ALABASTER - Educators from around the southeast converged on Thompson Intermediate School’s campus in May to see Alabaster City Schools’ application of its new math software, Magma Math.
Math teachers from Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, and other areas observed ACS students and educators in the classrooms working on math problems using this innovative software - a platform designed to support teachers to make more informed instructional decisions in the classroom and create opportunities for deeper student-driven math discourse and collaboration.
ACS math educators consider Magma Math to be transformative in terms of their teaching practices.
“It’s a great platform to use in the classroom! Students enjoy writing on their touch screen with a more interactive way of learning,” said Anna Catherine Smith, a geometry teacher at Thompson High School. “It also allows students to check their work as they go, making it easier for the teacher. I love how I can see data on student performance to help me plan assessments and interventions with students.”
ACS Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers led the effort to bring Magma Math to ACS classrooms. With the approval of the ACS Board of Education, ACS Chief Academic Officer Dr. Amanda Wilbanks and her team quickly got to work on district-wide Magma Math software implementation. While ACS has always employed innovative math instructional practices, assessing student proficiency was always time-consuming. Magma Math allows teachers to see students working on math problems in real time. This product not only facilitates discourse between students and teachers, but can be used with number sense routines, problem-solving, formative assessment, and differentiation. Magma Math also serves students of different linguistic backgrounds.
"Magma Math is a game changer for our math instruction," Dr. Vickers said. "We continue to make academic gains and this software is one more tool at our disposal. Having educators from other areas come to Alabaster to see our use of Magma Math was invigorating and reaffirmed our decision to make this investment in our students."
Creek View Elementary School teacher Taylor Cross likes how this new program invigorates her instruction and simultaneously keeps all students on pace.
“My students and I LOVE Magma Math. It is a wonderful medium for extra practice. I specifically love that my ESL students are able to toggle languages so they can listen to the questions in both English and Spanish. I also feel that the data given from the program helps me plan future instruction because I am able to see exactly what concepts students are struggling with," Cross said.
ACS always forges ahead in math proficiency, knowing a number of factors can impact outcomes. Though effective, strategies such as number talk can be time-consuming. For example, teachers had to physically look at each student’s paper to see if they had the correct answer. They also had to sort papers into groups based on student proficiency for resulting differentiation activities. Student discourse was affected by not having sufficient time for all students to explain their thinking and some students being reluctant to share in front of the class. Magma Math changes all of that. It supports students' conceptual understanding during math instruction, which allows for number talks so that students see different entries on solving problems. Magma Math also aligns with the Alabama State Department of Education’s Office of Mathematics Improvement’s (OMI) Components of a Quality Tier 1 Math Block according to the Alabama Numeracy Act.
ACS Chief Academic Officer Dr. Amanda Wilbanks, ACS Math Coaches, and other instructional leaders will be working alongside classroom teachers in the coming months to optimize the use of Magma Math district-wide.
"ACS always strives to raise student proficiency in math. We know that proficiency is positively impacted by time spent on collaboration, student discourse, and differentiation," Dr. Wilbanks said. Magma Math allows for all of these practices in a platform designed to support teachers to make the most informed instructional decisions in the classroom. We are excited to see how much Magma Math impacts learning across K-12 at ACS!"
See additional coverage on the Shelby County Reporter