As a classroom teacher, I realize that more data would be useful for instructional planning, communicating with parents, and helping students set their own goals. But too often, assessments simply confirm what I already know - for example, that a fourth grade student doesn't understand second grade math content. I don't have time or opportunity to go back to those foundational number concepts; and with education funding cuts, my school may not have enough resource teachers to work with this student outside of class. Similarly, many data reports may confirm that another fourth grader is really doing math at a sixth grade level. The schedule and resources available in the school are rarely adequate to meet this student's needs on a daily basis either. The power of an intelligent, adaptive learning technology is the ability to differentiate learning support for every fourth grader: those working at grade levels above or below as well as every child in-between. Our technology represents a radical transformation in how students learn. By weaving an adaptive learning environment into the curriculum and classroom structure, we can drastically improve student learning, close achievement gaps, and adapt uniquely to individual students, each of whom will at some point encounter a learning challenge.

In the end, what every classroom teacher really needs is a tool that is proven to actively and directly foster learning for every single student. If more accessible textbooks and lectures were the key to closing achievement gaps, the education crisis would have been solved long ago. I need software that adapts to each student just as I would - moment by moment - observing what the child is thinking, how she is approaching the problem and analyzing the strategies she uses in order to make a pedagogical decision about where to go next. I want software that doesn't replace me entirely - I know that's impossible - but it should meet students where they are when I'm not able to get to them.

At DreamBox, we provide teachers and students with technology that makes this learning support a reality. We don’t expect to replace teachers; our technology enhances what teachers are trying to accomplish with each student. When teachers can't be there individually for a student at the point of learning, they can trust that DreamBox will be a trustworthy partner for ensuring that student will experience success.

The important thing about an equilateral triangle is that it has three equal sides. It is a three sided polygon with three congruent angles, each angle measuring 60°. But the important thing about an equilateral triangle is that it has three equal sides. The important thing about a clock is that it tells time. It has the numbers one through twelve on its face. The small hand points to the hour, and the bigger hand shows the minutes. On some clocks there is a hand that shows the seconds. The clock on my microwave has only numbers, it is a digital clock. But the important thing about a clock is that it tells time. The important thing about a penny is that it is worth one cent. It takes one hundred pennies to equal one dollar. Abraham Lincoln, our sixteen president, is pictured on the front. It is copper in color and larger than a dime which is worth ten cents. But the important thing about a penny is that is worth one cent. Write your own poem around a math word or concept. Email it to us and we’ll include everyone’s Important Poems in a future blog.]]> http://www.dreambox.com/blog/the-important-thing-about/feed 0 http://www.dreambox.com/blog/face-value-or-place-value http://www.dreambox.com/blog/face-value-or-place-value#comments Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:00:36 +0000 Neal M http://www.dreambox.com/blog/?p=7405 Common Core Math Standards tell us to begin place value instruction as early as Kindergarten with increasingly sophisticated instruction through throughout the elementary grades. A major understanding to grasping place value has to do with understanding the difference between face value and place value of a digit. Try this with your primary students:  1. Show a child “16” on a piece of paper. Ask what does the “1” means?  2. Ask what does the “6” mean?  3. Put out a cup of counters and ask her to show you 16 counters.  4. Ask her to show you with the counters what the “1” means?  5. Ask her to show you with the counters what the “6” means. Here’s an example of the responses I often hear from primary children, even ones who consistently give correct answers to #1 and #2  1. Show a child “16” on a piece of paper. Ask what does the “1” mean?                Child responds  "10”   2. Ask what does the “6” mean?                Child responds, “6 ones”  3. Put out a cup of counters and ask her to show you 16 counters.  4. With the counter show me what the “1” means?                 She points to one counter.  5. Show me with the counters what the “6” means.                 Counts out six counters. So what’s the teacher to do? First don’t assume that a child who can verbally identify the place value of numbers understands the structure of our base-ten number system.  Students need to understand the role of 10s and learn to see 10 objects both as one group (the 1 in the tens place) and as 10 individual objects. Teachers can support a child’s conceptual learning by providing many opportunities to count quantities of objects by grouping them into 10s and ones, and recording the number.  Teachers can help their students see the pattern that exists when they record how many there are---that the digit on the left represents the number of groups of ten and the other digit represents how many left over. The recording is very important; it connects the conceptual level with symbolic representations. This will help a child differentiate face value and place value.]]> http://www.dreambox.com/blog/face-value-or-place-value/feed 0 http://www.dreambox.com/blog/webcams-and-classroom-learning http://www.dreambox.com/blog/webcams-and-classroom-learning#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 15:46:38 +0000 Lisa W http://www.dreambox.com/blog/?p=7832 Welcome to the Tuesday Teacher Tips series! Each week we’ll highlight teaching and learning resources, ideas to use in the classroom, as well as things to ponder as you go about your teaching day. I was recently talking to a good friend, Dana, who teaches 1st grade. She was excited about the authentic learning that was happening in her classroom this winter and spring. This year her class has been faithfully watching the Lily and Hope den cam on the North American Bear Center’s website. The Bear Center is an educational outreach center located in Ely, Minnesota. Lily and Hope are mother and daughter black bears being studied by the Wildlife Research Institute in Ely. This winter Dana’s 1st graders, as well as viewers from around the world, watched the den cam and were able to “meet” two newborn cubs (Jason and Faith) as they came into the world in January. Everyday this winter Dana’s students faithfully watched the web cam and discussed their observations. Dana integrated the following real-life math activities around bears; the students were motivated and excited to learn everything they could about the topic. Charting temperature—each day the class charted the temperature in their area and compared it to the temperature in Ely, Minnesota. Calculating ages—using the family tree information on the Bear Center’s website, Dana’s class calculated the ages of each bear. Comparing Weights—Dana used the weight of each bear to compare and order numbers, teach number line concepts, as well as introduce mathematical vocabulary such as greater than and less than. Graphing Data—each time the students had a sighting or heard the bears, the class recorded the information on a graph. Problem Solving—Dana’s class was so captured by the bears that they held a class read-a-thon to raise money to buy bags of nuts to feed the resident bears at the Bear Center. The class discussed how much money was needed to buy one bag of feed and how many minutes they had to read to buy that bag. On a daily basis they recorded their reading minutes and used a graph to display the information. How do you integrate the outside world into authentic math experiences for your students? Email us and let us know. We love to hear all of the great things that teachers are doing to involve their students in real-life math experiences!]]> http://www.dreambox.com/blog/webcams-and-classroom-learning/feed 0 http://www.dreambox.com/blog/formative-instruction-webinar http://www.dreambox.com/blog/formative-instruction-webinar#comments Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:39:33 +0000 Tracy H http://www.dreambox.com/blog/?p=7720 Webinar: “How Formative Instruction Can Accelerate Student Learning” Date: Tuesday, April 5, 2011 Time: 2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. PT Duration: One hour Register Today! No one is more qualified to speak to this issue than Dr. Margaret Jorgensen, a leading authority on assessment for K-12 education. As Managing Director at Battelle for Kids, Dr. Jorgensen oversees communications and research on value-added and growth models for effective instructional practice. She is also on the Board of the Association of Test Publishers, has authored two books on innovative assessment, and has developed hundreds of criterion-referenced, standards-based tests for K-12. In this webinar you will:

• Learn what research tells us about the practices of highly effective teachers
• Find out how highly effective teachers differentiate instruction
• Understand how interactive learning and embedded assessments provide real time formative information to help elementary teachers effectively accelerate student learning

Books about Math

• Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar by Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno
• Bat Jamboree by Kathi Appelt
• Quack and Count by Keith Baker
• One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi
• A Very Improbable Story: A Math Adventure by Edward Einhorn
• Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
• One Monkey Too Many by Jackie French Koller and Lynn Munsinger
• 1 + 1 = 5: And Other Unlikely Additions by David LaRochelle
• One Watermelon Seed by Celia Barker Lottridge
• How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? By Margaret McNamara
• How Big is a Foot? By Rolf Myller
• One Hundred Hungry Ants and A Remainder of One, both by Elinor J. Pinczes
• The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
• Math Curse by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
• Math Fables by Greg Tang
• Balancing Act, Mouse Shapes, Mouse Count, all by Ellen Stoll Walsh