When it comes to math, I find that students either love it or hate it. Personally, I have always loved math but few of my classmates were of the same accord. My daughter does not like it but my son seems to really enjoy it. If only we could get every student to feel the same way as he does. As an educator, I feel it is of utmost importance that we make math fun. Using interactive web sites such as Mathletics.ca can help do just that. Not only is Mathletics interactive and engaging, it can help students improve their results. Plus, it is targeted towards Provincial Curricula across Canada.
Last summer, my kids had the opportunity to try out the home version of Mathletics. As a result, I noticed a marked improvement in my daughter's attitude towards math. She seemed so motivated to achieve gold status for each set of math activities and did not feel the frustration she would often feel when completing pen-and-paper math homework. In fact, it gave her a sense of accomplishment and helped to boost her confidence. This is why I feel that Mathletics is an ideal resource for Canadian classrooms. I have come across quite a few online learning sites in my time but Mathletics has to be one of the most thorough and comprehensive digital resources I have seen thus far. Not only is it an excellent tool for students that adapts to their ability level and provides them with instant feedback, it is also an indispensable tool for teachers as well, providing an effortless solution to differentiated instruction, automated testing and real-time data to support learning outcomes.
Once classes are set up, students can be grouped and assigned a course based on the required curriculum and grade level. Click here to view Ontario Outcomes - Alignment with Mathletics which outlines how the Mathletics Ontario course specifically follows the Ontario curriculum. Additional courses are available for other Provincial Curricula as well. Teachers can customize their courses by clicking on "Courses" from the Teacher Centre, selecting or hiding topics or strands for students or groups of students, as well as selecting activities that are easier or harder. There is also a PDF guide next to each of the activities which provides a description of the activity as well as teaching hints, which is quite handy.
What I love most about Mathletics is that it really is a powerhouse of tools, reports and resources for teachers. The ease with which teachers can assign tasks, view detailed summary reports, print certificates of achievement and schedule assessments is absolutely brilliant.
Not only does Mathletics reduce teacher workload, it frees up more time for teachers to engage their students in problem-based tasks. In partnership with leading educator Dr. Marian Small, Mathletics offers a variety of open-ended Rich Learning Tasks with multiple possible outcomes for success that provide opportunities for exploration, problem solving and reasoning skills. For examples of these interactive tasks, try this Pattern Blocks task that explores concepts relating to fractions, or this Build a Numbers task that looks at proportional reasoning and place value.
Rich Learning Tasks can be accessed from the Teacher Console under "eBooks" and are marked with Dr. Marian Small's "One, Two, Infinity" logo. There you can access the teacher view, student view, videos and interactives.
Also included in the eBooks is a massive library of printable eBooks and worksheets. In fact, there are over 150 comprehensive workbooks, all available at your fingertips. As an added bonus, there are various Mathletics eBooks available in French. Bravo! All of these eBooks consist of Canadian content and can be used to introduce a new concept offline or as support or extension material.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by 3P Learning, the makers of Mathletics. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own.
- Friday, November 25, 2016
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