (revenue) per labor hour. Capital productivity: determines the efficiency in which capital (such as machinery) is used to produce a specific output. Material productivity: measures the total economic output generated per unit of material used.
What is productive teaching styles? ›An example for the productive style (student- centered) is: “The teacher asks a question or sets a physical problem to which there are many possible answers or solutions. The pupils then set about finding and evaluating alternative answers and solutions.
What are the five essential elements of productivity? ›- 1 — Start With Your To Do List. ...
- 2 — Break Down Each Task or Goal. ...
- 3 — A State Of Focus. ...
- 4 — Doing The Work. ...
- 5 — Repeat! ...
- 44 Miles, a play in One-Act. ...
- 10 Things This Immigrant Entrepreneur, Who Launched Her Billion Dollar Product Speaking No English, Can Teach You.
- Make your expectations clear.
- Make eye contact and address students by name.
- Supplement lectures with hands-on activities.
- Recognize students' accomplishments and respond appropriately to their concerns.
- Draw connections between the course material and its real-world applications.
Take into consideration individual needs and learning styles: Choose materials that present information in a variety of ways. Using mixed media (text, video, images, real world examples, graphs, etc.) make information more interesting and address learners' different learning styles.
What are the most important things to consider when using instructional materials? ›The following sections describe the four primary categories of criteria that teachers said they use when selecting instructional materials: accuracy and visual appeal, alignment to standards and depth of knowledge, ease of use and support, and engage- ment and ability to meet student needs (Figure 1).
What are the 5 C's of a good teacher? ›
The essential components of an excellent education today embody much more than the traditional three R's. Past President of NAIS, Pat Bassett, identifies Five C's – critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration and character, as the skills that will be in demand and will be rewarded in this century.
Why is materials important in teaching? ›Instructional materials are essential since they help the teacher and learners avoid overemphasis on recitation and rote learning that can easily dominate a lesson. Resource materials allow learners to have practical experiences which help them to develop skills and concepts and to work in a variety of ways.
What are the 5 characteristics of highly effective teaching? ›The teams looked at the research that establishes these characteristics and have organized them around five components: learning climate; classroom assessment and reflection; instructional rigor and student engagement; instructional relevance; and knowledge of content.
What is the most important element of teaching? ›- Content knowledge. This is when teachers have a deep knowledge of the subject that they teach and can communicate content effectively to their students. ...
- Quality of instruction. ...
- Teaching climate. ...
- Classroom management. ...
- Teacher beliefs. ...
- Professional behaviours.
- Have an Objective. ...
- Model Your Expectations. ...
- Actively Engage Students. ...
- Be Mobile. ...
- Compliment Positive Behavior and Hard Work.
- Eight Effective. Teaching Practices. ...
- Implement tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving.
- Use and connect. mathematical. ...
- Facilitate meaningful. mathematical. ...
- Pose purposeful questions.
- Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding.
- Support productive. ...
- Elicit and use evidence of student thinking.
- Use ICT tools and digital game-based learning.
- Differentiate between students.
- Use the flipped classroom model.
- Encourage cooperative learning.
- Communicate with colleagues.
- Communicate with parents.
- Create a welcoming environment.
- Conclusion.
- Create a Common Language of Instruction. ...
- Increase Teacher Feedback by Increasing Classroom Visits. ...
- Connect Student Performance and Growth to Classroom Teacher Performance and Appraisal. ...
- How do you work with teachers to help them grow professionally and impact student learning?
These include: Essential questions, which are used to determine the goal of lessons. Activating strategy, which is a method teachers use to get students excited about and connecting the content to their own lives. Relevant vocabulary, which refers to using vocabulary that students understand.
How can a teacher increase the productivity of students? ›- Maximize Learning Time. One reason for low classroom productivity is when there is too much idle period between lessons and classroom activities. ...
- Boost Student Collaboration. ...
- Establish The Need To Participate. ...
- Encourage More Downtime. ...
- Create A Classroom Mission Statement.
How can productivity help students? ›
For students, productivity refers to their efforts and ability to perform efficiently in their studies. This involves how well they manage their time, their ability to prioritize, and their overall input into achieving academic success.
How can teachers help you boost your academic performance and productivity? ›Helping students understand that taking notes and studying course material is the way to achieve academic success. Teachers can also help students develop successful test-taking strategies, an area where bright students of all cultural backgrounds can have difficulty—to the detriment of their grades and self-esteem.
How do teachers spend less time? ›- Use Your Calendar Wisely. ...
- Batch Lesson Planning. ...
- Protect Your Planning Time. ...
- Make Routines Your Friend. ...
- Grade Smarter.
- Streamline your workflows.
- Give your people the power to work remotely.
- Give the right people the right tasks.
- Make boosting workplace morale a priority.
- Set a Timetable / Develop Your Own Productivity Routine.
- Tackle the Hardest Tasks First to Prevent Procrastination.
- Take Regular Breaks.
- Break Goals into Smaller Achievable Tasks.
- Plan Your Day in the Evening.
- Use Tech Tools to Stay Organised.
In education, productivity is often taken to mean using the inputs and processes of schooling in ways that increase desired outcomes.
How can I be more motivated and productive at school? ›- Track Your Time. It's difficult to plan your personal time if you don't know how you're spending it. ...
- Take Regular Breaks. ...
- Set Yourself Deadlines. ...
- Plan Ahead. ...
- Eat Healthily. ...
- Get Plenty of Sleep. ...
- Group Your Errands.
Make your expectations clear. Make eye contact and address students by name. Supplement lectures with hands-on activities. Recognize students' accomplishments and respond appropriately to their concerns.
What makes a teacher efficient and effective? ›Some qualities of a good teacher include skills in communication, listening, collaboration, adaptability, empathy and patience. Other characteristics of effective teaching include an engaging classroom presence, value in real-world learning, exchange of best practices and a lifelong love of learning.
How can teachers improve efficiency? ›Lessons will be more efficient if teachers promote positive, active participation. Thus, students will be on task and motivated while engaging in compelling learning activities. Surely, an educator who shows their love of teaching will always obtain a better response from students.
What is the 70/30 rule in teaching? ›
Seventy percent of the talk time should be student talk time. The remaining 30 percent should be teacher talk time.
What are the most common weakness of a teacher? ›- Lack of technological knowledge (such as a specific software)
- Reliance on routine – inflexibility can cause conflict.
- Perfectionism – this can be a tall order especially when dealing with children.
- An incomplete understanding of a specific skill – but a willingness to learn is important.