Archive for the ‘Life at DreamBox Learning’ Category

That’s what I heard an advisor/investor of ours exclaim the other day. And he’s not far off. In addition to the Distinguished Achievement Award for Educational Toys and Games, DreamBox Learning was awarded the 2009 Association of Education Publishers highest honor: the Golden Lamp  for Technology Innovation (Association of Educational Publishers). Since I’m quoting folks, I think I’ll [...]

The genesis of how DreamBox does assessment, and one of the reasons I am with the company, occurred over 30 years ago when one of my relatives was diagnosed with a learning disability.

This surprised us and shocked his teachers, who considered him to be in the upper middle to top third of the class for math. His test scores consistently supported this. In many areas he was significantly ahead of his peers. Yet a detailed examination with an expert showed that for him division just didn't compute. Put another way, his brain simply wasn't "wired for division".

Early on in the development of DreamBox Learning K-2 Math, as we began beta testing with 4-8 year olds, we figured out that our users would have a variety of mouse skills. For some, this was the first time they’d used a computer, so they had little to no experience using a mouse. For others, they were experts. Drag and drop? No problem!

Recently, I reread Seth Godin’s book Purple Cow. It’s about transforming your business by being remarkable. There’s a lot of talk about what it means to be remarkable. Of course I read the book thinking about our product, DreamBox Learning K-2 Math. But more and more, I thought about my job at DreamBox as being the truly remarkable. Before DreamBox, I taught in elementary schools for 9 years. I loved the classroom. Even with all the frustrations, low pay and school politics, I loved teaching, and I wasn’t looking to leave the classroom. Then came the call from a former parent. He founded a start-up company and needed a teacher. Was I interested?

Voting for Seattle's Best Startup ends on April 28! That means you have only one day to cast your ballot for DreamBox Learning. Here are three reasons to vote for DreamBox.

Wishing everyone a happy earth day and wordless wednesday!

I’ve talked before about all the beta testing we completed before launching the product to the public. A significant portion of the beta testing took place in schools where the Academic Team (all certified elementary teachers with 75% having earned National Board Certification) could watch kids playing. We watched for signs of confusion and boredom, as well as excitement and learning. We listened carefully to their questions and statements muttered throughout the play. Kindergartners especially are known for talking aloud as they play. On the other hand, second and third graders can more easily express their misconception and "aha: moments.

We're proud to announce this is our 100th blog post. Let's hear it for us! DreamBox Learning started with ... dreams. We envisioned a world where every student enjoys an individually-tailored, world class learning experience. Then created an online math learning game that's both highly effective at teaching math, and it's fun. We strive to reach kids, enrich minds, and inspire a life-long love of mathematics. It has been a wonderful coaster ride as a Seattle startup and we couldn't be more proud of our achievements.

Exciting news! DreamBox Learning was named the "Cool Site of the Day" on April 2, 2009. It's truly an honor and everyone at DreamBox should be proud. We always thought we were cool, but it's nice to be recognized by others. Great job DreamBox!

This was a very exciting week at DreamBox Learning. When we launched DreamBox K-2 Math we heard from hundreds of kindergarten, first and second grade teachers around the country telling us that they wanted to use DreamBox and our online math lesson games in their classrooms. Since our January launch we have been piloting our DreamBox math games in 150 kindergarten, first and second game classrooms around the country. Teachers are using DreamBox in their math clubs, with their math all-stars and high achievers, as well as with their math intervention students who need math tutoring.

While I put out bird seed in my backyard feeder like many of you, I also have helped keep hummingbirds alive through five Seattle winters, traveled to Antarctica and the Canadian tundra to take photographs of birds, and help care for shorebirds and seabirds at a local aquarium. The Christmas Bird Count is one of the big yearly bird events in North America. Counting birds in their winter territories establishes expected norms which helps private and public conservation groups develop appropriate species conservation plans.

Parents, you can surprise your kids by setting the DreamBox Learning characters as your computer screen's background image (or you can display the DreamBox logo). Just click on the display size you want below, save it to your computer, and set it as your "wallpaper".

The DreamBox Adventure park is a magical place where kids can choose which adventures they would like to explore. You have the choice of four themes, all of which are available to DreamBox players.

The DreamBox Adventure park is a magical place where kids can choose which adventures they would like to explore. Four themes are available to DreamBox players: Pirates, Pixies, Dinosaurs, and Pet Friends! These themes, as well as some of the stories and adventures that kids explore, were inspired by and suggested by kids we’ve talked to [...]

The DreamBox Adventure park is a magical place where kids can choose which adventures they would like to explore. Four themes are available to DreamBox players; Pirates, Pixies, Dinosaurs and, Pet Friends! These themes as well as the stories and adventures that kids explore were inspired by and suggested by kids we've talked to and some of our school beta testers! The DreamBox creative team thanks them all for inspiring us and helping us make a great product!