These tried and true tips will help your students make meaningful connections between the textbook and MATHia software.
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Make the format for the lab sessions and classroom time similar (e.g., warm–up, student work time, and closure). Provide closure around the mathematical concepts encountered each day in the classroom and lab to ensure a smooth transition between the two. Additionally, use this time to celebrate student successes.
Talk about the use of multiple representations both in the computer lab and the textbook.
Use the same vocabulary from the MATHia Software when working in the textbook.
In the classroom, create a word wall of key terms used in the MATHia Software.
In the classroom, specifically ask, “Remember doing this on the MATHia Software? How would you answer this in the MATHia Software?” or “How would we solve this problem with the equation solver?”
In the lab, specifically ask, “How did we solve this in class?” or “Does this look similar to a problem that we’ve done in the textbook?” If necessary, have student reference their textbooks.
Project a problem from the MATHia Software during class time. Use a problem from the MATHia Software to introduce a new topic in the classroom, preview a new unit, or reinforce concepts. Give the students the opportunity to see the book and the computer at the same time.
To transfer equation solving skills from the computer lab to the classroom, place a poster in the room containing the same solving steps as appear in the computer and using the solver vocabulary.
Use the MATHia Software question format in quizzes during the classroom time. Print some of the MATHia Software problems to use in the classroom.
Have students complete a lab log. Record what new concepts were learned, strengthened, or particularly difficult. Also record a completed problem from each section. Then, during classroom time, refer to these problems as examples.
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