YouCubed

One of the most valuable things that I believe we, as future teachers, should take from this website is the idea that "anyone can do math and anyone can achieve in math at the highest levels in schools". Jo Boaler says this in the first short video featured on the homepage and personally, I found these words very reassuring. 

As some of you may know, I am currently tutoring four children in mathematics - a grade two student, a grade three student, a grade seven student and a grade nine student. To be honest, I was surprised by the fact that students as young as grade two would even need a math tutor. However, after looking through some of the articles and pages on this website, I realize that instead of needing a tutor, these children actually just need to be exposed to different teaching methods that cater to their learning style(s). YouCubed provides us teachers with many innovative ways of teaching math to our students who are growing up in such a technology-rich world. 

Since all of the children that I tutor are boys, I was also very interested in the article titled "Sugar and spice and... math underachievement- Why classrooms, not girls, need fixing". Surprisingly, the article was about how there is a common belief that girls do not fare as well as boys in mathematics. I found this interesting, since I have only ever had the opportunity to tutor boys. In saying this, the article points out that a student's success in math is not genetic and that it is actually determined by the quality of instruction the student receives. 

Another positive aspect of this website is that there is a section of resources that parents can use at home with their children. This is extremely valuable because it is often hard for parents to get their children to focus on math at home when they have so many other things going on. There are articles about how parents can make math fun for their children and there is also a variety of games that parents can play with their children at home. 

The fact that this website offers a wide variety of resources that are both free and well, really good, is something that puts it above many others that I have found while browsing the internet. Offering these resources at no cost makes the information accessible to all teachers and parents, giving everyone an equal opportunity to benefit from them. Many parents cannot afford to pay money each time they want to download a lesson, worksheet or game to use with their children at home - especially when they are unable to try it out with their children first. 

Although YouCubed is still under construction and will not be fully operational for another few months, it is evident that the website will be a very useful resource to be used with our students in the future. I, for one, already have it bookmarked and plan to use it during my tutoring sessions to help reinforce certain concepts that my students may be struggling with. I cannot wait to familiarize myself with this site when it is completely finished and look forward to using it in my own classroom!

Cheryl