With fond and innocent memories of grade school, followed by the inevitable growing pains of middle school, and final transformative years of high schools, many adults recall their formative years with joy. Within those glimpses into the past, many people recall friendships, particular events, and even their favorite subjects.
In these memories, math rarely makes the cut as a subject revered by younger versions of successful adults. In fact, many people shudder at the memory of feeling anxious, left behind, and otherwise scared of math. For others, memories of math lessons gone by trigger feelings of disappointment, confusion, and embarrassment. Sure, every classroom had one kid who excelled in the subject. However, for everyone else who felt continuously “behind”, memories of math class can feel more like nightmares.
With so many adults still audibly groaning over their least favorite school subject, and contemplating its potentially negative ramifications, many professionals are now beginning to rethink the traditional method of teaching, learning, and retaining math skills within the school system. In an effort to not allow today’s youth to follow in the footsteps of previous generations lamenting over the perils of inconsistent math education, today’s leaders in education, tech, and web development are seeking ways to modernize the experience.
With a goal of providing bespoke teaching tools tailored to each child’s style of learning, current baseline of knowledge, and speed of understanding materials, these new tech-based “custom learning” platforms are poised to potentially make math a favorite subject of the new generation of students!
Touted by Bill Gates as the “math of the future” at the 2016 ASU GSV Summit, Teach to One leads the charge to effectively integrate the customized methodology of learning into partnered classrooms throughout the country. Understanding the cumulative nature of math learning, and subsequently growing deficit that exists when children move up in grades without grasping grade-level concepts, Teach to One champions individualized learning as a means for every child to succeed within math education.
Created by New Classrooms, a non-for-profit organization based in New York, Teach to One implements real-time monitoring of progress, and creates unique learning modules for the benefit of each student, while integrating teacher-led exercises within groups of children working on similar timelines, and implementing group work based on these parameters, providing a balanced array of traditional learning, alongside innovative tech-based learning.
Co-Founded by Joel Rose and Christopher Rush, Teach to One creates custom curriculum for every student, and though the company relies on tech-heavy algorithms and technologies, each aspect of the educational module is overseen by dedicated staff at Teach to One’s New York offices. Working in three week “playlists”, the modules focus on growing cumulative skills, with each module aiming to harvest particular results, understanding of concepts, and repeatable comprehension that will aid in the successful completion of the next module.
Through smart algorithms, each lesson takes into account a student’s trajectory, learning style, and even outside factors, like the state’s testing requirements, time of day of each lesson style, and other outside factors that can determine relative success. Intuitive and responsive in nature, the software’s capability to adapt to these sometimes changing features allows for limited rigidity, maximizing learning potential.
Implementing technology to monitor, assess, and analyze student success, Teach to One provides a learning dashboard, clearly outlining learning targets, and transparently providing expectations. Accessible to parents, and monitored by New Classrooms staff members, this allows students to receive assistance with not only the content of their lessons, but appropriate deadline management, and goal planning. Additionally, with each student assigned a Math Advisor, students can harness the motivation of these aides to ensure ongoing success, with continuously shared responsibility.
Currently, Teach to One works to provide bespoke education for thousands of kids per day, generating inaugural data that indicates success, growth in the learning curve, and overall success of the program. With tweaks being constantly made to streamline processes, increase success, and generate the most fruitful results on behalf of educators and students, Teach to One utilizes data to continue perfecting their own product.
In 2015, Teach to One grew considerably, and garnered partnerships with schools within all four Continental time zones, a growth spurt that championed the company’s infrastructure, and ability to support continued growth without losing quality control. In terms of the company’s growth schedule, Co-Founder Rush has stated, “We want to be very responsible in every student’s education. They don’t get a do-over.” With tools designed to teach math within the 5th to 8th grade parameters, Teach to One hopes to expand offerings to include all grades, and eventually, hopes to integrate science into their customized curriculum.
With initial successes showcasing an increase in annual learning by students in classrooms participating in the Teach to One math learning program, Teach to One has sparked national interest in the possibility of closing the gap that only widens for students who do not grasp initial concepts early in their education.
Through the implementation of Teach to One’s technology, teachers can rely on the transformative power of individualized learning to streamline the learning process for each individual student, allowing each student to spend every moment of their designated math time on lessons that will actually benefit them, rather than listening helplessly to lessons they do not understand. Through this streamlining of daily lessons and operations, participating teachers can now spend valuable time laser-focusing their lessons based on the similar paces of smaller groups of children, knowing that while they are engrossed with one group of students, other groups of students aren’t left out.
Through this approach, Teach to One ensures a positive, effective, and transformative math experience for all students, independent of wealth, class, age, or level of initial understanding. While traditional math education may have resulted in countless students feeling left behind by a broken system, Teach to One offers a modern, evolved, and innovative alternative method of education that can turn math into students’ favorite subject, creating systemic change in the scope of education.
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2020-01-21 By: Director On: January 21, 2020 In: Family
They may not own houses or contribute to 401(k)s, but kids deserve to know the basics of financial literacy as soon as they understand how money works. Parents who help their children with money from the beginning can set a foundation of good habits that will last a lifetime. YouContinue Reading