Charleston County School District in South Carolina has used Reflex to help their students learn their math facts for over three years, and third grade teacher Mr. Joe Guarino first learned about Reflex at a Professional Development workshop. He finds Reflex “an efficient and effective way to improve math fact fluency.”
His school, A.C. Corcoran Elementary, is 1:1 iPads. “The students love the routine of getting their Green Light each morning. They are excited when they increase their facts and even more excited when they achieve 100% fluency. My students and I like the different graphics to show which facts are fluent and which facts we are working towards to achieve fluency.”
“Reflex is the only program we use to specifically target strengthening fact fluency. What I like about Reflex is that there is a process of assessing, teaching, practicing, and tracking towards mastery. The students and I have seen great growth in strengthening fact fluency from using Reflex. I find the ‘Usage’ and ‘Gains’ reports to be an efficient and effective way to quickly assess student progress. Digging deeper and looking into the ‘Fact Detail’ report, we’re able to see patterns of where a student can benefit from support to target instruction.”
His school has fun competitions to encourage students to keep their usage up on Reflex. “Each Thursday we have ‘Trophy Thursday’ where each class competes to get the most Green Lights in 30 minutes. We have a traveling trophy that the class with the most Green Lights will keep for the week and have to defend the following Thursday. Each 3rd grade teacher also prints out their class milestones and posts them in the hallway to fuel healthy competition. Teachers print out individual fluency certificates to place in the hallway to recognize individual students as well. My students are super excited when I print out their certificates!”
Acknowledging student achievement has been helpful for the students’ growth. “I feel celebrating achievements throughout the year has cultivated a love for improving fact fluency with Reflex. The encouragement from the teachers, using data to target strengths as well as opportunities for improvement, and facilitating healthy competition between classes have all contributed to motivating our students.”
He adds, “Reflex has been a key tool for me in assessing which math facts a student is ready to learn, personalizing, and differentiating instruction. As a grade level we had strong math data last year. 90% of my students met their NWEA Math MAP goal last year. This year my students perform well in other math programs we use including ALEKS and DreamBox. We anticipate a strong performance from our students on the MAP test this year!”
Joe Guarino has been an educator for 11 years. He has a B.S. in Physical Education, an M.Ed. in Elementary Education, and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership. This year he has served as the Math Liaison for his school. He currently teaches 3rd grade at A.C. Corcoran Elementary in North Charleston, SC.