Ontario News from ExploreLearning : Announcements

Welcome to the ExploreLearning Ontario Blog

Link to ExploreLearning.com and

Welcome Teachers and Coordinators!     

My name is Stephen Lippa and this is my first blog post. 

I never imagined that I would start writing a blog. In the past, I have not been sure I have enough interesting things to say that would draw a readership. What I have learned is "a readership" is not the point. First of all, I have come to truly believe that there is great personal value in reflecting on the experiences and people that you encounter. As a teacher, I have always believed in the value of reflection; but that has almost always been a personal and private experience.  A blog is a great way to capture ideas and simply make those ideas avaialable for others to find value. Throughout my career I have personally witnessed the power of teachers coaching teachers to learn new skills. There is no better way for us to grow professionally than to actively engage in reflection and professional discourse. A blog is professional discourse with those you may never meet.  

The purpose of this ExploreLearning Ontario Blog is to post resources, engage in conversation, document success & challenges and share announcements connected to my efforts to support Ontario coordinators and teachers as they integrate Gizmos and Reflex into their teaching practice. ExploreLearning makes great tools to differentiate instruction and reach students in new ways. My hope is that I can make the integration of these tools easier and more successful by facilitating the sharing of ideas and resources.                      

Email: slippa@explorelearning.com      Phone: 1 866 882 4141 x263

I need more information to get started.   Need your Username?   Forgot your Username?

Looking for French translations of Gizmo lesson materials?

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   *NEW*   Grade 9 Gap Closing Supports now available  (last updated: May 28, 2012 by Stephen Lippa)

   

   *NEW*   Smarter Science Supports now available  (last updated: June 1, 2012 by Stephen Lippa) 

More Math Gizmos with New Lesson Materials

ExploreLearning released 3 more new sets of Lesson Materials to the wild:

Conditional Statements Gizmo		Biconditional Statements Gizmo		Dividing Polynomials Using Synthetic Division Gizmo

 

The first two Gizmos are word-tile-based Gizmos that encourage students to think about logic, truth values, and definitions.

The third is a number-tile-based Gizmo that's designed to help algebra students see the connections between synthetic division and polynomial long division.  (They're really the same thing, if you see them side-by-side.)

As always, logged-in teachers will have access to all 4 of our Lesson Material documents (Student Exploration sheet, Exploration Sheet Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary sheet), available either as a Word document or as a pdf.

Let us know what you think, and stay tuned for more to come!

 

This award honors the best overall education technology solution for curriculum and content for students in K-12 learning environments.

Gizmos won the same award in 2009, and this year's award marks ExploreLearnng's 5th CODiE win. The CODiE Awards recognize leaders and innovators across the software, digital content and education technology industries. We are honored to be included among these leaders.

The SIIA CODiE Awards website has a list of all the 2012 Award Winners.

 

 

Introducing Paul Fritzsch - Account Executive

ExploreLearning in Canada just grew by another person! I am so pleased to announce the addition of Paul Fritzsch to the ExploreLearning team. Here is a little background info about Paul:

    

Paul was raised and attended public school in Owen Sound, ON, before attending the University of Windsor where he graduated in 1997. He now resides in Uxbridge, Ontario.

  Paul brings 12 years of Education sales and consulting experience to ExploreLearning.  He has worked with hundreds of institutions across North America to successfully implement collaboration, web content management, unified communications, and curriculum solutions.

In Paul's free time he enjoys hockey, golf, mountain biking, soccer, and kiteboarding.

 

Welcome Paul, we are so glad to have you helping us spread the student success stories from Ontario accross Canada!

 

 

Six Math Gizmos with new lesson materials!

We're happy to announce that we've published 6 new sets of Lesson Materials!

• Operations with Radical Expressions Gizmo
• Order of Operations Gizmo
• Using Algebraic Equations Gizmo
• Percent of Change Gizmo
• Polynomials and Linear Factors Gizmo
• Rational Functions Gizmo

As always, logged-in teachers will have access to all 4 of our Lesson Material documents (Student Exploration sheet, Exploration Sheet Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary sheet), available either as a Word document (for easy editing if you like) or as a pdf (smaller file size).

We think you'll find some great inquiry-based lessons here, to promote true understanding of the math, and to help you and your students to get the most out of Gizmos.

This brings us up to 29 math Gizmos with new Lesson Materials now, as part of our Math Update project!

 

 

 

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

 

 

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.

 

                

 

ExploreLearning Social Media - Get Connected!

Are you ooking to connect with ExploreLearning? Link to our various feeds right here and get into the conversation.

           

 

Reflex exceeds 1 million logins in 7 months!

ExploreLearning announced today that Reflex, our new program helping students develop math fact fluency, has reached one million student logins. In that time, students have solved over 125 million math facts. These milestones have been achieved in the seven months since the product was launched in April 2011.

“Math fact fluency is a central pillar of elementary mathematics education,” says David Shuster, Ph.D., Founder and Publisher of ExploreLearning. “With over 125 million facts solved in one million Reflex student sessions to date, Reflex is helping a lot of kids gain confidence in their abilities as they learn their math facts.  The fact that they are doing it by playing games and having fun is the icing on the cake.”

Check out the comments and results from our Ontario pilot schools:  Download Reflex Ontario Flyer

Recently published success stories in The Sault Star and Huron Superior Catholic DSB website.

Looking for more info on the importance of math facts to student success? Have a look at this article written by Marian Small in the Ontario Math Gazette:  Download Miriam Small (Math Facts)

Looking for more evidence? Check out the results we have had in Arkansas and Texas!

 

 

 

 

Getting your Gizmo Account

Are you struggling to get access to Gizmos?   Let me know and I can help you!

  Email: slippa@explorelearning.com        Phone: 1 866 882 4141  x263

ExploreLearning has been licensed by OSAPAC for Ontario teachers for a long time but there are many teachers who still have never heard of Gizmos. It is my ongoing challenge to get the word out to the many teachers that have an account paid for by the provincial license and get them started. If you know a grade 7-12, math or science teacher wanting to access Gizmos, tell them to contact their OSAPAC representative listed on the OESS Website (Contact Search). They have the details...and so do I.