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

Expert Corner: Get a Jump on Fall with Reflex

New Lesson Materials

Educator Spotlight: Shawn O’Hara

Expert Corner: Get a Jump on Fall with Reflex

Kathleen Kaplan is a Regional Manager for Professional Development at ExploreLearning. With a M.Ed. in Secondary Math Education, she taught all levels of high school math before joining ExploreLearning in 2012. Kathy combines her passion for math and science education with her technology background to partner with teachers in increasing student success.

As a teacher, can you imagine what math class would be like if all of your students were fluent in their math facts? If you are already a Reflex customer, you can help make this dream come true for your students and fellow teachers by encouraging your students to use Reflex over the summer. You can find great implementation ideas on our blog that will inspire both students and teachers like this one from Virginia:

An elementary school in Loudon County Public Schools, Virginia, is gearing up for the summer months with a great idea inspired by the summer vacation tradition. They call it a "Reflex Road Trip!"

Students need to collect three "Green Lights" a week on Reflex on their way to their destination. Each traffic light on the log they created symbolizes getting the Green Light, and each light will need to be initialed to prove they did it (and they have five a week on their log in case they go the "extra mile").

At the end of the summer, when students have completed the required Green Light days, they earn a special Reflex Driver's license!

We think this is a terrific idea for encouraging summer Reflex usage, and we look forward to hearing about how the students will be starting next school year with a strong math facts fluency foundation!

If your school or district does not have Reflex yet, talk with our sales staff about ways to bring the program to summer school.

Instead of losing ground this summer, help your students come back more ready to succeed than ever. And, students will enjoy Reflex so much, they may even thank you for it!

New Lesson Materials

New Lesson Materials for 12 math Gizmos have recently been released! The first Gizmo deals with exponential functions while the rest focus on geometry.

Introduction to Exponential Functions (formerly known as "Exponential Growth and Decay - Activity B")

Perimeters and Areas of Similar Figures

Concurrent Lines, Medians, and Altitudes

Pythagorean Theorem with a Geoboard

Pythagorean Theorem - Activity B

Similar Figures - Activity A

Distance Formula - Activity A

Proving Triangles Congruent

Reflections

Translations

Triangle Inequalities

Segment and Angle Bisectors (formerly known as “Bisectors in Triangles”)

Reminder: Our updated Lesson Materials have four documents (Student Exploration Sheet, Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary Sheet), each available as a .doc or .pdf. (You'll need to be logged in to see all four documents.)

If you'd like to try these Gizmos, or any of the others in our library, you can sign up for a free trial today!

Educator Spotlight: Shawn O’Hara

Shawn O’Hara has a degree in Geology and spent 13 years working in the environmental industry. She is currently a chemistry teacher at a high school in Lewisville ISD, Texas. In 2006, she was named Creek Valley Middle School’s Teacher of the Year, and Lewisville ISD Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Shortly after Ms. O’Hara began teaching in Lewisville ISD nine years ago, she learned about a new program called ExploreLearning Gizmos that the district was implementing in middle and high schools. Since she began using them, she has experienced the tremendous growth of the Gizmo library and lesson materials available to teachers and students. Gizmos continue to be an integral part of the successful science experience she provides her students.

A couple of Ms. O’Hara’s favorite Gizmos are “Distance-Time and Velocity-Time Graphs” and “Phases of the Moon.” Students struggle with the concepts of distance-time, velocity-time, acceleration-time, and all that goes with these topics. “I would have them first do an activity with a motion sensor and then follow that up with the Gizmo. Doing the Gizmo really reinforces the learning, especially when they have to write about the motion relative to the created graph.” With the Phases of the Moon Gizmo, “students can manipulate the motion of the moon and see views from Earth and space.” Being able to manipulate variables allows students the ability to test their hypotheses and answer their own “what would happen if…” questions.

When her students are struggling, absent, or miss a lab, Ms. O’Hara has no trouble finding a Gizmo to fill in the gaps and support their learning. “If a student has a long-term absence and has Internet access at home, he/she can keep up by using the support materials.” She also loves the assessments and thinks that they provide the perfect quick check of student understanding. She has immediate access to the results, and at a glance she can see who has mastered the concept and who needs more support.

“Lewisville ISD has identified Gizmos as a powerful resource for teachers and has continued to make an investment in making them available to all science and math teachers.” Ms. O’Hara looks forward to continuing to give her students the opportunity to explore science with Gizmos.

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.

For information on bringing Gizmos and Reflex to schools in your area, contact your ExploreLearning Account Representative:

866-882-4141, Option 2 sales@explorelearning.com