Who is Kathy Robinson?
President & CEO of Schoolware, Inc. the makers of Math Facts Matter
For some, education is a profession, but for most teachers it is a calling. As a child, Kathy Robinson consistently desired to be only two things when she grew up - somebody's mother and everybody's teacher. As a classroom instructor, Title 1 teacher, gifted and talented director, technology coordinator and the various other positions Kathy held; she personally saw the power technology has to change lives of the learners in our care. She also learned how to compensate for the limitations within technology by tapping into the only constant educational resource, the classroom teacher!
The elementary schools in the district where Kathy taught was identified as academically at-risk two years in a row. Both elementary schools in the district where Kathy taught won Title I Excellency awards the year they implemented a strategy for computational fluency. The award was the direct result of correcting the absence of computational fluency within the student body. With the support of classroom teachers and intentional, targeted instruction of math facts plus individualized lab practice, success was measurably significant and test scores proved it. Increasing computational fluency prepped students to embrace flexible thinking in mathematics.
After teaching nine years in the public school system, Kathy Robinson decided to offer her proven methods to other schools. Schoolware, Inc. was founded fifteen years ago, and since then, the staff at Schoolware, Inc. has witnessed the potential impact of technology within many educational systems. They have also observed its impediments. The effectiveness of technology is rendered useless without teacher training and support. Inclusion of lab work and classroom collaboration exponentially increases the return of an investment in technology by feeding the needs of your students. However, if you want your students to hunger for practice and beg to be fed from the bounty of mathematics, let Schoolware train your teachers to use the tools, deliver the content and distribute practice time in a targeted manner.
Practice should be distributed in short engaging bursts of learning and taught with specific intent that is meaningful to the student. Too much practice too soon can create math anxiety in students rendering your practice time ineffective. (Isaacs & Carroll, 1999) Schoolware has great ideas about implementing highly effective practice time. In addition, we will share ideas to help students develop and demonstrate flexibility and efficiency in thinking about number relations that will improve, enhance and enrich their personal relationship with mathematics.
According to the Principles and Standards for School of Mathematics computational fluency includes retaining and retrieving math facts. It also includes the ability to efficiently apply flexible strategies to number relations. Just as algebraic thinking is the gateway to advanced mathematics, retaining and retrieving math facts is a gateway to computational fluency. Let Schoolware help your teachers make the computational fluency gate as inviting as possible. All students will find a haven in your math class to safely explore and experience efficiency, accuracy and flexibility in mathematical thinking.
