Envision Math

Today I attended an in service for the new math series our county has adopted. We will be getting Envision Math for this next school year. It was ALOT of information in one day.. but helpful! I can tell I've got a ton to learn!!!!!!! I was wondering if any of my blog followers have this math series at their school and if you like it/dislike it, have any pointers, tips, etc?? I would love to hear any comments!!!!!!!

Happy Hump Day!! :)


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8 comments

ashley said...

Have it and hate it. They made it look real good with all of the center games and technology components. I teach first and my kiddos got so sick of those visual learning animations. The kids knew the answer to the questions before the questions were even asked. So you have that part that's really dumbed down and then the worksheets are really hard. My team chose the individual folded lessons instead of the whole book format. There is WAY too much reading on those worksheets for first graders at the beginning of the year. Most of the center games are really cheesy and my kids found them boring. In fact, my team tried using the materials for about half a year and hated it so much that we just taught math using our own resource materials and things we created ourselves. So for me, Envision was not my thing. Luckily our principal recognizes that no program is perfect and doesn't mind that we do our own thing. Good luck with it! I hope your students enjoy it more than mine did!

http://www.firstgradebrain.com

Kristen said...

We use enVision and will be going on our 4th year. I don't love it, but I don't hate it, either. I just went to a 3 day training last month and it opened my eyes a bit to the program. I was very excited about getting more in depth into it next year. A big downfall to it, I feel, is that for some things, you have to supplement a ton to make sure the kids really "get it". But, there are worse things that having to review or teach something a bit longer than a publisher feels in necessary. We went into the program with a bad attitude and it showed our first year. It was hard and crappy and ugh! We put a district pacing guide committee together and moved some things around. We don't go in order like the publisher wants, so we can't use the spiral review, but it works out way better the way we have it. And, a word of caution, if your Topic 2 is anything like our Topic 2 - BEWARE!!!! It's hard, it sucks and the kids have failed the test for 3 years in a row, even with lots of extra practice! But, as with any new program, try to keep an open mind and build on the good things and add when things are bad! Hope you guys learn to live with it like we are! It's not the best, but certainly not the worst!

Mrs. Saoud said...

We adopted enVision Math because it was written for Florida's Next Generation Sunshine State Standards. I too have a love/hate relationship. My county has a workshop model which includes exploring for an outcome. enVisions applies the knowledge. We have merged our curriculum resources and teach both Math Investigations and enVisions Math together. Can be challenging when the vocabulary doesn't translate from one unit to the next. I use the animations only to answer the essential question and occasionally to launch a topic. I use the front cover of the workbook page for the explore (investigational piece). We will complete a closing. As an exit ticket or early finisher, I have the kids complete the remaining pages. This allows for my math grouping. Hope this helps.

The Whity Wife said...

I used Envision when I was student teaching. It had it's positives (like the built in differentiated instruction) but it did not work well for my class (20 out of 30 had special needs- my teacher was dual certified). We taught two lessons of math everyday because Envision keeps moving even when the student's don't. For this same reason I ended up creating my own Envision lessons for reinforcement.

However, this was a special class. Only 5 of the students were at a 3rd grade level (or on level). Many were at a 1st grade level. In a more standardized classroom I think it would work better. And I loved being able to pull the worksheets- I would choose what I wanted from them and mash them together. It was the first thing I planed each week, and was the easiest to plan!

Jenny Tippett said...

Our school has envision and I HATE it! It presents things in a confusing way and I agree with the first person who says the sheets are too much reading at the beginning of the year. I really tried hard to make this series work but it just didn't work for my class. I am going back to our old adoption. Hope it goes better for you!

Tamara said...

We adopted it last year. There is good and bad like everything. Don't waste any time on the center games. I teach the intervention lesson first to the "low" group while others are at centers (all the great math games I already had). This has been very successful. It gives the kids all a chance to succeed. The pacing is way too fast - our district slowed it for next year. The kids will have 2 or 3 days to learn their doubles facts instead of 1. Not enough of course, but I keep it going in the centers games. We do the quick check everyday and chart how many of our "team" got at least 2 points. It really holds everyone accountable everyday.

Mel D said...

We used Envision for the first time last year & I HATE IT! I think our district needs to offer more training or something. Kids would come back with homework & their parent's didn't even understand it. We had a supplement A LOT to make up for what the series is lacking. I wish we would have kept our Scott Foresman stuff because this is horrible! I hope you have better luck.
Mel D
Oh the Places We’ll Go

eibwen hsotnicam 2008 said...

I am the parent of a 4th grader who is finding it increasingly difficult to help her with her math homework. The basic math concept is gone and Envision math has made something so basic into a 10 point system of coming up with an answer. I get the way it works, but it is not a practical application of real world math. It is turning off my daughter who once loved math. Not a good choice at all!