Community reviews for Freckle

This is a great resource to supplement math and ELA instruction in the classroom. The instructional elements of the math program are well-thought out and students are able to interact with these elements. The game-elements of fun for the kids, and keep engagement high. I'm less keen on the classroom ranking as it can lead to competitive conflict. I like the immediate feedback available and the fact that I can assign specific standards-based practice for assessment purposes. I find that the grade-level equivalents on the ELA side are a little confusing, but students are engaged with the articles, and definitely have to think to complete the assignments.

Overall, it is good practice. It is not great for introducing or teaching concepts. The how-to videos are not the greatest and not always specific to the type of question that the student may be on. I did like that it shows the students the names of other students in the class that were successful with that type of question which led to some very positive peer to peer interaction. While we were in the process of using it, they took away the team aspect. It had originally generated daily teams that it randomly placed the students on for some competition. My students really liked that and I put out rewards each day. The update seems to have taken away the team placement.

Front Row is amazing!!! I am usually skeptical when it comes to learning apps, but FR is so much different! I love the independence my students have yet they are still learning AND it's all CC aligned!! Front Row reinforces concepts that I have already taught as well as compliments or fills in the gaps where I may have been unable to reach some students for various reasons.

I have honestly never loved an ed-tech product the way that I love FrontRow. I love how engaged my students are (in gathering coins, going to the piggy store, and moving through domains and levels), the "watch a video" hints so students can become independent problem solvers, the variety of question types, the higher-level thinking it requires, and especially, how personalized it makes learning. The reports are ones that I feel confident presenting in 504 and IEP meetings to show growth and other data, and it even tells students who they can ask for help if they need it. It truly is the most adaptive and engaging math ed-tech tool I have ever used.

I truly consider Front Row the nirvana of math apps because of its ease in setting up the classroom, individualized instruction complete with teaching videos which meets the needs of every learner whether they are a struggling learner or an advanced one, encouragement of collaboration, engagement of the students, and the powerful teacher tools that allow teachers to focus on the most important responsibility - teaching the students!

Front Row is a useful tool in order to add extra interactive, personalized math practice in the classroom. When the iPad app works, students were able to take part in engaging, frustration-free math practice; however, the app would occasionally act up and not update student progress. Overall, the benefits outweigh the technical issues.

Front Row is a great teaching tool to use in the classroom, especially for classrooms where small group instruction exists. The ability to differentiate for the students is spectacular, and the student engagement is incredible. The reports help drive the teacher's instruction, and allow for differentiation in small group work. Sample problems help guide the teacher to create better word problems for their students. Meanwhile, the sample problems are a good way to guide the students to a better understanding of the concept. Students have a wonderful opportunity to learn through word problems (a big part of Common Core) and practice the mathematics skills they need to succeed. To better serve the students, Front Row could add clarity to their directions and word problems so students avoid confusion. However, the flaws do not compare to the great upside that Front Row brings to education and student learning. Front Row is a program that should exist in any classroom looking to differentiate their mathematics instruction.

Overall, students are completely motivated to use Front Row Math, whether it is daily, or a few times weekly. Both students in the classroom and tutoring students are learning at their pace, on their levels, at all times. It makes the classroom versatile because students are working at improving their own math skills. Students are also excited about the piggy store, and it's great that they get only about a minute and a half to “buy” something at the store. My favorite part as the teacher is to be able to see student progress in real-time. Front Row shows you exactly what each student was working on and how they improved. It will also tell you what students need improvement on certain topics, or if they need more practice within a certain domain. This is a great tool for differentiation. I have been working in a school where math and literacy levels differ greatly within grade levels because of the high population of English Language Learners, and this tool is has been a great addition to the technology classroom. If students are above their current grade level in a certain domain, then they get some knowledge ahead of time that front loads information for them in lessons to come. There is a free and a paid version of this site. It is common core aligned, so I do hope the free version sticks around! I would highly recommend this to teachers looking for a web-based tool for independent practice to help students improve their math skills at their own pace.

Overall, I see a lot of benefits through using Front Row in my classroom. My students remain highly motivated and engaged with each and every lesson, and cannot wait to get on to continue their practice. It has helped to generate a lot of buzz about things they are learning and mastering in the different domains of math, which has fueled positive conversations between my students both in and out of my classroom. Other great benefits of Front Row are that the lessons and resources align with the Common Core and are reminiscent of many of the computer-based assessments my students are required to take throughout the school year. The program does a great job of keeping track of students' progress and adapting the material as they continue with their practice. Students are given multiple attempts at solving each problem, and if they do not input the correct response after these attempts, Front Row provides a video mini-lesson to help clarify how to solve the problem. In order for my students to get the most out of Front Row, I often still have to provide physical manipulatives for some students who need those additional supports when the available virtual manipulatives are not sufficient enough. In addition, all my students also use dry-erase boards to work out most of the problems because it is difficult to "show their work" using the tools on the website. While I appreciated the fact that there was a variety of ways for students to input their responses (e.g. multiple choice, free-response, drag-and-drop, etc.), students sometimes had difficulty understanding exactly what they needed to do in order to answer the questions; moreover, students had the most frustration with inputting certain fractions because the program did not allow for the use of mixed numbers.

When trying to individualize instruction for 30 students, I often am overwhelmed by how to meet each child's learning needs. Front Row provides me with a free teacher dashboard that can be used to get an at-a-glance view of which of my students are struggling and which have already achieved mastery of certain math concepts. I use this information to form targeted instructional groups and assign individual math practice. I have even given Front Row work as optional homework for students to do at home with our classroom code. The parents and students love it!