Testimonials

Carey Smith

Larkspur, CO

Carey Smith
Skyview Middle School
Larkspur, CO
How do you use Actively Learn in your classroom?

In-class reading, assigned reading for homework, research, and quizzes

What problems were you experiencing in your classroom or school prior to adopting Actively Learn? 

It was difficult to get primary and secondary sources together for students to analyze and annotate before writing assignments.

What solutions did you try to address problems in your school/classroom prior to adopting Actively Learn? 

I printed large packets of source documents for each student prior to discovering Actively Learn program.

How has Actively Learn helped improve your students’ learning and/or your teaching? 

Actively Learn has impacted my instructional methodology as well as the quality of material students use when conducting research. American history students examine primary and secondary sources on Actively Learn before writing. The ability to insert questions into the text allows me to check student understanding while they read and learn.

How do you use Actively Learn with your students? What type of content do you assign? 

I use Actively Learn to introduce historical evidence to students. This term I assigned 6 different documents about Japanese Internment in the United States during World War II.  Students read the articles, answered questions within the text and used evidence (direct quotes) from the documents to support their position in an academic paper.

What advice would you have for teachers who are new to Actively Learn? 

I suggest that teachers try Actively Learn to support a lesson.  The more you work with the program, the more you understand about the program and how it can best support  your students.  Start slow, but get started today.