Donna Bolstad, from Medary Elementary School in Brookings School District 05-1 has been teaching for 32 years. She is currently a third-grade teacher who has implemented education technology in her classroom.

Since Ms. Bolstad’s school district uses NWEA as their assessment. She selected the Wowzers Math Program for her students because student NWEA data is synced with the Wowzers standards-based math content and she is able to easily auto-generated personalized learning paths for her students. She says that the individualized prescription from NWEA/Wowzers automatic path generator is precise and helps fill in gaps in her students’ learning. Additionally, she uses the ability to create her own group paths with specific content standards that she is working on in class to “ensure that her students are mastering their enduring set of standards and concepts.”

Ms. Bolstad says that her students love all of the activities in the Wowzers program that keep them engaged and ready to learn. Many students come to school early and work on their Wowzers program in her classroom first thing in the morning. “They know they can just knock on my back door and I let them in to work on Wowzers !” She says, “ the students  know that their assessment and what they work on are connected and that they are motivated by the fun of the program and also by the way they are held accountable.”