Reflex Math (www.reflexmath.com) is used to help with math fact fluency.
It is a game-based program that keeps students motivated and engaged in
their learning. This program
continuously monitors each student's performance to create the optimal
experience for every child. It is fast
paced.
The program
is easy to use. It includes reports to
help the teachers easily monitor and support the students progress. Fact fluency is critical at the elementary
school level. By the end of Second grade
students must know their basic addition facts from memory and by the end of
Third grade students must know their basic multiplication fact from memory.
Students can
work on this program at school and at home.
All they need is their password.
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Objectives stated clearly
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Objectives appropriately sequenced
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Instructional strategies appropriate
for the objectives
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Tasks adequate/significant for
achieving objectives
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Resources adequate /significant for
achieving objectives
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Learning achievement adequately
evaluated
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Evaluation criteria clearly expressed
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Gaining and maintaining students
attention
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Relating to learners interest and
goals
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Building on learners' prior knowledge
and for shadowing what the lesson is about
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Providing positive feedback and
feeling of accomplishment
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Motivational strategies serve for
objectives
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Web
Design
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Navigation is clear and easy to access
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Authorship and date is clearly stated
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Text follows the rules of grammar and
spelling and literary composition
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Use of multimedia (Text, graphic,
audio, video, etc.)
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Mechanical aspects (no broken links,
misplaced or missing images)
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Web design appropriate for objectives.
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Web design appropriate for the
learners.
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Total
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94
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Opinion/Reflection:
I love this
website. My students ask to work on
Reflex Math whenever their work is
complete. I scored it low on stating the
objectives, because I have never seen them stated on the site. They might be mentioned as the kids are being
introduced to the site, but I haven't heard. This site also has a cost to being
able to use the site, but other than that, I think this is a great website and my
students enjoy it also.
We used Reflex for a year at my school. The kids love it. It's fun. The graphics are rich in color and very stimulating, but I think this is not a middle level web 2.0 tool. The younger and remedial students showed real gains, but not so much in our environment. The rewards are easily acquired by older students. They are "pro gamers" and know ways around actual learning. I ended up using it just as Brandee used it, as a reward not a teaching tool. We discontinued the subscription after a year due, mainly, to cost and value of the product itself.
ReplyDeleteI have found very few "educational" game sites where the student is actually learning. Most just reinforce and reward the prior knowledge with the games. It appears this may be one of those websites. Don't know that it is worth the cost.
ReplyDeleteI love Reflex! I use it as a reward a lot. When my students finish their work, they always ask to get on. Reflex provides the repetition that so many students need.
ReplyDeleteReflex offers a wide range of tools on the site. However, the it is quite expensive. $35 per seat or a site license of $2,995 plus $400 for two webinar training sessions.
ReplyDeleteThe site helps with fluency with basic math skills, but I am not sure if this will work with common core.
This is the first I have heard of this website, but from reviewing what I can access without buying, it is obvious that this is a very effective website for students. I thought it was very helpful to be able to take a tour of the features of the website to get an idea of how the material was being taught. However, the one thing I was most impressed with was the results reports with charts from data that has been gathered to show evidence of the effectiveness of the website itself from previous school years. This would help parents and teachers in making a decision on whether or not to purchase the program. Very impressive site!!
ReplyDeleteCool site, just though navigation was tricky at first. I don't think site is worth the cost. Lastly, I still am not the biggest fan of the Common Core system in teaching math. But than again too, I am not a math teacher, so I might be just way to biased on my opinion. Great Research!
ReplyDeleteBrandee, I think they were using the Common Core Standards as the objective for the exercises. And, yes, Angela, very true. Most of these WBI sites are for drill and practice instead of teaching new things... It might be too easy for older kids since they are experienced gamers as Diana has mentioned. Also, Titus, you are evaluating the site using your data analysis expertise! Haha
ReplyDeleteIt is a very expensive site. I believe we purchased it to test out in 5th grade first and had great results, so we bought it for 4th and 3rd. We are low in our math basics. The kids love it. I teach literacy now and the kids still ask to get on Reflex.
ReplyDeleteMy son used Reflex Math at home and it helped him to take the time to study and practice his multiplication. This was a significant victory for us because Math makes us both groan. However, we only had access to this site because the school had bought the program. There are other repetitive simulated games that are free on the Internet. Love the site but I just feel there are other alternatives then another big chunk of taxpayers money going to yet another innovative "sure to get results" program. I always check out freeware first.
ReplyDeleteI have never used this site before and since it required a trial signup, I only took the tour. The animations and graphics in this site are far superior to anything I've seen; however, it looked like it was for more K-8 possible, not upper level, but I could be wrong. I enjoyed the graphs and statistics that were tied to each student's math fluency and usage and believe that to be very helpful in determining the student's next steps.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I don't see that my previous comments posted, so I will try this again, If it is a duplicate, please forgive me. Like the others, I would like to note that my comments are based on the limited amount of experiential information I could gain by doing only "free stuff". Classy graphics and animations, which I think young children would enjoy. In my opinion, the site is aimed a little too young to appeal to 7th and 8th grade learners, but younger children would certainly enjoy it. I think I would probably use this site as a reward or as supplemental instruction as well. The cost would probably have made me reject it out of hand when I was teaching because the district tended to spend a big chunk on "one size fits all" software and websites, so if teachers wanted to supplement they had to fund it themselves.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, i only at post! it seems like it would be a great motivational and educational toll for students?great post, I only tried the trial version. Seems like it would be a great learning tool. Seems pretty educational as well as fun. I think students would enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great tool. My son uses Sumdog and the kids love that site. He gets so excited if he is winning in an area. The Reflex math looks similar. It has great graphics and puts working on math skills into a game situation. I also like how it tracks students success and areas they need to work on. I just wish it were cheaper.
ReplyDeleteI see where people are saying that this is more of a drill and practice, but I still think this is a good resource. It would be a fun way for students to practice facts without having to use flash cards. The downfall is that it is expensive.
ReplyDelete