Week 7--Software

The software that I have used in my classroom was the Lexia Learning software.  I have found this software to be a HUGE help.  I will warn anyone reading this, that is software is VERY expensive and I feel very privileged for my Principal to have purchased it for our school.  This software focuses on the reading skills of students.  I would classify this software as a tutorial type.  When a student first starts to use this software they take a test that will gauge their reading level.  Once the computer has determined what their strengths and weaknesses are, it creates an individualized plan for that student.  For example, I used this primarily with a second grade class.  Some of my readers were able to read entire chapter books, while other students could not even string all of their syllables together.  I would be able to take a class of 20 to the computer lab and know that each student was going to be challenged and practice their respective skills.

The computer would generate games that the students would play that would focus on their weaknesses.  For example, some of my students would struggle with the "silent -e".  The game that was created for them was in a basketball setting.  The student would be "playing" basketball and a voice would tell them a word and give them certain letters.  The student would have to use those letters to create their word.  If they got the word right, their team would receive a point, but if they got it wrong, the other team would get the point.  While that was easy for some of my students, others would play a reading game, where they had to try to "out-read" the computer.

This software is also very helpful in that every week it generates a report for the teacher that identifies where the students are struggling.  Along with identifying these weaknesses, it also provides lesson plans and worksheets to help the student with these concepts, while not on the computer.  This was very helpful because it allowed me to work with these students back in the room.  Every teacher would love to be able to create a worksheet that specifically hit each students' weakness.  However, back in reality, that is not possible to do with 20+ students every week.  These worksheets provided by Lexia would allow me to foster a small group environment in my room, and I was able to work one-on-one with these students on a regular basis.  We saw GREAT improvement on our MAP reading scores.