Ontario News from ExploreLearning

Skull Analysis

Here is an article that appeared in MacLeans (April 2, 2012) providing a great connection to the Skull Analysis Gizmo. Does this skull appear like a new species to you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attention, Games, and Acquiring Mastery

I am almost thru a great book on the the role of attention and distraction in learning and work. Maggie Jackson's video summary is a great one that gives you the bullet points of the book. 

 

Now that I have posted the summary, I will encourage you to go the next step and actually focus long enough to read the whole book. 

"The costs of attention deficiency are so great ... we need to step back and re-examine our priorities" 

This got me thinking about my own behaviours and those of students in school. I need to be more self disciplined so I can be a better role model for those I can influence. What are we teaching others when we frantically go from one activity to another? ( Article: 15 big ways the Internet is changing our brain )

I was in a classroom the other day and saw a teacher insist on students focusing on the task assigned, but once they got started, she went rushing about to complete the multitude of things that had to get done all at once. No wonder the students focus on the task was so short - the example we are giving them is to juggle many things, as fast as possible. 

But then there are video games...video games are, by their nature, designed to draw in the learners focus. When I watch my children play Reflex math, they are single focused on answering the math facts. Sometimes I wonder if the house crashed down around them, would they even notice.  This is what worries my wife when she watches them play any sort of video game. She is unsure if this is healthy.

I think that it depends on the context. If video games can provide the vehicle to get students keenly focused, and then we use that focus to build mastery of a skill (like math facts), then I think we are doing what we need to do to reach the learner in the social context we all find ourselves juggling.

What strategies are you using to teach the discipline of focus?

Response to Intervention (RTI) with Reflex

Several of the Institue of Education Sciences recommendations for implementing effective Response to Intervention (RTI) programs provide some great supporting arguments for using Reflex with students who have gaps in mathematical understanding.

"Research on instructional and assessment techniques (differentiated instruction and response to intervention) ... continue to drive initiatives to help close achievement gaps for students with special education needs." (Read more)

    Special Education Policy and Programs Branch Ministry of Education, Ontario

  Have a look at the specifics in this flyer. (Download RTI Flyer)

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cambium Learning Technologies Crowding the CODiE Finalist List

Cambium Learning Technologies Receive Finalist Honors in Seven Categories for Prestigious Software & Information Industry CODiE Awards

Cambium Learning Group, Inc. [Nasdaq: ABCD], the leading educational company focused primarily on serving the needs of at-risk and special student populations, announced today that three companies within its Cambium Learning Technologies division, ExploreLearning, Learning A-Z and Kurzweil Educational Systems, received finalist honors in seven education categories for the prestigious CODiE^™ Awards.

Established by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), the CODiEs recognize excellence and achievement in the business software, digital content, and education technology industries.

“The finalist honors bestowed by SIIA on the Cambium Learning Technologies business unit are a testament to Cambium Learning Group’s commitment to leverage technology to serve schools, teachers and students so that every child can reach their potential.” 

           Ron Klausner, CEO, Cambium Learning Group, Inc.

The following Cambium Learning Technologies products are 2012 finalists:

Best K-12 Instructional Solution & Best Education Game or Simulation		Best Mathematics Instructional Solution
Best Science/Health Instructional Solution		Best Reading/English Instructional Solution & Best K-12 Course or Learning Management Solution
Best Instructional Solution for Special Needs Students

 

 

We Stopped Dreaming

When was the last time you heard a child say,"I want to be an astronaut when I grow up?" When was the last time that you heard a anyone express a lofty goal? 

 

I just love this video...oftentimes, we take for granted the things that really matter and easily dismiss just how valuable they are. NASA's budget is so small ("4/10ths of a percent of a tax dollar") in comparision to the other things that our governments fund in the interest of perserving the economy. And yet, it is an easy target to slash. Why is that?

"The 850 million dollar US bank bailout was equivelent to the entire 50 year running budget of NASA"

How much is dreaming worth? A long term vision - an unwavering belief in possibility. How much is it worth for our students to develop big dreams?

Sometimes I feel that I have a giant dream connected with my work with Ontario math teachers. I truly believe there are solutions to the challenges in getting students to believe math is relavant and, in fact, fun. I believe that if we all took a stand and convicted to - NO ONE will be an discouraged math learner - it could become a reality.

Instead, we look to the reasons why it is impossible and accept mediocrity. It is so much easier to look at the possibility of something delivering immeasurable, but somewhat intangible good, and dismiss it as something we cannot afford. Much more difficult to strive to maintain an unwavering belief in possibility.

The dream of success is always worth what it costs and, sadly, it never goes on sale.

Why is it your job to teach your kid math?

On the cover of Maclean’s magazine this week appeared the headline…

Why is it your job to teach your kid math?

Quite a provocative and alarming headline for a math teacher and parent! Certainly the fact this is the cover story highlights the prevalent concern that is out there about math education and the general lack of success students are feeling. In the last 3 years I have examined many of the Ministry of Education initiatives and resources to support math teachers in creating effective classroom learning experiences. I strongly agree that instructional strategies that build conceptual understanding are far more effective than drill, but I often wonder at what point do we expect mastery of foundational math skills?

In my Physics classroom, I was often shocked at the lack of mental math skills my students had. It was rare to see a student judge an answer using estimation or split a total into thirds without the aid of a calculator. How does this happen? Ultimately I feel we must judge the effectiveness of the teaching strategies on learning outcomes. Do we feel that the learning outcomes have delivered on the promises? Sometimes I am not sure… and clearly the journalist in Maclean’s in also skeptical.

At ExploreLearning we are trying to fix this. For more than a decade we have invested heavily in constructing interactive teaching tools that allow teachers to differentiate and represent concepts non-linguistically. However, we realized that in many cases if the foundational skills in math were missing it becomes very difficult for students to feel successful when doing more complex mathematics.

This is the premise of Reflex. Gizmos are the conceptual tools for differentiated instruction and Reflex addresses the fundamental skill of math fact fluency. These two resources work together to build student success in math.

When I hear that parents are spending hundreds of dollars on math tutoring I get rather upset, especially when I hear that many tutoring companies are simply “flash carding” students with math facts to help build their confidence. Reflex is far more effective at doing this and at a fraction of the price. 

 

New Lesson Materials for 3 math Gizmos!

 

Simplifying Radical Expressions - Activity A

Simplifying Trigonometric Expressions

Sum and Difference Identities for Sine and Cosine

These 3 Gizmos help students with some fairly advanced topics. Unlike most Gizmos, these are very procedure-focused rather than exploratory. We ask students to work through the steps of a problem, one-by-one, with careful feedback given for any incorrect choices. Each Gizmo will always start with the same 2 problems (which are addressed specifically in the Lesson Materials), and then are randomized after that, to allow for nearly unlimited practice.

As usual, each set of updated Lesson Materials includes 4 documents (Student Exploration sheet, SE Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary sheet), all of which are available as a .doc or a .pdf.  (Note: You will need to be logged in to see all the documents.) These replace the older html Exploration Guides.

We're now up to 63 math Gizmos that have Lesson Materials, with plenty more "works in progress" going on in the background.

Enjoy! And stay tuned for more in the coming weeks and months.

 

Professional Narcissism

I have been recently engaged in talking to sales prefessional about joining my mission to expose more Canadian teachers to Gizmos and Reflex. After a conversation this morning, I thought I should go Google myself to see what has changed since the last time I did that (many moons ago)...and this time I found a site called Mirror.me that took it upon themselves to run a little analysis. It appears that they have taken my twitter posts and made a word cloud to describe me. Not bad...

 As I gaze at this, I wonder...what's missing? Where are my blind spots? Where should I grow?

 For more info on professional narciccism listen to the commentary here on CBC Radio.

 

Teachers need to be in the drivers seat of their own learning

I have the honor of joining my former colleagues at Fletcher's Meadow Secondary School today to participate in their afternoon PD as a "pedagogista". They are using the Minds on Media approach to differentiate the professional learning experience to collectively uncover ideas toward the goal of effective use of instructional technology.

It's not 'wait for the workshop' any more. It's 'just in time' learning - not 'just in case'. Teachers will gain expertise in asking questions using Web 2.0 tools and in developing, nurturing and leveraging a robust professional learning network (PLN).

                 

I am looking forward to not only sharing expertise but also learning alongside my peers. It is so true what Peter Skillen says..."none of us are fully technology literate" as the technology landscape is changing very quickly.

 

In the workshops I did recently with the Durham DSB math learning teams (PLTs), we facilitators were really concious of modeling the best practice that we were trying to share. For me , it can never be that I am simply "talking the talk" as my actions speak so loudly about my own attitudes toward learning. If I am not passionately learning and growing how could I possibily expect that value to be transmitted to the learners I am influencing. ( See this article for some perspective on appropriate professional development for 21st century teachers )

How are you modeling 21st century learning in your professional development? How can we really craft differentiated learning environments for our students if we are not engaged in similar learning environments ourselves? Today we get to grapple with this question.

Reflex is now in Spanish!

If you would like your students to experience Reflex in Spanish follow these instructions change the default language:

 1. Log in to your teacher account for Reflex.

2. Click on the 'Classes' tab.

3. Choose the student's class from the drop down menu and highlight his or her name on the roster.

4. Click 'Edit' under Student Details and change the 'Language' option from English to Spanish.

5. Click SAVE.