Childrens School

One school is using a personalized and blended math curriculum to help students meet learning goals

MobyMax, a provider of personalized and blended learning curriculum for K-8 students, is helping educators at Georgia’s Screven County Elementary School personalize math instruction to meet the learning needs of every child.
Like most educators, fourth-grade math and science teacher Derek von Waldner teaches students who have a wide range of abilities: Some begin school well below grade level, while others are ready for more advanced work.
“I use MobyMax for differentiation,” the second-year Screven County teacher said. “That’s where MobyMax is really awesome—students who have different needs can learn at different levels, even though they’re in the same class together. One kid could be working on fifth grade math, and another could be working on second grade math.”
von Waldner’s students all have Chromebooks for use during class. For part of the school day, they work through the MobyMax software individually while he circulates throughout the room and offers help.
“I have some students who are way above a fourth grade level, and they’re able to work at their own pace with relevant content while I can go around to the other students and help remediate,” he said.
He also uses the data from MobyMax’s progress monitoring reports to group students by ability during small-group instruction.
Using MobyMax to deliver highly targeted instruction has benefited all of von Waldner’s students—from his lowest to his highest achievers. In just the first nine weeks of school, on average, he said his fourth-grade math students achieved a six-month grade-level increase, performing three times higher than normal in math.
For the lowest students, “it’s pulling them up to grade level,” he said. “For me to sit there with a student and get him up to grade level in nine weeks would take all of my time, whereas MobyMax is filling those gaps quickly.”
To learn more about Screven County’s use of MobyMax, download a case study at http://spotlight.mobymax.com.
Material from a press release was used in this report.