Edulastic Innovator Spotlight: Lauren Taylor

We are proud to introduce Edulastic Innovator Spotlight member Lauren Taylor! Lauren is a high school math teacher in Searcy, Arkansas. She is passionate about education technology, and she loves Edulastic because of the large question bank and real-time data. We enjoyed getting to know Lauren and hope you do too!

Get to know Lauren Taylor

What inspired you to work in education?

I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. I have several family members who work in the education field.

In my opinion, the subject students dislike or struggle with the most is math. When I was in school, I would hear students complain about how they didn’t understand the math or couldn’t learn from the teacher. I loved taking challenging math classes in high school and enjoyed tutoring younger students. In high school, I decided I wanted to be a high school math teacher so that I could be a math teacher who teaches kids that anyone could be successful in a math class.

What do you love about Edulastic? How do you use it in your classroom?

I love the math question bank! It helps me to create quality assessments for my students at the end of each unit. I love the ability to edit a question and the answers if it is not quite what I need. If I can’t find what I need in the question bank, I can easily create my own. My fellow Algebra 2 teachers like that we can share an assessment at the school level because we are required to have common assessments.

I also love the real-time data that I can see during an assessment. I can see which students may be struggling and who is zipping right along with no problem.

What tips do you have for teachers who are new to Edulastic?

If your standards are not in Edulastic, send them in! The standards will be quickly added. If there are not many questions for your subject area, don’t be afraid to write your own! It will be worth it!

Please sum up your teaching philosophy in a few sentences:

Treat every student how you would want your child to be treated.

Share an #EduVictory from the past year:

During a short quiz or exit ticket, I like to zoom in on the class average on Edulastic and project it on the board. I also write class averages from previous class periods on the board. The students get really serious about trying to raise the class average to beat other classes! It is a fun way to motivate them.

Fun Facts

Favorite Edulastic question type:

Multi-part questions

Favorite lesson to teach:

I love teaching students about Quadratic Equations.

What subjects do you use Edulastic for?

Math – Algebra 2

Favorite book:

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

Extracurricular activities:

I am the Quiz Bowl coach. We compete in academic competitions.

Must have classroom decor:

Cute calculator caddies! (handmade by my mom)

Funniest student moment:

We sing “Y=MX+B” to the tune of “YMCA” when learning about linear equations. On Field Day, “YMCA” came on and a huge group of students jumped in a circle and started singing loudly and dancing to “Y=MX+B”