Blog #11 Reflex Math

 

Reflex Math 

    Reflex Math is a website that offers a research-based system where students can practice math facts like subtraction, addition, multiplication, and division in a gamified way. I came across Reflex Math through my mentor teacher this year who uses it as often as she can with her fourth graders. Students get to play a set of fun and engaging games on a device such as a computer or a tablet that includes mathematical concepts throughout. It is unique in the way that 25 students could all be on reflex math but all be doing different problems because it automatically differentiates instruction as each student answers a question. It really helps the teacher reach all of her students whether they are underdeveloped in math concepts or achieving very high. It is a math fact fluency tool that adapts to each student resulting in student growth throughout the entire classroom. 

Eaze of Use/ Accessibility 

    It is very easy to use for both teachers and students and could be used for both an in-person or online teaching environment. Each student creates an account with their name and own log-in information. The teacher creates his or her own account and invites students to join classroom. Once students join the classroom on reflex math, as students work on each section, the teacher can monitor the question each student is on, how they have been scoring, how long they have spent on each problem, along how much time they spent on it out of class. The only setback is there is a free 30-day trial, but then you have to pay for a subscription to access it for the remainder of the year. Many teachers will argue that it is worth the financial burden because eof the significant growth students have in their math scores and how much they love it. 

Experience

    I have seen students in the 4th-grade classroom use it and they were all very engaged and excited to “play” on it. The best way to use it is to give students 15-20 minutes a day on it to help them practice these math facts consistently. In the future, I will definitely use the free month trial and possibly advance to the all year-round subscription. 

Connections to the class

This site is a perfect example of the 3rd, 5th, and 7th events of the 7 events of instruction in the teaching part of TLC framework. Students can use this to stimulate recall, a way to elicit the desired behavior, or assess the learning outcome depending when you use it during the instruction.

Sites used: Reflex | Math Fact Fluency: Helping Students Master Math Basics (reflexmath.com)