I had a parent of my daughter’s friend ask me the other day why we do so much testing with kids. To be honest, I feel we over test our students. Not just at my school, but at all schools. And we can’t hold schools accountable for the amount of testing they do: it’s the... Continue Reading →
Finding Joy in the Small Things
School has officially ended for us. And like me, I think the kids need and deserve a break. But I am also aware that things like reading and doing learning activities often are practices of habit as opposed to activities that easily pop into or out of a schedule. Especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds,... Continue Reading →
Evidence of Summer Learning
As anyone who has read my blog posts recently knows, I have put a great deal of effort into helping my students get excited about continuing to use ScootPad over the summer. I have no idea what to expect as summer goes on and their memory of my encouragement wears off, but I was pleasantly... Continue Reading →
New School Year. New ScootPad!
This August, we're introducing a brand new design and a ton of new features making it easier to engage students and accelerate learning than ever before. You'll enjoy: New Design Every page has been redesigned to be easier to use with intuitive navigation. Any Device The new design adjusts to perfectly fit your desktop, tablet... Continue Reading →
Uncovering Hidden Struggles
I always find it interesting to see what areas my students struggle with in ScootPad. When I look at the results, I can see if it’s a specific area of struggle for a whole class, or if individuals are getting tripped up by specific kinds of problems. Sometimes the reason for the struggle is obvious... Continue Reading →
Meet Our Interns!
Please join us in welcoming our 2014 Summer Interns! They have joined us from all over the country to work on some interesting projects and to make an impact on millions of students using ScootPad! Alekya "Hey! I'm from Seminole, Florida and am a sophomore in high school. I like to listen to music, play... Continue Reading →
Creative Ways to Track Student Activity
I love how ScootPad sends me weekly updates on my students. One of the first things I look at in my account is how many of my students have logged in that week. I work with a great number of students every week, some of whom rotate into and out of my class, depending on... Continue Reading →
Helping Students See Strengths and Weaknesses
Each week I set up both Math and Reading practices for all my students to do at home. Not all students do the practices, mind you, but they are always available. In fairness, some of my students don’t have internet access. Also in fairness, when my students are in my GT class, they are missing... Continue Reading →
Fundraise to Get ScootPad For Your Classroom!
We know how tight school budgets can be so we wanted to share some fundraising options to help you get ScootPad for your school or classroom. We recommend setting up a fundraiser through Donors Choose, through ScootPad, or through both! ScootPad teachers have had great success raising funds through DonorsChoose, an online charity open... Continue Reading →
What to Do When Kids Say: I’m Bored!
As teachers, we work so hard to make learning interesting and engaging for kids. This practice gets harder and harder with the number of requirements that keep getting heaped on, with less and less time to do it due to increased testing. Knowing how hard I work to spark my students’ interest, there is no... Continue Reading →