DreamBox Learning®» Start-up Culture

3rd grade math games sneak preview

Tracy — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:39:28 +0000

It won't be long now - DreamBox Learning K-2 Math will soon be K-3 Math. We're bursting with excitement about our 3rd grade math games and couldn't keep it hush-hush any longer.

Announcing the DreamBox Learning K-3 Math preview

So we created a K-3 Math parent preview, complete with sample lessons. Play the sample math lessons, read about what's new in our 3rd grade math games, or take the K-3 Math tour. DreamBox Learning K-3 Math offers over 100 lessons, an expanded curriculum, and brand-new virtual manipulatives. This snippet is all we can show for now. Feel free to pass the preview on. DreamBox Learning isn't just another game -- it's an excellent resource for parents, teachers, and homeschoolers. What do you think of the lessons? Anything you hope to see in K-3 Math? Let us know below!

Vote DreamBox Your Favorite IAA Finalist!

Tracy — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:52:49 +0000

The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA), the state-wide technology association aimed to connect, lead, and inspire tech businesses in Washington, has included DreamBox Learning in its finalists for an Industry Achievement Award (IAA) as Breakthrough Start-up of the Year. Everyone here at DreamBox is excited and feels very honored. As an adjunct to the competition, the WTIA wants to find out who the fan favorites are! While it won't affect the judging process (which is too bad - DreamBox fans are the best!), the WTIA has created Twitter fan lists for each IAA finalist. The number of people following each list will show who the public wants to see win an esteemed IAA.

Calling all Twitter-users

Tweet to @WTIA with @DreamBox_Learn and hashtag #2010IAA. This will put you on our list and keep you apprised of all of DreamBox Learning's exciting IAA news. The awards ceremony is Thursday, March 4 in Seattle. Wish us good luck and stay tuned!

Schools Are on Winter Break, but DreamBox is Not!

Mickelle — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:14:32 +0000

At DreamBox we’re capitalizing on school vacation! For two days, we invited DreamBoxers who live near our offices to sit side-by-side with our teachers and developers and be the first to try our newest lessons and games. This is the first major step in testing our new virtual manipulatives developed by DreamBox only for our upcoming 3rd grade lessons. Not only have these DreamBox games never before been played by children, nothing else like them exists. By the time we introduce this curriculum in our school testing programs, the usability and design will be thoroughly tested and even better! These early testing experiences are a crucial part of making DreamBox the best it can be. A huge thank you to all the kids that came to our office and tested our new 3rd grade lessons!

Big News: Little Startup Covered in Big City Paper

Sue — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:18:21 +0000

It takes a special bunch of people and a very special product to get a tiny startup in the Wall Street Journal!

Between that, and our news announced this week that Pearson Canada will distribute DreamBox Learning K-2 Math in the Canadian market - it's been a big week for us. It's weeks like this that make working in startups so compelling. Much has been written about startup life, but I think it's all about character. In case you haven't heard, it takes a unique personality to thrive in a startup environment - part optimist, part dreamer, part workaholic (although I have to say that DreamBox is unique - I guess making a learning product for kids is good for work/life balance). You have to see potential where others see hurdles, and be totally committed to deliver. You must thrive on ambiguity, be flexible enough to change direction quickly if need be, a fast learner, driven. It sure helps if you have a sense that you're on a mission, that you are part of a team that's focused on a higher purpose. At the same time, you're in the real world, not in a little bubble - not every startup is a success and you have to be able to maintain your balance in the face of setbacks, even failure. The ability to learn from your (and others') mistakes is key. Wow, I'm amazed anyone wants to work in a startup! It's a roller coaster ride, but it's never boring! And it's re-energizing to have a week like this.

Schooled by 5-8 Year Olds: More Mouse Struggles!

Mickelle — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:10:44 +0000

When we were developing DreamBox Learning K-2 Math, just creating the Mouse Tutorials didn’t solve our mouse problems (See our blog Schooled by 5-8 year olds: Mouse Skills Needed). With adults or intermediate users, we probably wouldn’t have had to worry about any of this. However, solving the problem for our primary audience has a big impact on whether they want to play DreamBox or not. We couldn’t ignore it! We included the Mouse Tutorial games as a part of the First Time User Experience (FTUE). It’s a part of the opening game story. Users must pass the minimum (bare minimum) requirements for each level in order to enter DreamBox and begin the instructional math games. This ensures that most users have the basic mouse skills needed to use our virtual manipulatives. (Note: Our virtual manipulatives are vital to allowing students to “build” answers to problems instead of simply providing multiple answer choices for them to choose from.)

Math learning requires mouse education for younger students

What’s the problem? The problem is that we built this into the FTUE. Some kids love it! Some kids don’t! In the same way that the first page of a book and the first 10 minutes of a movie are important for hooking the reader or viewer, so are the first 10 minutes of a computer game experience. There are lots of solutions to this problem, and each is accompanied with varying degrees of development time. The most straight forward solution is, if can we generalize, that all kids that start at the kindergarten level receive the mouse tutorials. Anyone older doesn’t. The most involved approach, requiring the biggest commitment in terms of development, would be to create a mouse skills assessment at the beginning of the experience, just as we've included academic assessments throughout the math games. As with every decision we've made at DreamBox, we carefully weigh the pros and cons of each, ultimately leading us to a better experience for every child.

DreamBox: My Purple Cow

Mickelle — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:19:15 +0000

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?

Life With the DreamBox Learning Team

Along the way, I was given more than I ever imagined. When I read an academic book that spoke to the type of teaching we wanted to apply to DreamBox, I met the author. I brought her into our fold and picked her brain, learning straight from the source. I was handed an assessment guru who was always there with the right advice and background knowledge. I was surrounded by and worked elbow-to-elbow with world-class developers. They’d ask questions and dig deep into how my mind worked as an educator. They’d come back with technology language that my team transformed into high quality learning games. As artists, developers and teachers we created our own virtual manipulatives. Building K-2 Math was an organic, get-your-hands-dirty process. We worked very hard and forged our own processes along the way. Our CEO was always there, clearing the path and providing inspiration. DreamBox is remarkable because of the people, the talent, and the empowerment. Almost three years later, joined by 3 more teachers on the Academic team, as well as Development, Creative and Marketing teams, we got there. 2 months ago we launched DreamBox Learning K-2 Math. Now it’s time for my own launch. The timing on all this is poetic. I’ve just given birth to my second child. My responsibilities leading the Academic team have come to an end. When and how I return to DreamBox are tbd. If this were any other job, there wouldn’t be a question of my returning to work. I’d stay home and be with my kids. But this isn’t any other job. This is DreamBox. Challenging, empowering, giving - Remarkable.

Last Chance: Vote for DreamBox as Seattle's Best Startup

Tracy — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:18:51 +0000

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.

A Vote For DreamBox Math Learning Games Is:

A vote for DreamBox is a vote for kids. We're more than a business. We sincerely care about kids and math education. Our online math game doesn't just entertain, it really teaches. If DreamBox had only one goal, it would be to improve every child's access to a great math education. Other startups strive to make money; we also strive to enrich minds.

A vote for DreamBox is a vote for change. To receive the award a company has to "...make a difference in the lives of the people involved..." No other company in the "Best Startup" category is as likely to make such a positive impact in the lives of children.

A vote for DreamBox is a vote for dreams. Anyone who has ever dreamed of starting a business should vote for DreamBox Learning. We've come along way! Even if we don't win, it's an honor to be nominated. We thank everyone who has been here from the very beginning. (And thank you Seattle for those drizzly days that kept us inside and working!)

Please vote for DreamBox as Seattle's Best Startup in the Seattle 2.0 Awards, 2009. One final reason you should vote for DreamBox: we're really looking forward to those award ceremony cocktails.

Here's to 100 Blog Posts! Vote for DreamBox in the Seattle 2.0 Awards

Tracy — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:14:29 +0000

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.

Get the Word Out and Vote For DreamBox Online Math Learning Games

As we reach our 100th blog post, we're asking fans to help us reach another milestone. Please vote for DreamBox in the "Best of Seattle Startups" category in the Seattle 2.0 awards. Why should you take a minute to vote for DreamBox? Here's the best reason: the criteria for this award is "...make a difference on the lives of the people involved..." And no other company in this category is as likely to make such a positive difference in the lives of so many children. We're honored just to be nominated as one of Seattle's best startups. Please vote and pass it along. A vote for DreamBox is a vote for dreams and equations!

Math in Today’s Everyday Life

Sue — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:19:10 +0000

Every day now driving home and listening to the news, I try, like everyone else I imagine, to wrap my head around the kinds of numbers they’re throwing around. The scale of the numbers is incomprehensible. How meaningful is the difference between a billion and a trillion dollars? The best mental illustration I’ve heard recently—and many have repeated it—is that if you spent a million dollars every day from the day Jesus was born, you still wouldn’t have spent a trillion dollars. (I love a great headline: see “Numb and number”.) So I was fascinated by a radio interview I heard yesterday with a science writer named K.C. Cole, whose premise is that our brains simply aren’t built to comprehend numbers this large. She talked about our natural tendency to focus on the difference in the number of digits between 2 numbers instead of the effect of multiplication. (OK this was my takeaway—it’s not precisely what she said.) For example 1,000,000 has twice the number of zeroes1,000 has. So our brains might tend to understand it as twice as much, rather than the fact that those 3 extra zeroes multiply the number by 1,000, which makes it quite a bit larger number.

Metapohrs Help us with the Math in our Daily Lives

She also suggested that we can use metaphors to train our brains to better comprehend differences in scale like this. She referenced the old story about doubling the grain of rice on each square of a chessboard, and by the 64th square you’d need more rice than is grown in the whole world. (By the way, we highlighted a cool book to help kids get this idea in a post a while back: One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale). When I got home I looked it up the interview so I could share it. You can read what she actually said on the Marketplace radio show website.

Launch Lunch

Byron — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:20:16 +0000

There is nothing like the excitement of launching a new product after years of work. I enjoyed the privilege of joining the celebration lunch with the DreamBox team. It did make me wax nostalgic for the first time I was personally responsible for launching a new product. There was the same anxiousness. I watched one of the engineers pace back and forth, not quite sure whether he should continue to enjoy the break, or go back and monitor how the site was doing. The same mixture of joy and weariness from all the work down the home stretch was on people’s faces. There was even the plastic stemware used for a celebratory toast. However, back then I never really got to enjoy the toast. Literally as the corks were popping, my beeper, as well as those of a few other engineers, all started going off at the same time alerting us to a problem on the servers. Off we rushed to go fix the problem, fortunately succeeding quickly. Nothing like that happened to add more excitement to the DreamBox lunch. Of course, instead of beepers, the DreamBoxers have iPhones with a slick graphical display of the vital stats of all the servers, so they can keep a sharp eye on the health of the system. Ah, beepers… Everybody does remember what a beeper was, right?