Math-Whizz has successfully been implemented throughout the Anchorage, Alaska School District and some 7,000 students are on their way to learning just what Happiness in Numbers really means!
“Our mission is to provide students with both the information and inspiration they need to succeed,” said Ben Keogh, CEO of Whizz Education in the United States. “We have no doubt that the Anchorage School District will see the same success from using Math-Whizz that schools all over the world have experienced.” You can read all about the implementation in Anchorage on eSchool News.
You can experience for yourself some of the content being delivered to students in Anchorage and throughout the world on our Math Topics pages complete with sample exercises. Are you a teacher or administer? You can quickly request a pilot for your students right here.
“Up until recently, Math-Whizz was reserved for public and private elementary and middle schools,” explains Ben Keogh, CEO of Whizz Education. “We are grateful that the National Parenting Center is letting parents in on a secret that schools have been using for years to improve the math mastery of their students.” To read more about the selection process and Math-Whizz please click here. If you would like to learn more about some of the topics your child would learn with Math-Whizz check out our math topics pages or register for a free trial.
About the Author: Rita Rogers grew up in the PNW and despite her “low-tech” houseboat upbringing, went on to complete her Master’s of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington in 2010. She is passionate about the convergence of education and technology, educational gaming, and outer space.
Math-Whizz is having a very busy week! We are jetting all over the USA to demonstrate why Math-Whizz is the leader in online personalized learning to teachers, administrators, and educational professionals from across the country. Take a look below to see who will be in your area and join us to learn all about Happiness in Numbers!
Ben Keogh, CEO, is attending our first Texas School Improvement Conference in Austin, TX October 26-27th! Please give us a visit at booth 316 to see how Math-Whizz is helping teachers deliver effective, individualized instruction for each student whether struggling or advanced.
Kevin Judd, VP, is at National Council of Teachers of Mathematics St. Louis Regional Conference October 26-28th. Kevin will be hosting a Speaker Session Friday @ 3:30 in Room 101, where he will deliver “Solving for X’s and Whys: Brain Research into Practice,” which you can learn more about here.
A couple weeks ago our CEO Ben Keogh was invited by EduTalk host Larry Jacobs to join in a discussion regarding the current state of online education. Larry has hosted numerous talk shows for educational professionals on a variety of timely topics like Bullying Prevention and, of course, Online Math Education which you can hear below in its entirety.
During this particular episode Larry makes it clear that he thinks online learning is one of the most important topics in education today, and asks Ben to explain the differences between personalized learning and individualized testing. The two also discuss how content is paramount in an online learning environment, as well as providing some background information about the origins of Math-Whizz and some of the methodology behind it’s development.
About the Author: Rita Rogers grew up in the PNW and despite her “low-tech” houseboat upbringing, went on to complete her Master’s of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington in 2010. She is passionate about the convergence of education and technology, educational gaming, and outer space.
We understand that from time to time you may need to skip an exercise for one of your children or students. While the vast majority of users do not have to use this function it’s always good to know it’s out there and the reasoning behind it. That being said we do not recommend you use this feature unless there is a clear technical error or educational reason. Once a legitimate reason for skipping a lesson has been identified, go ahead and locate the tool.
Parents will find a link to skip an exercise by logging into their parent dashboard and selecting the “exercise preview” button next to their child’s account. You can then select the link at the bottom of the page and provide us with feedback regarding why you used the tool.
Similarly, teachers and administrators can access the feature by logging into their school account, click “manage students,” and launch the reporting feature. Select “student reports” and click the student who has encountered difficulty, then select the “edit” tab at the far right.
It is important to note that while an animated lesson can be skipped, the 5 question exam section cannot. In other words, be prepared to work with your student once this is delivered. If you are ever in doubt feel free to reach out to customer support either by email or phone. By providing information regarding the type of error that prompted skipping the lesson, you are helping us in our continual quest to keep Math-Whizz the leader in personalized learning!
About the Author: Rita Rogers grew up in the PNW and despite her “low-tech” houseboat upbringing, went on to complete her Master’s of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington in 2010. She is passionate about the convergence of education and technology, educational gaming, and outer space.
Congratulations on your purchase – we are thrilled you and your child are about to embark on your very own Math-Whizz adventure together! If this is your first time working with Math-Whizz this guide will get you acquainted with our program and suggestions for best practices. That in mind, let us first make sure we have a couple small but nonetheless important computer settings in order. Please turn off any pop-up blocker feature you might have enabled in your web browser. In most cases you can add our URL www.whizz.us as a trusted site you allow through your blocker. Easy, right? Next, go ahead and make sure you are running the latest version of Adobe Flash and, if you are using a Macintosh, check out a Safari alternative such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.
Hopefully you’ve already received your initial welcome email detailing the date of your purchase and account information. As you may know, Math-Whizz is compromised of two distinct accounts – parent and student. Both have different log in credentials and this information is detailed in your initial email and confirmation of purchase. No email? Check your SPAM filter then contact us.
Log on! – let’s put those usernames to good use. Select the “parents” icon in the upper right of your screen and enter your parent account information.
Dashboard - this is your control center. You are able to see your child, their account(s), current Math Age™ and the next scheduled payment date. From this dashboard you have access to reports and exercise previews. If you ever forgot your child’s log in information you can always check it here.
Now it’s time for your kid to log in for the first time. Students log in from the same box in the upper right hand corner of our homepage - just click “students.” Usernames are not case sensitive, however passwords are.
In order to have a personalized learning plan established for your child, they will need to begin and complete the initial assessment. This is accessible through the Tutor Mode – which you can begin either through the Console or the Bedroom. I would recommend first reaching the Tutor through the Bedroom, it will give your child a glimpse of some cool Math-Whizz features we’ve created just for them as incentive to continue learning. Be sure to take a look at our post regarding the assessment before we begin and when your child is ready have them begin. And that’s it! You and your child are well on your way to happiness in numbers.
About the Author: Rita Rogers grew up in the PNW and despite her “low-tech” houseboat upbringing, went on to complete her Master’s of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington in 2010. She is passionate about the convergence of education and technology, educational gaming, and outer space.
Whether you are new to Math-Whizzor just need a refresher after the summer months, this quick start guide will help you and your students get up and running. If you are completely new to Math-Whizz I would recommend you take a few minutes to see what our program is all about – this will give you an idea of what you and your students can expect. We will go over logging in, importing students and setting up a class. Before we begin let’s ensure we’ve turned off any pop-up blocker feature we might have enabled in our web browser. In most cases you can add our URL www.whizz.us as a trusted site you allow through your blocker. While we are at it, let’s just go ahead and make sure we are running the latest version of Adobe Flash as well. Alright, now we should be all set up and ready to log in.
Log on! – using your school’s username and password (contact customer support if you have not received them) and point your browser to www.whizz.us
You will now see a screen that allows you to access the Teachers’ Resource, manage students for Math-Whizz Tutoring Plus+, and an administrative panel. Click “manage students” on the right hand side to get started.
To add more than a handful of students select the “upload students” button on the left hand side of the screen. An upload screen with instructions for populating the spreadsheet (which you will download) appears. Once finished, just upload the spreadsheet and you’ll be ready to move students to classes you’ve created.
To individually add a student, you’ll need to select a class. Adding a class is as simple as selecting the “add class” button located in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Populate a class name and grade and you are all set.
Now you can go ahead and select the class you’d like to add the student to. Click the “add student” button in the upper left hand corning of the screen. You’ll now be asked for their name, gender, date of birth, password, and which class you’d like them to appear in. Click create student and you’re done! A handy log in sheet with each student’s username and password is available in the very top of the screen towards the right hand side.
In order to make sure these students you’ve just uploaded can successfully log on, we need to ensure they are active. Depending on your school, you may have a license for each child or you will be sharing them between students.
Active students are identified by a yellow light bulb with a green +. An inactive account is represented with a grey light bulb. To activate an entire class quickly use the “manage classes” tool located in the bottom left hand corner.
Now you can select a specific class and activate all or select students using the headings (“student,” “active”) to select all or the boxes next to individual names.
Following these steps you should have no problem getting your students logging into Math-Whizz and beginning their initial assessment in no time. As always, if you should encounter any difficulties give us a shout!
About the Author: Rita Rogers grew up in the PNW and despite her “low-tech” houseboat upbringing, went on to complete her Master’s of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington in 2010. She is passionate about the convergence of education and technology, educational gaming, and outer space.
On Tuesday we looked into our robust reporting feature, highlighting some of the information we make readily and easily accessible. Today we will be doing more of the same, filling in some gaps here and there to ensure you get the most out of Math-Whizz. Liam, who works as an Independent Schools Advisor in our UK offices, will once again act as our guide.
Liam does a great job of showing us how we can use the report period feature to enable teachers to assign Math-Whizz as homework, and then check to ensure they are indeed logging on. Perhaps my favorite section of this video tutorial however is all about success and celebration. We’ve talked about student motivation and know that kids love receiving messages – which is why we’ve included that feature. While in class reports just click on a student on the timeline to quickly send them a message of encouragement, it goes a long way. Oh, and don’t forget to add a sticker! We also have certificates that can be customized and presented during assemblies, end of quarter celebrations – or just because.
Specific student reports are great not only for teachers, but parents as well. Creating a dialogue about math between teachers, parents, and students ultimately leads to a solid support system that fosters success. The progression report will allow a teacher to identify strengths and weaknesses of a given student. This information can easily be shared with parents, keeping them informed of their child’s progress giving them an opportunity to help their child catch up in needed areas and celebrate their achievements.
Let’s start those school bus engines and get back to school!
About the Author: Rita Rogers grew up in the PNW and despite her “low-tech” houseboat upbringing, went on to complete her Master’s of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington in 2010. She is passionate about the convergence of education and technology, educational gaming, and outer space.
Today we are going to take a general look at the robust reporting features of Math-Whizz for teachers with our very own UK Independent Schools Advisor, Liam. This is great information for teachers and administers who are getting ready for new school year and want to get the most out of Math-Whizz.
As Liam pointed out, status icons help you easily decipher at a glance how your students are progressing. Remember we don’t leave you wondering what factors have contributed to each student’s status; you can always hover your mouse over an icon for a more in-depth look behind the status. This is particularly helpful in identifying areas that need improving quickly and effectively. The hover over feature is also found in a number of other reporting areas. For example, this feature appears on the number line when looking at students in the class view. Hover over a student icon on the line to see who’s who and their current Math Age™. We also want to make sure teachers and administrators are able to ensure students are using Math-Whizz properly. Just click on the usage tab while in class reports to see each student’s usage while in the tutor mode. So remember – time spent in the bedroom watering plants or using the replay feature are not counted toward usage. This is helpful if you feel as though your students are scheduled to use Math-Whizz 60 minutes a week but their usage is only registering say 40 minutes.
I hope you found this video tutorial and post useful. Next time we’ll be taking another look at reporting features, with even more tips and recommendations for how you and your students can get the most out of Math-Whizz!
About the Author: Rita Rogers grew up in the PNW and despite her “low-tech” houseboat upbringing, went on to complete her Master’s of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington in 2010. She is passionate about the convergence of education and technology, educational gaming, and outer space.
Although it feels as though summer has just arrived in Seattle, we all know school is just around the corner. As teachers begin preparing for another year, I thought it might be a good time to talk about motivation. While some students may seem automatically wired with an appetite for learning, others may need a bit more convincing. Undeniably, at some point in their education students need personal attention and understanding in order to be successful and begin reaching their full potential (my own personal list of thank yous is far too long to note here!). Now, we all know the our very own Whizz Prof is no substitution for an actual teacher, but he and Math-Whizz can certainly offer some help. Natalie, our Product Manager in the UK, shows us how.
So while a teacher might not be able to check in with each and every student on a daily basis, Math-Whizz enables them to easily and personally motivate students using tools featured in our Teachers’ Resource. From a messaging system to individualized certificates, we’ve provided educators with numerous options. Our development team has also packed a lot of goodies and incentives (have you seen the way Whizzers decorate their bedrooms?) for students that keep them excited and interested in Math-Whizz, and therefore math.
About the Author: Rita Rogers grew up in the PNW and despite her “low-tech” houseboat upbringing, went on to complete her Master’s of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington in 2010. She is passionate about the convergence of education and technology, educational gaming, and outer space.
