An approach for kinesthetic/SPED learners

Bonnie Burns shared this idea that emerged during one of her training events.

A special ed teacher had a clever idea. He has some of his students do Lexia on a Promethean Board and the student is able to move and be physically active as he works with Lexia. The teacher said students who struggle with sitting enjoy this active method of working with Lexia.

Core5 Student Information Apple Features

I sent this message to Lexia Customer Support on 8/9/2017

In today's training with the International School of Kuala Lumpur, I discovered we had the ability to change the reading direction language in the student program in the demo mode. Does this feature exist for the student? Can they change the reading direction language themselves?

I told the staff at International School of Kuala Lumpur that would pass along their interest in  having Korean added as a reading language option. 

I received this response.

Thank you for contacting Lexia Support.  The student does have the ability to change the Reading Direction Language when they are logged into their Core5 account.  They would have to click on the apple icon on the bottom left, then choose the gear icon on the bottom right of the window that appears.  They would then click "Student Information" and it would give them the option to change the language, although Korean is not currently an option.  There is also a language setting that can be adjusted for each student by a Lexia administrator from within their myLexia account!

Social Emotional Elements of Lexia Core5

On 8/1.2017 I sent this message to customer support.
I was working with Bricolage Academy yesterday and they asked me if we had any documentation related to introducing Lexia to students that also talked about the social emotional aspect of supporting fellow students versus competing. I said I would ask.

I received this response.

Hi Jessie & Beth,

Our motivation and growth mindset white papers may be a good references points to pull examples from:  https://www.lexialearning.com/resources/white-papers/importance-intrinsic-student-motivation-when-selecting-educational  & https://www.lexialearning.com/resources/white-papers/cultivating-growth-mindset-educational-technology

We don't have anything else formally written, however, Kate Ronstadt and I presented at an international motivation conference where we stressed the social-emotional aspect of Core5's development of relatedness through collaboration.

In practice, we find being on different levels more often fosters conversations about the places in the world where the students are working, rather than competition about the rank of the level.  Students frequently share with each other the features of their level and learn from other students what they have to look forward to in future (or past) levels.  For example, as I saw first hand, in a school that faces a beach, it is more likely to hear a student in second grade want to "do the beach level (level 2)" rather than make a competitive comment to another student who is working on the beach (i.e., kindergarten skills).  Students also share with each other which "fun facts" they learned about the animals or places in their current level.  Teachers can help support these conversations by celebrating the different locations students in the class "visit" in Core5.  

Another important aspect of fostering collaboration instead of competition is to take the time to celebrate as a whole class when a student passes a level - regardless of what level it is.  Praising students for their hard work and perseverance through a tricky skill, rather than the numerical level or their ranking in the class, also helps support collaboration, and growth mindset. There are many different ways classes have chosen to celebrate success that don't involve rank order of the levels.  For example, we've seen classrooms add neurons to a brain, leaves to a tree, monkeys to a tree, fish in a sea, etc. for each level completed, as classroom or school-wide displays of success.  Creating an visual representation of the levels completed together as a class or school reinforces the idea of working together rather than competing - everyone wants another fish or monkey added to the display!  

I hope these examples help -- I'm also happy to talk through additional examples, if needed!

Thanks,

Elizabeth (Kazakoff)

For conference reference:

Kazakoff, E.R., & Ronstadt, K. (2016, June).  Applying SDT in the Design of Literacy Software for Children.  Presentation at The 6th International Conference on Self-Determination Theory.  Victoria, B.C., Canada.

Motivation ideas

One teacher shared how she used the Achievement Charts. She said the students are really motivated when they can fill in the segments. At the end of the week this teachers takes this activity a little further by asking the students to set a goal for the number of units they want to complete the next week. This is such a cool idea.

One teachers let's the students pick a class reward when everyone in the class has leveled up.  She find that the student begin to motivate each other.  She uses a bulletin board to track their progress.

Lexia stickers can be used for a variety of activities. Many teachers have sticker charts in the rooms.  Lexia stickers could be given:

• When a student is halfway through a level
• When they Level Up
• After they complete their Skill Builders

How do you know when the auto placement activity is complete?

when the student has finished auto placement they will see a "Good Job!" message on the screen and then be logged out. If they have never used the program before, the teacher can let students know that when they see the login screen again that they are done and can stop.

What next after completing Core5

• Utilize the Skill Builders if she has not done so already 
• Utilize the Comprehension Lessons.
•  It's a heavy lift for the teacher sometime, but this student could be used to sit with others and support them to listen to the directions again...  NOT do the work or give the answers.  A Lexia Ambassador.  Like I said, it would require some work on the part of the teacher.
• Read
• Idea from Korrie. She was working with a client who wanted the students to still be on the computer after they finished Lexia.
   I talked to the school and we came up with some ideas but they really want them on the computer. I suggested using the fun facts from each level and letting the kids research what they heard from the fun fact and then write and present their information. 

How do I tell if my student was placed at the wrong level?

Q: How do I tell if my student was placed at the wrong level? 

A: One way to assess how appropriately a student has been placed is to let them work in the program for two or three weeks. The student’s Student Skills Report will show her "Accuracy" and "Rate" for the five activities in the level. If the student demonstrates “High” accuracy and a “Fast”rate for all five activities, it indicates that the student may have been placed at too low of a level. In contrast, if all five activities show accuracy and rate of "Low" and "Slow," respectively, it indicates the student was placed too high (this scenario might can occur if they get help from a well-meaning teacher or parent during the Auto Placement). In either one of these cases it would be appropriate to reset the student and have them take the Auto Placement again or manually place them into a higher/lower level. However, all prior work will be lost when a student is reset.

Another recommendation would be to try the Skill Builders with the students before making any changes. Do stress that they will need to save any current reports before re-Auto Placing the students because they will be deleted.

 short video in response to a customers question regarding placement