Catheryn Taylor's Pre-AP and Geometry students use Knowre Math daily to support math learning in both the hybrid and 100% remote learning options. Catheryn initially discovered Knowre Math while seeking out resources during the Spring 2019 shutdown.
I initially found Knowre Math while looking for resources during the spring school shutdown. The program stood out to me because it was well aligned with our standards and offered specific data. It was a program that I could use both with my Pre-AP Geometry students and with my College Algebra Prep students.
Knowre Math fills a number of different needs in my classroom.
First and foremost Knowre Math fills my need for detailed feedback and data. On my Teacher Dashboard I am able to clearly see which skills are causing the most trouble. From there I can also dive in to see their specific answers which allows me to identify misconceptions and reteach accordingly.
Knowre Math is also a program that students are able to work on independently. This is very important in our hybrid learning environment where many of my students are actually choosing to work remotely 100% of the time. Learning independently through online platforms is also a critical part of helping prepare students for college math where they will be required to be much more independent in their learning and may also be relying on similar online math learning platforms.
Finally, Knowre Math offers well designed Geometry content. I am someone who has spent a lot of time and effort creating many of my own curricular resources. I still use many of these, and create more, today. It can be very difficult, however, to create resources for Geometry because it is extremely difficult to make examples and questions that include shapes and figures. We use Google Classroom and creating those items within Google Forms, for example, is nearly impossible. You end up with a form that includes lots of inserted images which means that the assignments will need to include more multiple choice questions than I would like.
Students use Knowre Math each and every day in my classroom. Lessons are selected based on the scope and sequence of our curriculum and typically all students will be working on the same lesson at the same time. For students who move more quickly, they are able to access upcoming lessons. There are firm due dates for the completion of each lesson to help students stay on track with pacing. In addition to Knowre Math students have other resources including teacher made resources, YouTube videos, an online textbook, Google, etc. This is important because it allows for student choice and agency which not only helps students make decisions around their learning, but also increases overall engagement in math class.
Knowre Math can be a HUGE asset to any math classroom that has access to technology for each student. In addition to providing lessons beyond those given by the classroom teacher, it supplies the classroom with tons of practice. Since the questions are different for each student, it eliminates a lot of cheating and students work hard to raise their achievement grades. The lessons are in depth and the practice is rigorous allowing students to get to details I rarely have time for in the traditional classroom setting.
Knowre Math offers a number of different data points to help track and monitor student proficiency at the lesson and skill levels. I use this data each week to inform re-teach and review. I can also see what students are truly putting in the effort to excel using the program. I can see if students have watched help videos, used the Walk Me Through, and I can see if they didn’t even TRY to answer. This data allows me to have conversations with individual students in order to develop a plan to help them do better and provide necessary assistance.
I am lucky enough to have three class periods that include quite a few students that I taught previously. I have been impressed with how the program has helped these students grow as self learners. Students who struggled in Algebra 1 (traditional class setting) are receiving 100’s for achievement scores using the embedded videos, Walk Me Throughs and additional videos I have created to help them. It’s rewarding and fun to see students succeed and build skills to truly prepare for their future college math courses.
