Get your game on with Math-Whizz this summer - the famous Whizz Adventure is now available!!
The challenge (if you’re up for it) - Help the Whizz Professor find his way out the jungle. You’ll be racing the clock while solving math puzzles, exploring mazes and finding your way out of tricky situations. Every level you complete unlocks a new piece of the story!
Log in to your Math-Whizzaccount to get started, or visit the Math-Whizz start page, create a free account and – if you like the look of Math-Whizz (we are confident you will) – sign up! Complete a few lessons to earn credits so you can go on the adventure!
Access the summer adventure by clicking the postcard that lands on your Whizz Bedroom doormat. This will load the Summer Adventure experience.
Recent news from the Seattle Times on Bellevue School District’s math textbook adoption plans:
A Bellevue School District math-textbook committee has recommended that the district adopt Holt Mathematics, a more traditional textbook series than the district currently uses, for middle- and high-school algebra and geometry classes starting in the fall.
Where’s the Math have lobbied effectively for a shift in the Bellevue School district in particular (and all Washington in general) away from so-called ‘reform’ math resources towards so-called ‘traditional’ math.
The UK-based ‘God of Whizz’ recently wrote about the so-called ‘math wars’, and it’s fair to say that our position is neutral - you can teach math well without worrying whether your approach is reform or traditional:
…the fundamentals should always be solid mathematical principles and a love and thrill in the subject. Teachers convey this in person, Maths-Whizz conveys this with animation and careful design.
Engagement and student enquiry don’t come at the expense of rigour, and a didactic approach doesn’t come at the expense of fun.
We’ve had great feedback on our Math-Whizz teaching methods and content from advocates for traditional and reform math, alike.
We’d like to think this makes Math-Whizz pretty cool, but then we would think that, wouldn’t we…
Whizz Education will be at the 2010 NCTM Annual Meeting, showcasing our online tutoring and classroom tools - come and see us!
(Whizz at NCTM)
Check us out on the at the exhibitors’ listing site, read up the interactive guide to the meeting, and book your ticket to sunny San Diego for April 21st through 24th.
See the some of the people who make Math-Whizz tick.
But online learning can be more than lectures. Another element involves presenting information in an interactive form, which can be used to find out what a student knows and doesn’t know. This makes it possible to tailor the learning session to the individual student.
…the online system can quickly diagnose what the students know, provide positive feedback, and make sure their time is spent really improving the conceptual areas where they are weak.
Microsoft founder Gates, who recently moved from the big MS to his equally huge Gates Foundation charity, is clearly keen on how technology can help transform the lives of the underprivileged and poorly-educated and raise standards for everyone else.
Gates, in the ‘Online Learning’ section of his latest annual letter for the Gates Foundation, goes on to argue for co-ordination in rating and organising resources to help teachers and students find the the best material. Despite the size and influence of his former employer, he gives a hat tip to the likes of us, toiling to raise standards in math, english, science…
Some of the best interactive software for K–8 learning is being done by startups using interactivity in innovative ways.
Someone give the man a free Math-Whizz subscription…
Washington state employers that require numeracy and science skills in staff have been sounding a warning over delays in implementing stricter state standards.
Get the latest from the Maths-Whizz* team at Europe’s largest educational technology event - BETT 2010 Show - last week. See how Whizz fared at Wednesday’s BETT Awards and have a gander at some of the nice gals and guys who make Math(s)-Whizz work!
This year’s Winter Adventure is live for Math-Whizzers!
Log into your Math-Whizz student account and check it out. For the first time ever all Math-Whizzers can try our Holiday Adventure. If you’re not a Math-Whizz user then there’s no reason not to give it a try.
Register for afree math tutoring account and get access to five free lessons and a taste of the figgy-pudding seasonal fun we have in store.
WolframAlpha, the interesting ‘computational knowledge engine‘ launched earlier this year, has come up with a new doobry to interest lazy high-school and college math students everywhere…
Users of the super-numerate search engine can henceforth select ’show steps’ after submitting a particular math problem for a solution.
Google super-users have long known that you can get answers to sometimes complex questions via the google search box - try typing ‘5 factorial’ or ‘12 mph in cm/s’ - but WolframAlpha takes that computational whizzery to the next level.
Needless to say, most Math-Whizzers shouldn’t (yet) need the assistance of this service in solving, and showing the working for, how to find the roots of quadratic equations. But I suspect this will rapidly become one of the most (ab)used tools in the young mathematician’s armoury.
As the Holiday season approaches, students at Lahaina Intermediate School (LIS), Hawai’i, have no excuse for missing out on their math lessons during ‘Furlough Fridays’.
ELL, SPED, and selected sixth-graders have 24/7 access to Math Whizz. This program builds basic math skills…
…All students have a number of lessons they must complete each week. Books are available in our school library for students to borrow. Read, read, and read! In fact, students should be accessing these programs at least once every weekend regardless of the state budget situation. These tools are provided to ensure that education doesn’t stop at the school door. It should continue within your homes. For those who don’t have computers in your homes, the West Maui Boys and Girls Club has computers for student use. We have community resources. We need to use them!
Great advice there - Math-Whizz Tutoring for Schools isn’t just for the classroom. Students can log in to their personal online math tutors wherever and whenever they choose, giving them a math boost on Furlough Fridays, weekends, and holidays too!
