Mathletics has long been a favourite teaching tool of mine.  The main reason? Kids love it! Learning maths online is fun. Even when I set homework, it doesn’t seem to feel like homework. In fact, kids will voluntarily complete way more tasks on it than I have asked them to. In fact, I actively encourage students to ‘own their learning’ by working hard on Mathletics.

Teachers can’t just expect it to magically work by itself though. Teachers need to promote it to their students; coach their students; and use it in class. One of the best reasons to do this is student differentiation. Mathletics makes it easy to provide maths at levels that are achievable and challenging no matter what skill level a student is at.

The first thing to help, is to set up groups within your class. These groups should be set up based on ILPs (individual learning plans), or simply by using data to determine where your students are at. You might use NAPLAN or PATMAS test data for instance. Don’t forget that you can also use this strategy to extend your clever students. Click the ‘Classes’ tab to set up groups (Please see the attached video for a detailed ‘how to’).

The second thing you can do is to set tasks at different levels. If you have already created levelled groups, you simply go into ‘Results’ and set tasks for each group. You will find that each group may be operating at a different year level for instance. This way students will be assigned tasks at a level that they can manage and be successful, as opposed to being intimidated or discouraged.

Glenn Bruce