Jane Molnar

I have set the intro price of my new e-book Dyslexia Cured at $2.99. It contains a wealth of information about how I helped my son transform from severely dyslexic into an outstanding & proficient reader. a.co/d/gYpAzPD

@moultano Yet money is being made off children's misery. Designers of math curricula have a duty (IMO) to observe their product being used by real kids in real situations and halt or modify it if it doesn't work as expected. Same with the buyers.

I challenge anyone mad at this to avoid attributing bad motives to the people involved. This sort of thing does not happen because anyone's intentions are bad.

@unrealNadja One of my sons has learned a lot of Russian with it.

I know Twitter thinks Duolingo has been debunked but I'm reading my kids The Count of Monte Cristo, and they understand all the Italian in it. I'd say worth those 2 minutes a day. Yes, yes: we'll be using other methods when we get more serious about it. I've tried (and mostly failed) to learn about a dozen languages throughout my life so I kind of know how the process works at this point. The boys are already fluent in one of their heritage languages and fighting valiently to conquer the other. And while proficiency in at least one Romance language is a graduation requirement in my homeschool, we're not in a rush. I will just let them play chess with Oscar in Italian for now.

@RahimNathwani I'm not familiar with Fairfax Co but I am very familiar with schools having confusing constructivist online math programs that don't align with any textbook a parent could find and buy. The textbooks the districts used to use were far superior for learning.

Why is Jessica unwilling to buy her daughter a math book, leaving her to resort to ChatGPT to practice math?

@dylanwiliam @tes The ideal system would simply allow every child to learn as much math as they are capable of each year and have that be success -- but in the US kids are expected to learn certain things each year and teachers can either pretend most kids have or fail most of the class. 2/2

@dylanwiliam @tes Of course it does. But there is a general (often false) assumption that if a student gets an A in Algebra 1, they learned most of Algebra 1, not that they made progress with adding fractions and multiplying 2-digit numbers. 1/2

Imagine if setting was outlawed in schools: MAT leader David Hatchett argues that this would improve both students' outcomes and teachers' skills tes.com/magazine/leade…

@dylanwiliam @tes In the US, a course like Algebra 1 or Pre-calc is meant to cover a certain set of topics. I agree that students struggling with fractions and basic algorithms would gain much more by being instructed in those -- but would you give them an F every year in middle and high-school?

@JaneMolnarMath @tes No, because I would not do it that way. With a wide range of achievement, instruction has to be individualized.

@dylanwiliam @SarahBBeverly @tes Yes, agreed. Ideally, each student would work at their real level and optimal pace but this makes grading tricky. Is each student graded by individual progress or by whether they actually mastered algebra 1 (in this example)?

@JaneMolnarMath @SarahBBeverly @tes I wouldn't have them all doing the same thing...

@SarahBBeverly @dylanwiliam @tes Yes, exactly. For example, how would the skilled teacher teach 14-year-olds how to expand (10x +y/2) to the 5th power (algebra 1) when some of the class are missing many 2nd-6th grade level pre-requisite skills, as is common in almost every high school in the US?

@JaneMolnarMath @dylanwiliam @tes AND allow those top students to receive live instruction on advanced concepts , not self-teach with videos or books.

@dylanwiliam @tes I am very familiar with inclusive Boaler-style lesson plans but a problem with this approach is that only a small fraction of the algebra 1 (or 2, etc) concepts actually get covered so no one in the class masters the full course (unless they learn it elsewhere).

@dylanwiliam @tes Could you point me to any lesson plans that a skillful teacher could use in a mixed-ability 9th-grade algebra class that would allow high-achievers to cover/master the whole course while addressing the needs of kids who struggle to perform basic arithmetic operations? 1/2

@RahimNathwani @CenterforEdProg Excellent, well-written, and very balanced post.

I wrote a guest post for @CenterforEdProg about a report YouCubed recently shared about a success story at a nearby school district. Unfortunately the numbers in the report don't match those found on the official state dashboard :( Link in reply.

@ninja_maths Great!

@JaneMolnarMath We'll be incorporating all the missing middle topics into the regular high school curriculum (both traditional and integrated) very soon!

I'm delighted to announce that Math Academy's SAT Math Prep course is now available for registration! This course functions as an advanced performance-training environment. Students engage exclusively with high-fidelity SAT-style problems mirroring those on the official exam. Link and more info in the comments.

@garrytan Also, parents should request that the course have a real textbook that clearly explains the concepts and has progressively more difficult worked examples. (Not a confusing, rambling bunch of handouts for small group "discovery" or a shallow online version of Algebra 1.)

If your kids are in SFUSD and you care about teaching math to kids (Bring back Algebra in schools ASAP, not as an elective!) make sure you fill out this survey You have to speak up if you want Algebra taught to middle schoolers in San Francisco sfusd.edu/announcements/…

@Jason_A_Scharf @johnarnold Interesting! With some of my students, I supplement Math Academy with challenging logic puzzles (as a reward for doing MA). The puzzles require a different kind of thinking and are designed to "stretch" working memory which I think is the most important cognitive trait for math.

Not going give the best answer, just my understanding from my son. He completed the grade level in math academy and then is being given the other for specific supplemental work. He is doing stats and finance mostly right now in it. Once he finishes the supplemental work, he goes back to math academy. Call it 80/20 math academy.

It’s hard to square the research meta-analyses showing small to no academic gains from classroom screen use, and even negative effects with heavy use, with Alpha School’s claims of large gains across all types of students using common programs like Khan Academy and IXL. 1/2

@Jason_A_Scharf @johnarnold Why toggle between the two apps when Math Academy is full of high-quality tests which pop quite frequently?

@JaneMolnarMath @johnarnold Sometimes. He is using Edia right now and then he moves back to math Academy once he passes his next test

@Jason_A_Scharf @johnarnold Sounds wonderful. I think the single most important thing a school can do is instill (or keep alive/deepen) a love of learning in a child. Does your son use Math Academy?

@JaneMolnarMath @johnarnold Sort of the 2nd one. Sometimes he wants to get ahead so will do extra math or science. Also in middle school they have year long projects that they build something. My son is creating a custom video game company, so he will work on that.

@Jason_A_Scharf @johnarnold Re point 3: I thought Alpha School's academics were all done in 2 hours at school. (So no homework.) Or do you mean your 12-year-old just loves to work on things at home that were not assigned?

I'm not an expert in the meta-analyses, so I can only guess what it says. My intuition is we added XYZ screen time via edtech/video instruction as an augment or within a traditional school environment and it showed a negative result. Here are my thoughts on why it's about the right technology used in an integrated system. 1) Learning app and software quality is quite variable. 2) It's about finding the right balance between work that is too difficult vs. too easy, rather than just a data dump of assignments. It's not just about watching lectures and doing assignments. There needs to motivational elements built into the apps and delivery themselves 3) An AI individualized tutor guiding the student in a motivating way. For example, writing assignments geared toward the student's likes and dislikes, which increases motivation and learning absorption. I am not unbiased. My 12-year-old goes to Alpha (our first year), and the results have been amazing. Some of your other points align as well: 1) Mastered student motivation with afternoon activities - They have cracked student motivation across all aspects. The workshops are part of it, but not the whole thing. 3) School culture – 100%. We fight with our other children to do 10–15 minutes of homework (including apps or software), but our oldest wants to come home and work. 4) Low student-to-adult ratio – The right adults as well. I have realized over the last couple of years how much we are at the mercy of the teacher lottery. In this model, the guides are there for motivation and life skills, not prowess in teaching subject XYZ. 5) Removal of growth constraints typical in schools. - I'm not 100% sure what you mean by this, but if you mean that kids are taught there is no ceiling and can go as high and fast as they want, then I agree. Something else to add. They have a startup mindset and are constantly iterating.

@jliemandt Most schools have also stopped requiring memorization of single-digit addition facts and instead teach strategies to get the answer. This approach makes it very hard for many kids to develop automaticity with addition. 7+5 often remains a multi-step problem, even in high school.

Most schools stopped teaching kids to memorize multiplication tables. They called it “old fashioned.” 🙄 It’s actually one of the most damaging things they did to math education. Without automatic recall, kids hit a wall in fractions, algebra, and everything after. At Alpha School, we’re fixing it - and kids are loving it. 🚀👾

@Bakerygal22 @jliemandt You can go back to school with mathacademy.com and complete all the math courses you wish!

@jliemandt Oh my gosh, you make me wish that I can go back to school, & take a complete Math course at Alpha! 😁