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Math + Firefighters = SUCCESS!

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We love this story about a group of Cincinnati high school math students who helped their local fire department ensure they had the right amount of water and resources when fighting fires in the city. The students applied their math knowledge and skills to solve a real world problem. And they also hit each of the 4 Cs by working as a team (collaboration), presenting their work (communication) and thinking “outside the box” to discover a solution (creativity and critical thinking).

What are other successful Math + “Real World” equations?

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The Life-Long Teacher to a Life-Long Learner

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From birth to 4 years old, parents teach their children to eat, crawl, talk, walk, and use the potty.  They teach not to bite, hit, fuss, pout and many other “don’t do thats’”!

Being effective in teaching these critical life skills, parents must be in-tuned and hands-on.  Observing the needs, behavior and motivation of their children during these early years is critical to your teaching.  Parents are constantly talking to and asking questions of their children even as they are learning to communicate. Because of the close interaction with their children at these young ages, parents are well informed to how their children are doing in developing critical skills and reaching major milestones.

Fast forward to when our children begin to enroll in pre-school and primary school. Parents tend to relinquish the role as a teacher to professional educators in their child’s school.  Teaching is outsourced to professionals and parents gravitate to a more passive role as it relates to educating their children.  Parents await feedback from their child’s teacher to recognize learning gifts and address learning challenges. Naturally, this positions the parent to be reactive rather proactive in their child’s learning process.

I recall always hearing the saying, “a parent never stops being a parent.”  Well, I would add, “a parent never stops being a teacher.” To raise a child to be a life-long learner, the child needs a life-long teacher… parents.

As parents embrace their role as their child’s first teacher and life-long teacher, productive partnerships between parents and professional educators become more constructive.  Committing to being a life-long teacher to your child, you are forging a relationship that reinforces the importance of education and the love of learning.

What do you think about parents embracing the role as a life-long teacher?

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What We Believe!

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As we prepare to release our application this week, we want to articulate what it is we truly believe about educational improvement.

To frame the discussion, we first ask two questions:

As parents, what role can we play and what can we specifically do to improve our children’s education?

As a society, what can we do to improve skills mastered by our children?

Our answers encompass our core beliefs:

  • We believe that parents have the greatest impact on their child.
  • We believe that most parents are willing to help with their children’s education.
  • We believe most teachers do a great job, given the time and resources allocated.
  • We believe ALL children are born with the ability and desire to learn.

These beliefs are the bedrock of our company.  They continuously shape and push us to provide the best technology for parents, children and teachers. GPA’s application not only gives parents a greater role and allows them to follow their child through their educational journey, but it also joins forces with teachers to offer every tool and support possible to ensure success.

With our application, we put our beliefs into practice.

Are you a believer?  Join us!

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To Test or Not to Test?

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That is the first big question. Do standardized tests, also known as high stakes tests or summative assessments, really tell us what children know? Or, do they tell us what they don’t know at a particular time?

Common Core established a standard for “what” students should know by specific grade level, and it has been adopted by multiple states. GPA believes in standards (whether it’s Common Core or a particular state’s standards) because we place confidence in the practice of setting lofty and clear objectives for skill acquisition for our children. However, we also believe in giving them the tools to successfully master these skills. These tools include a learning platform that offers an engaging, curated and sequenced curriculum supported with formative assessments to understand the skills a child has mastered and the skills that require further development. This is the reason we position formative assessments after each of our lessons, and why each lesson teaches the child one or two skills.

GPA also embraces multiple learning approaches, such as project-based, problem-based, inquiry-based, and challenge-based learning. We feel this further engages a child by teaching them the relevant and real world application of skills. Consider the fact that, except for certain licenses or certifications, we rarely take standardized tests in blue- and white-collar careers. However, we are daily tested on the 4 Cs (communication, collaboration, creative thinking and critical thinking skills). Those skills are essential in 99.99% of today’s and future jobs.

We believe in a balance between mastering skills to meet standards evidenced by formative assessments and demonstrating skill acquisition via performance-based assessments while also developing the 4 Cs. We have seen (and NPR recently reported) how schools are using new methods to ensure and validate skills mastery that are better than a traumatic, looming, end-of-year, one-size-fits-all test.

The next big question: Will your child be ready for a 21st Century career?