Freckle’s differentiation platform is designed to makes it easy for teachers to reach each student at their own individual level—without having to spend extra time preparing many different lessons every day.
The Freckle platform was designed by Freckle Education in San Francisco, and was acquired and is now supported by Renaissance Learning (acquired May 2019).
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Khan Academy
Score 9.9 out of 10
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Khan Academy is a non-profit organization headquartered in Palo Alto that offers free online course content for students.
Renaissance Accelerated Math is an excellent tool for practicing and reinforcing previously learned math skills. It is also a wonderful tool for assessing student growth and content weaknesses. It works well in a classroom that has access to technology and time to implement every day.
For larger projects, product changes, legislation updates, Khan Academy makes it easy to transfer information in an easy-to-digest manner. The software works really well with adult learning as it keeps users engaged in quick bite-sized lessons. It's more appropriate for larger changes and bigger implementations. It's less appropriate for smaller projects, or minor changes/updates, where quick training sessions would suffice.
“Kids don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”
One of the very first things I learned my first five years of teaching, except that student teaching does not really prepare you, is that it is my job to help my students succeed, not to just give them a grade. In the beginning, I taught the lesson, assigned work, administered tests, and took grades. I did that because that is how we are supposed to determine efficiency. Right? No, Wrong. I learned this the hard way and, sadly and regrettably, at the expense of my students at that time. Over time, I noticed how sometimes it took re-teaching along with small group instruction and interventions for students to understand and master the concepts. Since then, I have allowed for them to fix, re-do, and re-re-do their work, as needed.
I focus on my interventions just as much as I do my initial teaching of the objective. Making sure that they truly understand and master the content before moving on to another objective helps me just as much as it helps them. It saves me from continually re-teaching. Slow and steady does win the race. This approach allows me to help the student master objectives with more efficiency.
Accelerated Math has allowed for me to individualize my instruction and interventions. I love this program. Truly! I have three types of students; above, on target, and below. This program allows for growth in each area. However, I have found the most growth in my bottom quartile. Why? I believe it is because I am able to recognize a problem or issue with a particular objective immediately. I, then, can address that issue immediately before the bad habits or wrong approach is repeated.
This program is masked as a whole-group classroom approach, however, the most important components are found under the mask. One-on-one instruction is how I describe it to educators. My students are actively engaged in their own learning. They are also actively engaged in the learning of their peers, as well. I use a lot of peer tutoring techniques. They have access to knowing who is also working on mastering the same objective(s) they are working on plus they know who has already mastered said objective. This allows them to know who to go to for effective help. They are able to steer their own learning to a point. They can ask a peer or me. They can get on Accel math and look at the objective and see completed answers for a reference. This also boosts the confidence of their own understanding. They feel confident in having control of the path they want to use for gaining knowledge. Peer-tutoring and peer-discussions give them the opportunity to say out loud what they are thinking/feeling about a concept and rationalize their approach to evaluating said concept. As the teacher, I play various roles. I can teach, facilitate a small group, or just be an observer. A lot of times, I just ask open-ended questions to jump start their own questions.
Accel Math has assisted my math classrooms with tremendous gains. My test scores have gone up significantly. My students have a greater sense of accomplishment since they have been given the "driver's seat" for their own learning. This makes my heart smile! ;)
It is very user-friendly. All of my teachers have gotten training (including me) and all have a positive attitude as to how it will impact their classes. May have already stated that they will use it within the next day or two of training. All are very excited about the prospect this will provide.
It is consistently available with outages planned and communicated well in advance. The outages also seem to be planned to provide the least disruption to teachers.
I've only had to seek support one time. There was a glitch in one of my lessons and I submitted an email. The glitch was fixed by support within a few days, but I would've liked for it to be faster. However, I don't have a big complaint there because it is a free service.
I like the support I receive with Renaissance Accelerated Math. I like that I can quickly and easily print the problems I need for interventions. I like the hands-on lessons with Engage but it is too scripted for my tastes. I gave up on I-Ready years back because it was too complex. I still use Moby for filling in gaps. I use Study Island for my higher students after they work through Renaissance Accelerated Math.
The number one reason to choose Khan Academy over other options is price. If you are looking for a special skill or a quick answer YouTube is a great resource. Khan Academy is better suited for those who want to have a pseudo-classroom experience while still learning a subject or skill. I have used Lynda and Udemy; there is little difference between Khan Academy and those two options.
If there is going to be an outage for service, Renaissance does a great job of communicating that well in advance to allow the faculty to plan accordingly.
Freckle has been an asset by allowing me one more resource to use while trying to teach my students certain skills. I have been using it as a source for my students to practice skills in an attempt to strengthen their reading abilities.
Freckle is an asset to our entire school. By teaching my students how to read more effectively while using Freckle to strengthen their reading abilities, students become more successful in every area of education.
As students become better readers they tend to be more successful on the state test at the end of the year. Freckle plays a part in our success as a school. We tend to do well in our state. We were rated in the top 10 schools within our region. This is important in the financial stability of our school as it plays a part in our funding.
