DreamBox Learning®» Elementary teachers

Building A Classroom Community

Neal M — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:33:45 +0000

As a teacher myself, one of the most challenging times of year is September (or even August for some teachers!) when everything is new. Teachers need to establish classroom routines, set high expectations for students, establish rapport with families, and get started on academics as soon as possible. For myself, the most important aspect of starting a school year is establishing community. To me, community can mean school, classroom, link to families, even a community of colleagues with teachers and support staff. Here are some strategies I've used to help build community right off the bat!

Let your students dictate much of the community building. This can include student decisions on classroom guidelines, decorating their own space, setting up class libraries, creating and assigning class helper jobs, and more. Most years, I have students submit their own classroom floor plan options, and the class votes on a design best for learning. We reassess the design after a few weeks and make changes if necessary. Giving your students ownership over their learning environment has enormous benefits down the road.
Create consistent messaging to center your school year. This can be a class credo or manifesto, simple statements to drive home important aspects of your class, or quotes and sayings applicable to the school year. One year, I used the messaging from the book Fish by John Christensen, who observed the employees at Pike Place Fish Market. This had double meaning for my students, being so close to Seattle ourselves. Just this past year, our classroom message was "Professional, Powerful, Personal" and all students knew these were our three goals. Our work, our attitude, our behaviors all worked toward these three simple words.
A classroom can be a second home to both a teacher and students. Find design elements in a classroom to make it comfortable for both you as a teacher, and for your students as well. In past years, I've had shelves of toys and stuffed animals that students are free to use as a fidget or a comfort for those difficult days. Allow students to find ways to make your classroom comfortable! Research shows that any way we can lower a student's anxiety level leads to better academic performance. I noticed one year that my students performed better with soft, focused lighting. How many of our classrooms blast students with thousands of watts pouring out of commercial lighting! Try to create a themed atmosphere, one year my classroom looked similar to a classic library, with small lamps on desks and small groups of study areas.
Get rid of your "teacher space" and join your class! This is always difficult for me as a teacher. However, I've found that I do my best teaching when I'm in the same space as my students, and do not retreat to my teacher area. I have seen teachers remove any aspect of a teacher desk, and simply pull over another desk to a group of students. Try it for a week, see if you can go a whole school day staying away from a "teacher space" and really engage with your students. They will appreciate that you are on their level, and you may just prefer it as well!

This list is by no way comprehensive. What ways have you found to start your year that gets everyone started on the right track? Please share your ideas with us!

How Can I Possibly Differentiate In Math?

Neal M — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:11:13 +0000

Anyone involved in education these days has surely heard the term Differentiated Instruction. Used in many ways, differentiated instruction is a proactive teaching method that centers around each student as a unique learner. Simply put, every child arriving in my classroom shows up with differing skills and interests. It is paramount to use varying strategies and materials to meet these varying needs. However, as any teacher knows, it is a Herculean task to develop a unique curriculum for each student. We are left with finding ways to adjust our existing lessons to appeal to our kinesthetic students who learn by building, or our musical students who will thrive if we can set our material to a beat, or a tune. In mathematics, differentiating instruction is especially difficult. How do we teach multiplication when seven students mastered it last year and five students still need work in basic addition? We ask ourselves, how can we, as teachers, possibly differentiate math and reach all our students? It is here that DreamBox Learning fills a glaring need in today's classroom. DreamBox accurately places students in a fluid curriculum right at one's instructional level. When students use DreamBox, a student can work on a 1st grade counting lesson while sitting next to a classmate working on 3rd grade place value. If a first grade teacher has a group of students ahead of their classmates, DreamBox will accurately place them in more challenging and engaging material. It is this placement on a unique learning path for each student that makes DreamBox such an outstanding addition in today's classroom. So, as summer break winds down and we head back to set up classrooms and welcome a new group of students, take comfort in knowing DreamBox Learning can and will differentiate math instruction and provide your students with a truly individualized learning experience.

Calling Teachers in Alaska, Nebraska, North Dakota and West Virginia! 46 States and Counting

Casey — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:39:52 +0000

As DreamBox Learning's Director of Marketing Programs to schools I spend most of my days working with school districts, principals, curriculum advisers, math coaches, and classroom teachers who are using DreamBox in their schools and districts. I introduce them to DreamBox Learning, answer their questions about our lessons, program, and curriculum, help them roll out pilots and purchases to their schools, solicit feedback on future features and functionality that would help them better direct and improve student instruction, and bring that back to our academic and development teams. It has been an amazing experience to see our DreamBox Math Classroom product go from being tested in small after-school program pilots in a few local schools to full district-wide implementations in multiple states — in less than a year!

46 states and counting

And we are now just four states away from an important milestone. Since last April, DreamBox Learning has been used in classrooms in 46 US states and the District of Columbia. I have a personal goal to help schools in all 50 States using DreamBox before our 3rd grade math games are launched this spring. So I'm calling all kindergarten, first and second grade teachers in Alaska, Nebraska, North Dakota or West Virginia! Go to www.dreambox.com/teachers, check out our program, play sample lessons, download our free teacher resources, and sign up your class to try the award-winning DreamBox program in your classroom…and help bring DreamBox to all 50 US States! You'll join the other 46 in seeing how much for your students will have learning math.

What Should Your Child be Learning in Math? Check Out Our New Math Growth Chart

Tracy — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:44:26 +0000

Math Development Growth Chart

Ever wonder what your children should be learning in math? Or what you can do to supplement their math education? When parents know what to expect at each developmental stage, they can foster learning with fun, educational activities at home. Developed by education experts, DreamBox Learning's free Math Development Growth Chart shows what your child should be learning in math from ages four to eight. Print out our free growth chart and keep it handy throughout your child's academic career! Our Math Development Growth Chart also has a slew of summertime (and anytime) math activities, so your child can practice math when school is out of session. Don't let your kids get into a summer slump! Help them keep learning with age-appropriate math games and activities from our fun growth chart.

Features educational math games and activities

Scavenger hunts can help four year olds learn to count and sort

Clapping patterns help five year olds discover sequences

Math games like dice and cards teach six year olds basic addition combinations

Counting quarters help seven year olds think in groups

Eight year olds enjoy strategy games like checkers, chess, Monopoly, and Clue

Check out the chart for other learning tips and math games. We know that parents want to be actively involved in their child's education. So we've created a wealth of wonderful (and free) resources for parents. Take a look at our printables and parent tips!