Plato Academy Schools

“Our students are very excited about new technologies and we are thrilled to be able to provide them with the opportunity to experience some of the best cutting-edge technologies around. It is fascinating to watch them figuring out how a robot works, and then immediately taking the initiative to form groups and do something very creative with the robots”, says Mr. Chatzopoulos, our schools Director of Innovation & Technology, after one of his daily visits to Plato academy campuses.

This time around he introduced programmable mini robots called ozobots to students at Plato Academy Pinellas Park. “It is incredibly gratifying when our teachers invite me to teach their class. I absolutely love presenting the students with a problem, and guiding them through a lesson using the socratic method, questioning them and providing them with constructing criticism and feedback until they discover the answer to their question themselves; it is a unique feeling”.

“In addition, today I met with the 5th-grade teachers, per their request, to discuss how to make the most out of iStation and also resolved a number of connectivity issues with students’ laptops. Later in the day 2nd Graders were introduced to coding by using code.org. They were extremely enthusiastic as they were problem-solving their way into creating their own game with characters from movies like BB-8 and Moana. Also, believe it or not, Kindergarteners had no problem understanding a lesson on circuits, electricity, and music with makey–makey“.

Aside from coding, robotics and introducing new technologies, during this visit Mr. Chatzopoulos also provided guidance to the teachers and worked with them to find digital resources and ways to make their job easier.
“I love how our teachers implement tools like Google Classroom in their daily practice. Plato Academy is honored to have teachers who are curious professionals, enjoy teaching and learning, and who always look for strategies that will help their students be the best the can be. But it doesn’t stop there. Students have so much energy, willingness to practice, experiment and explore fueled by their natural curiosity. This is how they learn best. Watching them finding their way through a problem or learning something new is a great thing to witness and our teachers are doing a fantastic job cultivating this creativity on a daily basis”.