Do you use Front Row in your classroom? We started using it in my room back in February and it's amazing! Since I started teaching I've tried so hard to differentiate for all my students. Math Work Stations helped, and having 2 math groups sometimes helped by never seemed like it provided enough challenge or support for ALL my kiddos. I just couldn't figure out how to do more. Then I found Front Row. Finally my math time is differentiated for every single student!
Signing my class up for Front Row was simple and free. My students login easily and are quickly working on what each one of them needs. One of my kiddos is a math whiz! He's working on 4th grade level equations requiring order of operations! Another of my kiddos struggles with math and is working on late-Kinder/early first grade addition and subtraction. I could never give them that much work at their own level before!
The first thing students do on Front Row is take a placement test. After that they can work on whichever CCSS domain you want them to do. Front Row will even suggest which one you should have them work on. Here's what this looks like
For every question students have manipulatives available and can have the problem read to them (no more problems with students not being able to read the word problems!).
There are 1-2 videos the student can watch to also help them with the problem. Front Row also suggests 1-3 students the child can go to who might be able to help too. They're students who have already passed similar questions. I love this feature! It's exciting to see my students not being afraid to ask for help. And I love that they're learning to teach and help each other.
While my students work on Front Row, I'm able to pull aside individuals or small group and work with them on whatever skill they struggle with. Amazingly, Front Row will even suggest grouping for you and provides worksheet you can print to use in the small groups if you want to.
I find the analysis reports extremely helpful too. I can find out if a student completed a standard with no difficulty, moderate difficulty, or if they really had a hard time.
I've used this for my own information in creating groups and for report cards.
Another thing I love about using Front Row is the reports I can look up that tell me how many questions a student answered and what their accuracy rate is. On Sundays I get an email that tells me which students improved the most in which domains and who still needs help. This post is starting to sound like a Front Row commercial isn't it? Sorry about that. I am just so excited to finally be able to differentiate the way I've always wanted to!
After a while, I thought my students should be rewarded for their hard work and created some certificates for them. I give them out every Monday and the students who get them choose a reward coupon. So far the favorites have been to sit in the teacher's chair and 15 minutes of free time for the class. My desk chair is blue, has a comfy padded seat, and rolls. The first person to choose it was a boy who we'll call E. A few times during the day I'd look over and see E turning round and round in the chair. He wasn't distracting anyone and was still paying attention, so all I could do was smile. At the end of the day I walked my students out the front school, came back in the room, and found my chair right back behind my desk. I had forgotten to ask E to put it back. He just did that himself. What a sweetie!
If you'd like the certificates for your class, you can grab them in my
TPT store. They're free and include my reward coupons.
I'd love to hear from you about your favorite math websites! Any suggestions for ones I should check out?
