Connecting With Students

     Getting to know your students as a teacher is one of the most important things in a classroom. Knowing how you might need to alter your class instruction will be far easier when a teacher is connected with their students. In today's age of technology, a lot of online resources are available to teachers to be able to make student connections fun and easy.

    Google Classroom is a great easy and free tool to get started with a teacher-to-student connection. I have used Google Classroom both as a student and as an educator. I can say that Google classroom is a great resource on both sides. The simplicity of google classroom is very important, especially for younger students. A great way to stay connected using google classroom can be creating daily check-ins. Daily check-ins do not have to be boring or repetitive. Make them Fun! To make a check-in fun don't do the same thing every day. For example, one day ask about their mood using emojis, another day check-in with a selfie about their mood, and so on. A check-in can help a teacher determine how their students might be feeling that day and this can help the teachers accommodate any need of a student. Check-ins do not have to be about the students' mood all the time they can also be about the interests of the student. Learning about the interest of students may help a teacher alter lesson plans to get students interested in class material. Here is a great video explaining how to set up a Google Classroom.