Our Senior Educational Consultant, Elly Blanco-Rowe, recently had a discussion around math instructions with Scott Titsworth, dean of Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University and host of the NPR podcast appropriately named "Teaching Matters."
Scott and Elly discussed Teaching Matters' experiment with TikTok in some of New York's middle school math classes, which coaches, consultants, educators and students have all found to be an engaging and effective tool in unpacking distributive properties, a famously challenging subject matter.
"In New York, we're ramping up to state testing," says Elly. "From February to April, we really dig deeper into test prep strategies, revisiting inspiring skills. Oftentimes, we'll send home a packet to be completed, but that packet doesn't come back for a variety of reasons."
"[Using TikTok] we had a 90% return rate, which is atypical for a winter assignment," Elly adds. "My takeaway from this experience is that the reason it worked so well is because students feel heard. TikTok is something they feel comfortable with and enjoy, and now they can be a part of it."
Elly reminds listeners, many of whom are educators themselves, of the importance of "meeting students where they're at." Listen to the full interview.
Interested in working with math educational consultants like Elly to use innovative strategies to boost math proficiency at your school? Contact us today to learn more about our math support.
