ExploreLearning Gizmos: The Best Math Program That I Have Ever Seen!

Jacob Hesselschwardt, a math teacher in Northwest, LA, has some truly amazing and wonderful news to share in regards to how ExploreLearning Gizmos have begun to reshape the entire fabric of how his students view and understand mathematics.

Here is Jacob's story:

My school is one of the oldest in my parish. It is made up of a large cross section of families; however, our students are largely of a lower socio-economic influence. We experience student struggles that some of the other wealthier schools in our community do not, or at least do not to such an extent experience. Some of these struggles include student accountability, attendance, and motivation to learn. These troubles resulted in our school being labeled in the recent past as an "At Risk," "Minimal Growth School."

Through the hard work and persistent dedication of our faculty, though, we slowly started to turn things around. Still, because the performance bar is raised each year by the state department, we continue to be only a one star out of a possible five star school. This year though - through the aid of ExploreLearning - we have risen above our competition, literally. You see I am the MathCounts coach at my school. In fact I am the first MathCounts coach in my school since two decades ago when MathCounts was first organized nationally - after all, why would a school like mine have a need for a math team if we cannot even manage to perform up to the bar on state standardized tests. Well this is where the good news comes in. You see, while we were preparing for a math competition, my students used your program extensively in their preparations. We used several of your Gizmos to gain a more formal, in-depth knowledge of a multitude of concepts that we may not have understood had we simply remained in the classroom and used textbooks and pencils. Because of the very nature of your program, my students were able to receive differentiated instruction with a wide assortment of virtual manipulatives to help enrich their then current knowledge base. And that contest that I mentioned... we took first place!

I would like to praise your program longer, but I must go. You see, tomorrow we are competing again, but this time in the regional competition. And all I have to say is that all of the other teams had better watch out, especially if they don't have ExploreLearning on their side. Thanks for providing the best math program that I have ever seen!

Thank you Jacob for sharing your amazing story, and it is really uplifting to hear how Gizmos are making such a difference to your students learning and achievement!