Community reviews for ASSISTments

This program has fundamentally changed the way I teach math. The struggle I have is when students have no internet access. I make print out copies of the assignment which they can then enter the following morning in school, but it is not ideal. I don't have a better way around that. My kids don't like the extra work it takes to write it out and then enter, but they do like to see whether they get it or not and they appreciate not having to spend the first 10 or so minutes everyday reviewing the homework as I can target the points that they struggled with before they walk through the front door.

I don't think I could teach without this tool in my classroom! The information I have before each class is invaluable. I can better reach my students when I know where their stumbling blocks are, even when they are too shy to tell me themselves.

I use it for my homework assignments. It is easy to write in my problems and once done, can be reused yearly. This is my third year using Assistments and I love it. I also assign "Skills" to my students for the extra practice that is so important. It is easy to personalize for various students and the reports make it easy to see how and what they are doing. I HIGHLY recommend this to teacher to both help their students and make their lives easer as well.

Though it my take a bit of time to use at first, the overall benefits once you get started are amazing. I have used this for a few years now and could not imagine losing its use. It offers so many things, I still struggle to take full advantage of what it has to offer. I highly recommend it for it provides benefits for as little as homework assistance to spiral learning activities. There is lots of opportunities by the ASSISTments staff for instruction. You won't regret it!

Initially, my teaching partner and I built our own content and it is not all that time consuming. Building content forced us to think about the problems we assigned for homework - were they indeed necessary to solidify understanding? In class, I only review those homework problems that most students missed (and make it a point to check in with students who show more unilateral confusion). As students do their homework, ASSISTments gives them instant feedback and the ability to comment on a problem in real time. I glance at their comments before class and this makes class time even more productive. I cannot imagine teaching without ASSISTments.

One of the strongest assets of the ASSISTments platform in my opinion are the "Skill Builders" and the scaffolding incorporated into them. To demonstrate mastery of a skill builder a student must complete three items correctly, consecutively, without using any hints. Students are encouraged to use hints in beginning to teach themselves until they are able to master the skill without using hints. "Skill Builders" are identified by CCSS and are available from grade 3 through HS. This was exactly what I was looking for on our summer assignments and the other applications evolved from that success. The Builder is another valuable tool if you are interested in creating your own content. Several new features like ARRS, parent notification, and placement test shows a concerted effort on their part to continue to upgrade the resource. The variety of reports make analysis of data simple and constructive. ASSISTments is not perfect, but few thing are, it is certainly a very, very valuable educational tool.

Everyone that uses ASSISTments loves it. The students love how they get instant feedback, can work at their own pace, and do not have to do extra work (one feature stops them after 3 correct problems in a row). Teachers love ASSISTments because it saves time with grading, gives instant feedback on an individual and class level, creates detailed reports, and engages the students to a higher level of motivation.