Tech Tuesday - Front Row Ed

My apologies for this post being late; I thought I'd be up and running by Tuesday, but it seems that brain surgery took a bit out of me.  So...I'm posting a bit late.  Sorry, folks!

So, on to the post...

Are you looking for a GREAT tool for individualized math assessment and practice?  FrontRowEd has just the answer for you!!!

We have been using FrontRowEd in our fifth grade math classrooms for the past couple of months, and the result has been AMAZING!  This program is divided into each of the domains, and it first provides a diagnostic assessment for EACH child in EACH, placing students appropriately based on the standards that they've met rather than their ages.  Then, through interactive lessons and practice, it progresses students through the standards in each domain; the growth can be phenomenal!

Not only is the student experience wonderful (my fifth graders asked every day if they could "play" on FrontRow), but the teacher experience is well put-together, as well.  On the dashboard, teachers have access to class and individual student data, from where students are performing in a particular domain to what, exactly, each student is working on.  Not only that, there are also report cards (standards-based!) that can be printed and sent home with children, and there are individualized practice sheets printable based on EACH child's individual performance.  Can you say massive help with RTI?!

Some examples of the graphs and data are below:

Grade Level Graph by class.  When we started, I had students ranging from K to 4 on standards mastery.

This is a breakdown of student work (student names would be to the left) in the area of numbers and operations, the same area as the Grade Level Graph above.  Almost every child has gained a grade level within a month!

Here's a "report card" for an individual student.  Orange shows areas mastered with "low difficulty," green shows areas mastered with no difficulty, and blue shows areas currently being worked on.

Tech Tuesday

Let's get one thing straight. Technology is only as good as we make it. And a lot of time...we don't. So, how do we change this? We learn about it, we practice best practices, and we preservere. We'll make this journey together. 

And that brings me to "Tech Tuesday." Each week, I will post a review, how-to, or other article about technology and it's use in the classroom. This may be apps, devices, or ways to use technology. I will even try to include student reviews once school starts back!

If you have technology that you would like me to review or if you are interested in being a guest reviewer, please let me know! We will learn and grow together!

Why STEM?

I am often asked, "Why STEM?"

For me, STEM is not just a fad.  STEM isn't some trendy teaching technique that may or may not pass.  Teaching through STEM is, for me, very personal.

I found out today that I will be having my second brain surgery in five months next week.  As I sat in the doctor's office talking with my neurosurgeon, I was reminded of my reasons for teaching through STEM.  One day, one of my students will have the role of physician; he or she will sit confidently explaining a procedure and will put his or her patient at ease.  One day, one of my students will save lives; he or she will be a problem solver, one who can look outside of the box, draw outside of the lines, and see beyond the "given" and to the truth.  One day, I hope, one of my students will be on the team that discovers a non-invasive treatment (or even a cure!) for the neurological conditions with which I now live.

This is one of the many, many reasons I teach through STEM.  What are yours?

Embarking upon the Journey

How do we establish a learning environment that meets the needs of 21st century learners when we, ourselves, often did not experience such environments?  How do we nurture a culture of intrinsic motivation in a world brimming with sources of external motivation?  How do we reach past today's distractions to engage with the students in our classrooms?  How do we encourage curiosity, flexibility, and imagination while, at the same time, promoting reasoning, critical thinking , and problem solving...especially when our students do not want to "push" the boundaries?  How do we condition our students to develop the mental stamina needed to do all that we want them to do and more???

These are the questions that I, as a teacher, find myself asking each day, and these are what I hope to explore through this blog.  I don't know who (if anybody) will read these entries, but to be honest, gathering a large readership is not the primary purpose of starting this blog.  This is for me, so that I may have a place to reflect upon these questions and my own teaching practice.  If you choose to follow (and I hope you do), I welcome you and your comments, thoughts, insights, questions, and more.

This blog is NOT a professional publication of any sort; instead, it is a reflection of my journey as I continue to learn what it means to teach 21st century learners.  I will post my ideas.  I will share activities whenever I think about it.  I will write about my successes and what I think contributed to those successes.  I will ponder those days that didn't go as planned and what I think contributed to the lack of success.  I hope that through this journey, I will continue to improve, both as a teacher and as a learner.  Ultimately, it is about my students and ensuring that I am providing them with the best possible learning experience.

I hope that you will join me on this journey!