When students in Anne-Marie Murtha’s second-grade class at Washington Elementary School in Pittsburgh were tasked with writing a “persuasive” paper, most of them worked to persuade their readers that a puppy, or basketball hoop, or a new phone would solve a current problem—or at least make the writer happy.
For their assignment, students had to write a letter asking for something, to the person who could provide it. There were lots of requests to parents for dogs, cellphones, basketball hoops and hamsters, and letters addressed to the school’s principal asking to be able to chew gum in class, or have more recess time. They also had to use a simile using “like” or “as.”
“I wanted to grant as many of the requests as possible so that my students could see that they do have a voice, and that writing can be a powerful tool,” says Murtha. So she got to work on the standing desk one student wanted.
But another student asked for something a little unusual—a Reflex account. He addressed his letter to Kelly Barsotti, a math support teacher and the one who holds the subscription to the math-fact fluency program at Washington Elementary.
Barsotti says that Washington Elementary has had Reflex for two years, after several teachers found success with Reflex through a Reflex Grant the previous year. After that success, “We got Reflex licenses for the students in math support,” says Barsotti. “But we’re thinking about getting it for everybody. When kids know their facts, math is easier.
“I really like Reflex,” Barsotti continues. “We already had a few computer-based programs and when we got Reflex I thought, ‘Oh great, another one …’ But then we started using it and I could see how it appeals to kids, and assesses them and the facts they know—and don’t know. I appreciate how it switches between known and unknown facts and it’s easy to see that kids who use it consistently increase their math fact fluency. It’s a great program.”
So when Devin made his case for access to Reflex, he knew he had to be, well, persuasive. His need to get ready for third grade and to get smarter might not have been enough, but the ability to become as “smart as a brainiac” (check out that simile), pushed it over the edge.
“He wrote the letter, he read it to her [Barsotti], and she granted him the Reflex account; he was very very happy,” says Murtha.
He’s been using Reflex consistently ever since and is making good progress. Other kids have seen that success and are interested in getting their own accounts. “And I said, well, you have to write a persuasive paper,” jokes Murtha. Can’t wait to see what similes they come up with!