"Mrs. Heath, I can do multiplication now, and I'm FAST!" These were the words a struggling student exclaimed when she realized how her math fluency was increasing through a technology-based fluency program I use in class. Witnessing the joy that a 6th grade student experiences from seeing success for the first time with a concept is thrilling as a teacher.
Our sixth grade team is comprised of about 115 amazing students, who come from varying backgrounds, including (but not limited to) at-risk, bilingual, and learning disabled students.
Our school serves a very diverse group of students in grades 5-6 and provides rigorous academics, fantastic teachers and a safe learning environment. Our goal is to prepare our students for success in high school and college, and our tools to reach that are engaging learning environments, technology & real-world learning experiences.
My Project
Researchers have proven that the effectiveness of technology-enhanced teaching approaches dramatically enhance the learning going on in classrooms, and increases students’ understanding of math concepts.
Today, leading researchers see several clear uses for technologies in math education:
1) Technology can provide multiple representations of concepts. For example, the concept of a “fraction operation” can appear as the traditional algorithm, a model, or on a number line. With technology, these can be linked, so that a student who makes the fraction change can see that this affects and related to the other two models, deepening the understanding of the concept of fractions.
2) Technology can engage students in a classroom in working on mathematics together. For example, students can collaborate to make a family of related number pairs to explore a pattern of variation, with technology helping to combine and integrate their unique contributions.
3) Technology can provide students with more rapid feedback on the correctness of their work, enabling them to better monitor and focus their own learning. Many programs even offer an online tutoring session when a student misses a problem.
I have set up my classroom to engage student learning as they use technology on almost a daily basis. They engage with each other, on their own, and with the program itself. Students work on watching learning videos to take notes prior to the new lesson, review previous concepts to gain a deeper understanding, and receive learning paths created for their specific, individual needs in order to succeed.
I currently do not have enough chrome books to handle the number of students who need to use them at any particular point in class. It takes quite the balancing act to share the limited resources. Starting this year, my class sizes will be larger, therefore the need is greater.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Heath and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
