This newsletter is full of great information on Gizmos®, Reflex, and the latest happenings at ExploreLearning:

Two New Science Gizmos

Nine Updated Math Gizmos

ExploreLearning Educator of the Month

Gizmos and Reflex Are CODiE Finalists

New Feature: Gizmo of the Week

Two New Science Gizmos

This month we released two great new Gizmos for science, one of which will be handy in math classes as well.

Have you ever wondered what happens to the food you eat? Most of us are pretty familiar with the path of the digestive system — mouth, esophagus, stomach, and so on. But what would happen if our digestive systems were designed differently? What if food went through the small intestine before the stomach? What would happen if the pancreas was attached to the large intestine? Do we really need a gallbladder?

The new Digestive System Gizmo allows students to arrange the organs and structures of the human digestive system in any way they like. By measuring how well different nutrients are digested and absorbed, students can discover for themselves the important role that each organ plays in the digestive process. Perhaps somebody can use this Gizmo to improve the design of our own digestive system!

The second new Gizmo focuses on an important skill in all areas of science and math: the ability to convert a measurement or value from one unit to another. The Unit Conversions Gizmo allows students to answer questions such as "What is the height of Mount Everest in kilometers?" or "How fast is sprinter Usain Bolt in miles per hour?" With 55 preset problems (and 12 additional randomized questions) to choose from, students will get plenty of practice converting distance, time, speed, mass, volume, and density units. This is a great review before end-of-year tests as well as an excellent way to start off next fall.

We hope you enjoy the new Gizmos. Please let us know what you think!

Nine Updated Math Gizmos

Our math library upgrade project is progressing nicely. In the past month, we have released updated Lesson Materials for nine math Gizmos.

These updated Gizmos include three on numbers and operations: Order of Operations, Using Algebraic Equations, and Percent of Change.

There are also two updated trigonometry Gizmos: Simplifying Trigonometric Expressions and Sum and Difference Identities for Sine and Cosine.

Four algebraic Gizmos were updated as well, two focusing on step-by-step procedures: Simplifying Radical Expressions - Activity A and Operations with Radical Expression; and two focusing on exploration: Polynomials and Linear Factors and Rational Functions.

That brings us up to 29 math Gizmos with new Lesson Materials, with more in the works.

ExploreLearning Educator of the Month

Denika Gum teaches 6th grade math at Sutherland Middle School in Charlottesville, Virginia. Ms. Gum has been teaching middle school math and science for over 20 years. In addition, Ms. Gum co-teaches Math Inquiry at Mary Baldwin College and is a medical instructor for the National Ski Patrol.

While Ms. Gum has been a longtime user of Gizmos (starting in 2004), this year she discovered the power of Reflex. Since starting the program in February, her students have experienced enormous gains in fluency and confidence. In less than two months since her classes started using Reflex, her students have skyrocketed from 36% to 89% mean fluency in multiplication and division, and many students have reached 100% fluency!

With the help of Reflex, some of Ms. Gum's special education students are experiencing success in math for the first time.

Because access to computers is limited in her school, Ms. Gum encourages her students to use Reflex at home. Most students log in from home at least three times a week, and parents have gotten on board as well. Ms. Gum reports that communication with parents — along with motivational strategies such as prize bins and making Reflex-use a part of the participation grade — have been critical to the success of her program. "Like any other resource, teachers will get out of it what they put into it," she says.

The enthusiasm Reflex has engendered is nicely summarized by one of Ms. Gum’s students, who was asked if Reflex was helping:

"Definitely! The answers are coming to me much quicker. On tests and quizzes I don’t have to count on my fingers anymore. I like how the games are actually games that involve skill. I think it is an amazing program — every student should get this wonderful opportunity!"

You can learn about other educators' success with Reflex in the Reflex case studies.

Gizmos and Reflex Are CODiE Finalists

The Software & Information Industry Association has announced the 2012 finalists for its prestigious CODiE awards.

For the seventh year in a row, Gizmos have been nominated for a CODiE; this time for Best Mathematics Instructional Solution.

And Reflex, which has been on the market for less than a year, has received two nominations: for Best Education Game or Simulation and one of the highest honors, Best K-12 Instructional Solution (which Gizmos won in 2009).

We are honored to be recognized in this elite group yet again, and look forward to the announcement of the winners on May 7th.

New Feature: Gizmo of the Week

In March, we launched a new feature on the Gizmos Facebook page. Each week we highlight a different Gizmo and suggest some lesson ideas that work well with it.

So far, we've covered Measuring Trees, Geometric Probability - Activity A, Photosynthesis Lab, and Human Evolution – Skull Analysis.

Follow us on Facebook to see upcoming featured Gizmos. You can also post your own Gizmo ideas on our wall so other educators can benefit from your ideas.

Stay in Touch

If you want to comment on any of the information in this newsletter, be sociable and post your insights on the Facebook pages for Gizmos and Reflex.

And as always, if you have a question or comment about Gizmos or Reflex, don't hesitate to contact our Customer Support team using the support form for either Gizmos or Reflex. We would love to hear from you.