Week 7: Educational Software

When I first think of the word "software", programs like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, etc. come to mind. Granted, these are some of the biggest computer software programs around, but the options for different "educational software" programs seem almost endless.

There are so many great programs available to use as educational tools in the classroom. Most of these programs can be pretty pricey, so typically, school districts opt to purchase just the few that they feel will be of optimal use with students and teachers.

Our district has several great educational software programs, however, CompassLearning is one in particular that I really enjoy using with my students. CompassLearning is all research-based and assesses each students' understanding of various key objectives in math, language, and reading. Based on the results of the assessment, each student is given their own path of activities to help them grow at their level.


As a kindergarten teacher, I used CompassLearning with my students twice a week in math. We chose to focus on math this year because so many of our other programs, like Earobics, focused on phonics and reading.  My students absolutely loved when we got to work on Compass.  They were so engaged in the activities because of the great graphics and animations.  Most of the activities were set up like a game, so my students were learning so much, and didn't even realize it!

Another aspect of CompassLearning that I really love is being able to use it as a whole group instructional tool.  If my students were struggling with a particular concept, I could pull up some Compass activities to use whole group as a re-teaching tool.  This gave me the opportunity to take it step by step and really explain what it was asking the students to do.  This really seemed to help!

One of the biggest challenges I faced using Compass with kindergarten students was time.  We only had twenty-five minute computer lab slots, so we really had to use our time wisely.  My students really struggled this year with getting themselves logged onto the program and finding their spot.  By the end of the year, most of them had it down, but I was still walking around to a few students to get them where they needed to be.  I will definitely do more whole group modeling with this next year.  I think because some of my students were struggling readers, they didn't understand when I'd say log in and go to the safari section.  If they could not read the word "safari" they were totally lost.