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

Expert Corner: Expand Learning Opportunities to All Students

Educator of the Month: Thais Garcia

Statistics Gizmos Lesson Material Updates

Reflex Educator Grant Program

Expert Corner:
Expand Learning Opportunities to All Students

Laura Chervenak has been with ExploreLearning since 2010 as the VP of Professional Development. She has taught high school science, and is the founder and former director of GOAL Digital Academy. Laura is National Board Certified in Science/Adolescence and Young Adulthood, with a B.A. in Zoology and an M.S. in Anthropology.

Students can easily become disengaged during a lesson in a whole class setting. Students who are not called on to answer a question can passively wait for the answer to be given to them, rather than thinking it through for themselves. Teachers usually seek ways for all students to participate so that they are actively thinking and learning during a whole class lesson.

One of the simplest ways to help get all students actively thinking about a whole group activity is to provide think time for questions and ask them to write their answers down before calling on one student to answer aloud. Many questions and challenges in the Gizmo lesson materials have multiple correct answers. This format is a great opportunity to ask pairs to devise a solution and then have them come up one at a time to share their solutions on the Gizmo.

If the Gizmo calls for students to design an experiment, have pairs or small groups work together to create plans at their desks. Each group then presents and defends their plan to the class for the privilege of performing that experiment on the Gizmo.

You can also have students use physical manipulatives similar to the Gizmo at their desks. This will allow them to follow along and explore even when they aren’t using the Gizmo directly. In the User Lesson Materials for Toy Factory, the contributed lesson from Elsie Rivard includes a page of toys from the Gizmo created by using the snapshot tool. Students can cut out and use the toys to participate in a whole class lesson. Recently, I purchased pencil toppers in the shapes of animals to use similarly.

There are even more ways to ensure that all students are participating rather than zoning out during a whole group instruction lesson.

• When one student answers a question, ask the rest of the room to give a thumbs up if they agree, thumbs down if they disagree or a thumbs sideways if they don’t know.

• Use individual whiteboards to have all students respond to questions.

• Use mobile devices so that students can answer the Gizmo assessment questions individually, or use iPads so that students can manipulate the Gizmos with our new iPad app!

Want more ideas? Check out the outstanding book, Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner by Pérsida Himmele and William Himmele.

To see our previous articles on whole group instruction and student centered learning, go to the Implementation Ideas section of the Gizmos blog.

Educator of the Month: Thais Garcia

Thais Garcia has been a teacher for over 25 years and was the 2009 Region I Teacher of the Year. She currently serves as the science department chair at a Title I middle school in Hialeah, Florida.

Mrs. Garcia is an enthusiastic and positive teacher who helps to motivate students and get them excited about learning. She has a wide range of students, from gifted to special education, but she finds a way to reach them all with Gizmos.

She explains: “Just recently, I used the Solubility and Temperature Gizmo to teach inquiry. I guided students through the whole scientific process; including forming a question, devising a hypothesis, designing an experiment to test that hypothesis, identifying variables, conducting the virtual lab and collecting data, analyzing that data, and deciding if the data/evidence supported the hypothesis. Finally we completed a Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning template. I was able to complete this activity with both my eighth grade gifted students, and also with my co-teach class which is composed of Special Education students, English Language Learners and low level readers.

"To reach all students, we must present the same material, but in different ways. Whether I do them with the whole class or the students do them individually, Gizmos work! Sometimes we complete the Gizmo as a whole class activity with each student taking a turn joining up to the interactive whiteboard. This method gives me an opportunity to detect misconceptions and address them immediately. Other times, I have student groups rotate through stations, which feature several activities based on the same topic.”

She concludes, “Gizmos are an excellent way to engage students and infuse technology into my lessons. I see all my students participating when we do Gizmos. And, since we have been consistently using Gizmos, our district interim scores have risen!”

Statistics Gizmos Lesson Material Updates

“As a scientist, you're not supposed to make decisions without the data.” — Francis Collins, American physician-geneticist

The ability to understand and fairly represent data is becoming more important in math and science education. Check out the updated Lesson Materials for these Gizmos. They are great for teaching students about statistics and they provide students new ways to share results from their science experiments.

• Describing Data Using Statistics

• Histograms

• Correlations

• Trends in Scatter Plots

• Least-Squares Best Fit Lines

For example, the Histograms Gizmo helps students explore data using histograms, which show how many data values are in each interval. Some popular classroom applications include looking at patterns of birthdates, growth patterns or even frequencies of M&M colors in a bag!

You can always learn about the latest updated Gizmos in the Site Announcements section of the Gizmos blog.

Reflex Educator Grant Program

The Reflex Educator Grant Program is successfully bringing math fact fluency to students in classrooms across the country. We recently heard from Sandy King, a grade 5 teacher in Jordan School District, Utah, who started using Reflex in August 2013.

Ms. King had a real need in her elementary school for a math fact fluency solution. “Most of my students were very far behind in math and had poor attitudes about learning facts and math in general.” Since using Reflex, “that has changed completely. Students are gaining more confidence in math and that helps to fuel motivation and success.”

She now sees their new skills spilling over into their other math work. “We are studying fractions. The more fluent my students become, the easier the daily math assignments are and the more successful they feel.” Ms. King concludes, “This is the best program that I've seen to help kids learn their facts. I'm seeing huge improvements and attitudes about math in general.”

Apply to the Educator Grant Program and get math fact fluency in your classroom. The deadline to apply is February 21, 2014.

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