Posted by
Buzz on Tue, May 07, 2013 @ 11:18 AM
Adaptive, online learning program Think Through Math has announced that, on a typical school day in Spring 2013, students completed between three and four million problems.
Featuring a supplemental Common Core curriculum for grades 3 through Algebra l, Think Through Math provides Web-based instruction that motivates students in unprecedented ways. Designed to support schools and school districts as they adopt personalized and blended learning environments, Think Through Math delivers engaging, math content to students, while allowing teachers to provide more individualized attention based on each student’s needs.
“As students discover that Think Through Math helps them get better at math, it also helps them see that they have the capacity to enjoy math,” says Kevin McAliley, CEO of Think Through Learning Inc. “The result is that students make measurable gains and their entire outlook improves.”
With unprecedented motivational tools and personalized instruction, TTM is changing the way students learn math. “Think Through Math was built on the theory that engaged students are interested students. The goal of the program,” says McAliley, “is to prepare students for more rigorous mathematical standards and accelerate them to grade level as efficiently as possible.”
TTM integrates compelling online instruction and practice with proven teacher-driven practices. As students work on the program they receive immediate corrective feedback. If they continue to struggle, they are connected to certified, bilingual math teachers who can further differentiate and personalize instruction.
“This level of personalization is unprecedented,” says McAliley. “It explains why TTM students persevere and invest the time and effort that’s necessary in mathematics.”
See more of Think Through Math in the news.
Posted by
Buzz on Wed, May 01, 2013 @ 12:02 PM
We were all saddened by the terrible tragedy in West, Texas. In just one week, the students of THINK Nation have donated $4,000 (and counting) to the families of West, Texas. We are so proud of their selfless giving and encourage them to continue to donate their THINK points to this featured charity.
When Students donate 5,000 points to the American Red Cross West, Texas Relief fund, they will receive an American Red Cross badge as recognition. Isn't it awesome that Thinkers everywhere are connecting their math learning to making a difference in the real world? We love that about Think Through Math.
And on May 1st, for ONE DAY ONLY, Think Through Math will match every donation up to $5,000 made to the American Red Cross!
Posted by
Buzz on Wed, May 01, 2013 @ 07:41 AM
2012-2013 has been a big year for Think Through Math. More than two million students are working in the program and are solving millions of problems every day. As the school years draws to a close, your feedback is very important to us. Please complete this brief survey–it will only take a few minutes. When you hit "submit," you will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a $100 Amazon gift card. Hurry, the deadline is Friday, May 10!
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1190915/ttmUX
Posted by
Buzz on Mon, Apr 29, 2013 @ 02:27 PM
Think Through Math users now have access to our new and improved Overview Report powered by the Think Through Math data warehouse for an easier and more in depth report experience. Users are now provided with capabilities to dive deeper into the report detail. You will be able to adjust your view of the report to see more columns at one time as well as apply date filters, just to name a few of the new features you will have access to. The Report will automatically default to the highest level of reporting available to your role.
You can access the new Overview Report the same way as you access the current report. Simply log onto your TTM account, click “Reports” from the top navigation, and click the “Run Report” button appearing in the “Overview Section”.
Think Through Math is partnering with the American Red Cross: West, Texas Relief Fund to help the people affected by the West, Texas explosion. Every 5,000 points = $1.
THINK Nation has already donated over $1,000 dollars! This charity will be available for an entire month. Encourage your students to log-in and start solving!
Posted by
Buzz on Fri, Apr 12, 2013 @ 09:15 AM
We’re excited about Math Week, April 15-19. There is rarely such a great opportunity to visit with so many math educators and to hear directly from them.
If you are attending NSSM or NCTM, make sure you stop by and say hello! We would love to see you. Visit us in NCSM booth #401 and NCTM booth #530. You are also welcome to join us for our NCSM Tech Showcase on Wednesday, April 17. The topic: Math Digital Learning: The Ultimate Equalizer. This will be an hour-long workshop that gives both an overview of TTM and demonstrates how it helps students meet the rigors of the Common Core. Join us at 2:30 on Wednesday in the Hyatt Hotel, Quartz A/B, opposite the Convention Center.
Posted by
Buzz on Mon, Apr 08, 2013 @ 08:50 AM
April’s teacher of the month is Sherry McNulty. Sherry teaches at Breed Middle School. For the past 11 years she has been teaching 6th grade math. This is Sherry’s first year using Think Through Math and she and her class are TTM Superstars! Below is Sherry's story and her personal experience with Think Through Math.
I have been teaching at Breed Middle School in Lynn, MA, going on 14 years now. I am very proud of this school as it is my neighborhood school and where my 3 children went to middle school For the past 11 years, I was a math teacher in a 6th grade cluster. When I was approached at the end of last year to teach TTM, it came at just the right time as I had just received my state certification in Instructional Technology. I had been working on IT for the past several years, so the combination of teaching math combined with the technology of TTM was real challenging. Also, the thought of piloting a new program at my school was also very exciting.
Here at Breed, we use TTM as a foundations math class for grades 6-8, but I believe it is more than that. The students really have taken to the course and made it their own. My students are happy to come to class every day because they work at their own pace, help each other out, and compete with each other as well as students around the state. They love to see their names in print on the leader board as well as winning the contests/pizza parties we have won this year. Although the course is rigorous and there is a great deal of motivation to do well grade wise, we have a relaxed atmosphere in the classroom.
I think my favorite units in TTM are the Geometry and Functions. After teaching 6th grade for a very long time, it was nice to get back to some more challenging work. My favorite part of TTM is working one-on-one with the students and hearing from them “Oh…I get it now!”. I also like that they can do the work at home, library or anywhere they can access TTM. To watch them trying more difficult concepts on their own and the positive feedback they get from TTM is very rewarding. My students have a real sense of pride in what they are doing because they own it!
Posted by
Buzz on Fri, Apr 05, 2013 @ 09:19 AM
Every teacher understands the power of meeting individual needs. Teachers also know that it’s not always possible to achieve this goal in a typical classroom of 25 students. At Think Through Math, students work independently on the computer with live support only a click away. Students always have access to just-in-time support from state-certified teachers (also available in Spanish!)–precisely when they need it.
Click Here for an inside look.
In this lead article in Educational Leadership, author/speaker Will Richardson says the Web has upended our long-standing belief that school is where students learn the most important stuff. Now it’s one of many sources of information – and often not the most compelling. “Welcome to what portends to be the messiest, most upheaval-filled 10 years in education that any of us has ever seen. Resistance, as they say, is futile.”
How should schools handle the new reality? Not by buying expensive technology to put on top of the traditional curriculum, says Richardson, but by honestly addressing four big questions:
• What do we mean by learning? If the answer is higher test scores, change will be superficial – old wine in new bottles. Seymour Sarason said it best: effective education is a process that “engenders and reinforces wanting to learn more.” That means transferring power from teacher to student – “it implies that students discover the curriculum rather than have it delivered to them,” says Richardson. “It suggests that real learning that sticks – as opposed to learning that disappears once the test is over – is about allowing students to pursue their interests in the context of the curriculum… Teachers must be co-learners with kids, expert at asking great, open-ended questions and modeling the learning process required to answer those questions.”
• What does it mean to be literate? It’s much more than learning to read and write more proficiently. Now, according to the National Council of Teachers of English, it includes students and teachers being proficient with technology and being able to “manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information” and share information globally.
• What does it mean to be educated? “Instead of helping our students become ‘college ready,’” says Richardson, “we might be better off making them ‘learning ready,’ prepared for any opportunity that might present itself down the road.” MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses) will revolutionize higher education, opening up amazing, worldwide learning opportunities outside of classrooms.
• What do students need to know? The conventional knowledge curriculum was created for an era when information was scarce, says Richardson. But the world is different now. “The reality is that I no longer need to send my children to a school to learn algebra, U.S. history, or French,” he says. Students who have “a self-directed disposition to learn” can take advantage of the material that’s now freely available on the Web.. Of course students still need school to teach them to read and write, do basic math, and have a rudimentary understanding of science, history, and other areas. But the name of the game now is to develop kids’ self-directed disposition to learn. “That means rethinking classrooms to focus on individual passions, inquiry, creation, sharing, patient problem solving, and innovation,” says Richardson. And that will not happen by buying a lot of fancy technology that just jazzes up the old, tired curriculum.
“Students First, Not Stuff” by Will Richardson in Educational Leadership, March 2013 (Vol. 70, #6, p. 10-14), www.ascd.org; Richardson can be reached at will@willrichardson.com.
Students Accelerate to Grade Level with Think Through Math and are Lauded by Lousiana Superintendent of Education.
Responding to a state mandate, Ascension Parish took action to identify students 15 years of age or older who were at least two years behind in math achievement. In January, 2013, State Superintendent of Education John White told Ascension Parish educators their achievements serve as a model for other districts in the state.
Read more about their results here.