Wesley Arnold is a 4th Grade classroom teacher at The Mountain Community School in Hendersonville, North Carolina in the US.
About the school
Wesley has been an educator for 15 years and currently teaches at The Mountain Community School, a small charter school with approximately 198 students. The school has been using Sumdog for 12 years.Delivering personalized learning to students
I originally discovered Sumdog at my previous school when the district purchased the program as a county wide initiative and every school had access to it. Since moving to The Mountain Community School, I have recommended it to other teachers who tried it out with their students and loved it! One of the best things about Sumdog is that if I am going to be teaching a skill, I can create a challenge on just those standards specifically. This works great as an alternative activity for my students to get additional practice and is also a fantastic way to help me deliver personalized learning to each child. Of all the programs my school uses, Sumdog’s curriculum matches the closest to what I teach and how I teach so I definitely prefer it over the others! The diagnostic tool is very useful as gives me a clear view of my students’ abilities. This helps me to close academic gaps by providing data that I can use to target my instruction to prevent individuals from falling behind.
Supporting spelling with targeted practice
I love Sumdog’s spelling program and had the opportunity to be part of a group of teachers who helped the team develop spelling sentences for the product. If my class has a spelling test coming up, it’s as easy as creating the word list on Sumdog and the students have targeted spelling practice all week long leading up to it. I also love the grammar side because I can pick a skill that I am teaching or that I think we need extra time on and assign it as independent work so the students get a good amount of practice. Then, whoever is in the top 3 for best accuracy throughout the week is rewarded with smarties to celebrate their hard work!
"Of all the programs my school uses, Sumdog’s curriculum matches the closest to what I teach and how I teach"
Engaging students in math learning
Sumdog has definitely made our students much more engaged in their math learning! It’s a great addition to our regular math program. Since we started using Sumdog, the engagement between classrooms has increased a lot. The students love to compete against their peers in different classes.Not only are they super excited about the games, but also the avatar, house and garden features.
The students really enjoy friending each other and sending gifts with the coins they earn. Over the past 10 years I’ve noticed that Sumdog has had a significant impact on many of my students which is why it has remained a staple in my classroom for so long.