1. Reorganized Math Bits Content

One of the most common pieces of feedback from teachers has been that the original offering—while rich in content—sometimes exceeded the available classroom time. From the beginning, our goal has been to provide a broad and flexible set of resources so that teachers can choose what works best in their specific contexts. At the same time, we recognize the need to make selection and planning even easier.

For the 2025–2026 school year, we’re introducing a new structure that strikes a better balance between the depth of the 5E Instructional Model and the time constraints of most classrooms.

In addition to reorganizing and prioritizing the content, we’ve also revised the Explore activities to make them clearer and more streamlined.

As always, Math Bits remains fully customizable: teachers can adapt the content to fit their methodology, student groups, and available time.

We’ve attached a draft outlining the reorganized content for Grades 7–10. Please note that this document is still a work in progress as we continue to refine it ahead of the next school year.

2. New Integers Unit in Math Bits

In the current Math Bits proposal, integers are introduced through an algebraic lens. The Algebraic Language unit introduces algebraic notation and working with expressions, followed by the Integers and Equations unit, which uses algebra to introduce the concept of integers.

This approach is based on research in mathematics education conducted by educational experts Eva Cid and Pablo Beltrán-Pellicer at the University of Zaragoza, whose work has informed our pedagogical design. The goal is to avoid common learning difficulties that can arise with other approaches.

After implementing this proposal in classrooms, we received valuable suggestions from teachers. In response, we’ve developed a new Integers unit that offers an alternative instructional approach—also grounded in research in the didactics of mathematics and pedagogically sound (see rationale below).

The new unit is now available in your intranet. At this time, the Explain-type lessons are ready, and the remaining lessons will be added between June and September 2025.

The previous units (Algebraic Language and Integers and Equations) will remain available for those who wish to continue using them.

You can explore the full details of our new instructional approach to integers here.

INTRANET UPDATES

1. Redesigned Intranet Interface

We’ve launched a full redesign of the Science Bits and Math Bits intranet platforms. This upgrade is aimed at giving you a faster, more efficient, and more intuitive user experience. The redesign significantly improves the platform’s performance and navigation while maintaining the overall layout and structure—ensuring that your teaching is not disrupted and the transition is smooth.

We’ve also added a new button that allows you to hide editing tools, making it easier to navigate the platform.

2. Monitoring Evaluate Lessons

The Active Assessment Monitoring feature builds on the capabilities of LIVE Mode and expands them to provide a new level of oversight for Evaluate lessons.

When you access LIVE Mode as usual, you can now choose between traditional tracking and a new Assessment monitoring view.

This view lets you see all Evaluate lessons that are currently active within their time window, as well as those scheduled for upcoming dates.

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Just like in LIVE Mode, you will get a list of students taking the assessment, along with detailed, real-time information about their progress:

1. 1. Active / Inactive / Not Started yet / Completed students.
2. 2. Individual student progress during the assessment.
3. 3. Alerts for potential issues: If a student minimizes the browser window or switches tabs, both the number of times and the total time spent doing so are recorded.

This feature is intended for in-class assessments and is especially helpful for detecting whether students are consulting external resources or using unauthorized tools—like AI assistants—during evaluations. It is not intended for assessments taken at home.

3. Blocking Explain-Type Activities Used in Evaluate Lessons

When a teacher creates an Evaluate lesson that includes activities from Explain-type lessons, those activities are automatically blocked in their original units for the duration of the assessment. This prevents students from using them as a reference while completing the test.

When hovering over a blocked activity, a short explanation appears indicating why access is restricted.

4. New Group Commenting System in the Results Table

Teachers can now add group-level comments directly from the results table of any activity. Just like manual grading of open-ended questions, you can write one comment for the entire group and then personalize it for individual students as needed.

This feature allows you to use the answer key (marked with a key icon) or a teacher-written comment as general feedback, and then tailor it as needed for students who may require more specific guidance.

Keep in mind that assigning a new group comment will replace any previously entered feedback.