My 6th-grade students are diverse in backgrounds, economic statuses and personalities. For the most part, these students with such different backgrounds get along surprisingly well, and it gives me hope for our future.
I call to the sixth graders in the morning, and they call back to me, "Good morning Mrs. Holmes." On 9/11 I had greeted them with the usual, "Good morning sixth grade!" and some of them answered back, "It's a good morning for us, but such a sad day too!"
There are students here with such big personalities! We laugh a lot and we have a few kids with really funny one-liners to keep us on our toes. Our sixth grade also has introverts who like to watch and observe, but smile plenty. I want to do everything I can and give each student the opportunity, tools, and the motivation and cheer leading s/he needs to succeed. I believe sixth grade is a pivotal year, and I want to do all in my power to help each and every child learn, grow and move forward after sixth grade.
My Project
It is very difficult to learn math without having a mastery of basic math facts; multiplication, division, addition and subtraction. Some students have moved many times, or have learning disabilities or trauma in their lives which makes it more difficult for them to memorize basic math facts.
I believe my struggling students will be successful at Reflexmath, which is an engaging computer program that has been successful for many kids with different backgrounds.
Reflexmath has research behind it about how many times a person needs to see the math facts and respond correctly. It incorporates reviews and works at just the right pace.
It is imperative for these students to learn math facts before they leave sixth grade! Research shows that low math skills are the number one reason many do not graduate from college. Not on my watch! Students who leave our school will have the basic facts memorized, which really gives them the world!
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