Derivita Power User Stories: Derivita Teacher of The Year 2024

This Derivita Power User Story will feature a Sixth Grade Teacher out of Utah and Derivita Teacher of The Year - Memory Aviles to hear about how she got started with Derivita and how she uses the platform today. 

What is the Derivita Teach of The Year you ask? It is a special honor that we bestow on the teacher with the most Derivita usage throughout the school year. The 2024 Derivita Teacher of The Year deployed so many assignments and assessments in the platform this school year that we were left with our jaws on the floor!

Memory was named the 2024 Derivita Teacher of The Year and received all the accompanying prizes and this written feature!

We asked her a series of questions about Derivita and her teaching and this is her story:

The beginning:

What course do you teach/ use Derivita with? 

I teach 6th-grade math using Open Up Resources. Derivita allows students to work on homework and get immediate feedback and the ability to try again right away. 

What year did you first start using Derivita? 

2021.

How did you first discover Derivita?

Tutoring. 

Do you remember your first impression of Derivita?

I moved to Utah in 2021 and started tutoring students whose teachers used Derivita. I loved the program because after a certain amount of tries, it explains how the problem needs to be solved which helped me to help the student understand what they were missing. It also eliminated the habit of waiting to ask the teacher the next day if they got it right. Too much time passes if they have to wait until the next class, and I know that as a teacher there is not always time to go over homework problems. Derivita handles all of those issues. 

What made you decide to start using Derivita?

There were several reasons why I started using Derivita with my students. I won’t lie that the main reason for me was that it was WAY less grading I had to worry about each day. However, just as important, is that the students get the immediate feedback on their homework and quizzes.

Derivita has the curriculum our district uses already embedded, which helped a ton as well. I personally feel that having students use technology and the computers to do their homework, quizzes, and tests all year helps with those standardized tests because they are already used to doing math on the computer. 

How many students did you start using Derivita with?

I started the 23/24 school year with about 190 students using Derivita for their homework. My team of two other teachers also uses the assignments that I create for their classes as well. So between the three of us - about 400 kids started the year using Derivita. 

The day-to-day:

What does a typical school day look like for you? 

I come to school at 7:20 and have a prep period to prepare/plan for the day. I will have a lesson prepared and if time students will work on their homework after the instruction. 

How are you incorporating Derivita into your day-to-day instruction?

Other than homework, Derivita is not really part of the day-to-day instruction. UNLESS there was a particularly challenging problem on the homework I will use the spot check to help the students understand how to do it. 

Have you seen any positive or negative impacts that Derivita has had in your classroom?

I have not seen any negative impacts using Derivita. The students like that they can see immediately that they got it right or wrong. 

Derivita platform feedback:

What do your students think of Derivita?

My students like Derivita for the same reasons that I do. They like that they get the immediate feedback on each homework question instead of having to wait. There really is no reason for them to get less than 100% either because they can do the problem (using similar question) as often as they need.

What is something you wish Derivita had but it currently does not?

I wish that Derivita’s quiz option allowed for us to give students attempts and that Derivita would keep the highest score. Instead of doing similar questions, they can try the whole thing again. 

Getting to know you:

How long have you been teaching?

This will be my 9th year teaching. I have taught middle school for seven of those years and 4th grade for two.

What is your favorite part about the teaching and learning process?

I love building relationships with my students and giving them the confidence they need to do math. By middle school a lot of students have been beaten up by math and feel like they are terrible at it and I love showing them that that is not true. 

In honor of Derivita's love for music - what is your go-to song on Apple Music, Spotify, or YouTube right now?

I have actually been listening to books instead of music right now!

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