How to be an Edron teacher in times of home learning (part 2)

Through the Edron Home Learning (EHL) program, The Edron Academy teachers continue to school students from home. In this Edron Blog post, they tell us about the skills they are developing and their own perception of the students’ adaptation to this new format.

For Diana Benhumea, the teacher responsible for Pre-Nursery, EHL has allowed her to acquire and develop new skills such as communication. Ms. Benhumea says that she has noticed an improvement in the way she explains concepts which seem easy to her, as a professional teacher, but which are more complex to understand for parents, who do not have “teacher training”.

Similarly, aware of the importance of clarity and comprehension, Nursery B teacher Matthew Toby Glover has been more careful with the composition of his written instructions on the FROG platform, as he understands that not everyone is proficient in their second language. Another of Mr. Toby’s skills enhanced by the online school modality has been storytelling. In addition to the stories he shares on FROG, he reads daily stories on his Instagram account, which has been highly valued and appreciated by his students’ parents.

For Primary teacher James Hughes, in video generation “creativity is paramount”. While he still considers himself a beginner, the highlight for Mr. Hughes is learning as you go and taking advantage of the tools EHL provides for the teaching process. Thanks to Edron Home Learning, one of the skills developed by the Secondary teacher Dr Mike Smith (Years 10, 12, and 13) has been to create short instructional videos. He believes that, in the process of providing information to students, it is important that they “have a more direct link with a person.”

Regarding the response and adaptation of the students, teachers feel optimistic and motivated by the results obtained to date. Both Ms Benhumea and Mr Hughes agree that they have seen excellent engagement from their students who “are receptive and enjoy the most practical activities.” Other important considerations for Ms Benhumea when measuring the response to Edron Home Learning are the home environment, the presence or absence of siblings, the personality, the type of electronic device to access the platforms, as well as the process of development and family support. Mr. Hughes is really impressed by the reaction of the children in this period since “they continue to do an excellent job, even in these difficult times!”.

Other teachers, such as Dr Smith, express that the EHL model has allowed students to develop a greater independence in their learning processes, favouring their autonomy: “Students must be trusted to be much more independent and honest with their own work and comments ”says Dr Smith.

In this adaptation process to the online model Edron teachers observe an environment of constant “effort and dedication” in the Community. Although this motivates them, we share to conclude the opinion of Mr. Toby, who already misses his class for being one of the best he has ever had. Like Mr. Toby, we believe that “although it is great to have the EHL platform, we look forward to your return to the classroom.”

The Edron Academy