In this second annual
review of our “favorite things” from the year past, we celebrate the many gifts
that our students and teachers give us every day. As the year draws to a close,
let’s unwrap the highlights from 2019!
#1: Ideas that motivate and inspire
Collaboration with
BrightFish teachers is a significant part of the joy of working in schools. The
inspiration that we get from our dedicated teachers is truly a
gift that takes the program to places we could never reach on our own. While we’re
busy adding more features to roll out in 2020, some of the best ideas can only
be delivered in person, such as motivational rewards, celebration walls, special prizes
for achieving milestones in the program and fish-themed classrooms. With all of
these great resources, we’ve now started a classroom gallery where our teachers
can share what works to motivate their kids.
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Prizes and fish-themed rewards inspire students at Taylor Elementary School. |
Teachers are reinforcing the importance of BrightFish Reading by integrating the data into their class grading programs. Here are a few of the great suggestions from teachers for grading:
- by points earned: BrightFish provides a total and percentage based on the number of points earned out of the maximum available for each story. Convert the points percentage into a grade.
- based on activity scores: Vocabulary and comprehension activities are scored with an overall percentage by story. Take the average of these scores to create one grade for each story or by skill area.
- based on stories completed per week: The average completion rate is 60 to 90 minutes per story, but that varies by student and reading level. Evaluate activity scores and stories completed to grade based on effort (time) and accuracy (scores).
When students finish working on stories in their assigned level of BrightFish Reading, they can try Challenge activities to apply the skills they have learned. Passages are longer and contain graphical features such as sidebars and timelines, and questions simulate high-stakes testing to help students build confidence. Read more about BrightFish Challenges here.
#4: Time for data chats
As part of our teacher training program, we emphasize the role that regular data chats can have on student achievement. Using data in the Student Progress Report for regular discussions is a great way for teachers to check in with students and help them improve their scores in BrightFish activities. While "good" progress may be different for each student, we created a checklist that teachers can use to determine appropriate interventions. We’re happy to report that it’s the #1 downloaded item from our Teacher Resource page!
#5: Data that informs and even surprises
#5: Data that informs and even surprises
This fall, we introduced a new reporting system that we hoped would give teachers easier access to the data they need. Like any new system, there was a typical learning curve and feedback phase where we honed the reports to make them simpler to read and use. A funny thing happened along the way – and it’s something we didn’t exactly expect. Teachers started asking all kinds of really interesting, in-depth questions about the data, which showed us that our new design was working. The feedback gave us even more ideas for reporting (see favorite thing #6).
#6: Teacher feedback to make us better
#6: Teacher feedback to make us better
This year, we introduced an “upvote” option, which enables teachers to suggest new features and “vote” on their favorite ideas. A very dedicated teacher panel also gave us invaluable insights into how teachers were using our reports and provided ideas for new features that would enhance the use of the new system. Any time we are planning to roll out new tools, we can utilize the panel to get specific feedback and reactions to make changes as needed.
#7: Live chats and instant connections
#7: Live chats and instant connections
Last year, we
introduced live chat support to give our teachers another avenue for reaching
our technical and instructional team. A few teachers used it a
lot, but the majority still relied on email and phone to ask questions. We’re
not exactly sure why, but this year we saw our live chat averages balloon – and
it became the top way for teachers to get in touch with us. The great thing
about live chat is that we can resolve most issues in under a minute – so it
gets teachers on their way quickly and back to working with the class.
#8 Students working
hard – even on Christmas Eve!
We use monitoring
software that lets us see when students are logged into BrightFish Reading, and
for how long. This year we set a new benchmark for daily usage of more than 2,000
users – and then went even higher. There are so
many students logged in at all hours that we’ve had to
start posting alerts for system updates and scheduling them between 12 midnight
and 5 a.m. And if Santa was looking for extra effort to make the “nice” list,
we even had kids working on December 24!
#9: Kids saying the
darndest things
Periodically, we poll
our students to see what they think of BrightFish Reading and
how they would improve it. As usual, they didn’t disappoint and gave us some
pretty interesting thoughts and ideas. Read some of our favorites from 2019.
#10: Winters that melt into spring
Well, maybe we're not near to spring just yet. But we’re looking forward to the “second
half” of this school year and the continued collaboration, surprises and highlights
that are sure to come in 2020!
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