Desmos

What is Desmos?
★ Desmos is a free suite of online math
software, where teachers can build and
share interactive, standards-based, math
lessons for students.
★ Online scientific and graphing
calculators are also available, and these
calculators are the same ones embedded
in Georgia Milestone Assessments and
End of Course Tests.
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Supporting the shared vision

★ The vision of Forest Park High School is
to be a school of high performance
preparing all students to live and
compete successfully in a global society.
○ Desmos helps to support this vision by
presenting math in fun and
interactive ways, all while
maintaining the proper level of rigor
needed to be successful.
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Strategic Planning & Diffusion

★ Lead teachers can use department
meetings and collaborative planning to
demonstrate to teachers how to utilize
Desmos with their instruction.
★ Lead teachers can also point out Pearson
(online textbook) lessons that already
have Desmos activities embedded in
them to make integration easier.
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Desmos & standards correlation

★ Desmos calculator and activity builder are both standards
aligned
★ There are math standards (MGSE9-12.F.IF.7 for example)
that require students to use technology to graph functions.
Desmos allows for accuracy and provides great visuals for
students.
★ Desmos activities are created by teachers, and they can
relate to any standard the teacher chooses.
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Research-based Learner Centered

Strategies
Pino-James (2015) states that students learn best when the learning is
meaningful, when students feel like they are in control of their learning,
and when they are in collaborative settings. Desmos allows students to
explore concepts without much direction from the teacher, making their
discoveries more meaningful. For example, this activity teaches students
about combining like terms using relatable examples, but without simply
telling them how to do so. Additionally, in some instances, students are
able to see their peers’ responses, causing them to see math from other
perspectives, and oftentimes, recognizing some of their own mistakes. The
meaningfulness of the activities, the learner autonomy, and the
collaboration features help make the learning more engaging for learners.
Authentic learning & higher order thinking
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skills
★ Desmos allows for student interaction with the math, opening the door for
authentic and meaningful learning to occur.
○ For example, this particular Desmos activities requires students to
move the graph to hit the stars; this can only happen through
manipulation of the various components of the equations.
★ Many of the activities require students to complete a challenge and/or
explain their thinking. This takes them away from the rote process of
giving a simple answer. Students have to apply their previous learnings,
and defend their answers using mathematical language.
○ For example, further extending the example activity above, in this
particular activity, students have to create the entire line to hit the
starts. This requires them to know what and where the intercepts are,
as well as calculate the slopes.
 Instructional design from the
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teacher’s perspective
★ Teachers can search import
classes from Google Classroom
or create class codes for
students to join
★ Teachers have the option of
using pre-made activities by
Desmos or other teachers, or
creating their own activities
★ Teachers can see student
responses in live time and leave
feedback

*Click on the picture to view Desmos as a

teacher!
 Instructional design from the
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Student’s perspective
★ Students of all grade levels are
able to utilize Desmos, as long
as their teachers gives them a
code.
★ Students are able to express
calculations, predictions,
thoughts, and responses to
classmates

*Click on the picture to view Desmos as a

student!
 Instructional design from the
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Assessment perspective
★ Desmos partners with various
testing publisher and
assessment companies,
allowing their calculators and
activities to be embedded on
various platforms.

*Click on the picture to view Desmos

embedded in assessments!
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Differentiation
★ Students are able to work at their own
pace.
★ Teachers can have multiple sessions
going at once, allowing for station
learning, small group learning, or
individual learning.
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Diversity
★ Desmos makes learning accessible for all
students
★ Screen readers can be set up to assist
those who need read-alouds
★ Desmos offers a Braille setting for those
who are visually impaired
★ Please visit this webpage for more
information
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Collaborative learner &

Communication
★ With some Desmos activities, students are able to
see their classmates’ responses to questions, and
have a conversation about the responses.
★ Some activities partner students up, and they play a
mathematical version of Guess Who.
★ Teachers can display responses on the board and ask
probing questions, encouraging discourse
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What does research say about Desmos?

Desmos is a free and easy to use tool that gives students a
visual way to understand expressions; it provides teachers
with a “powerful platform for instruction” (Desmos Review
for Teachers, 2021). According to Corley, Desmos is a tool that
allows teachers to be more effective and efficient (2020). The
graphing calculator, for example, allows students to be able to
make connections between function tables, the graph of the
function, as well as the equation. Corley goes further to state
the activity builder portion of Desmos gives all students entry
points but still challenges all students (2017).
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Funding & cost for desmos

★ All parts of Desmos are free for all
teachers and students to use at all grade
levels.
★ There are standard-aligned curriculum
packages for grades 6-8 that can be
purchased. This is for those teachers and
schools that do not want to necessarily
search the website or create their own
presentations.
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Funding & Cost for Desmos con’t

★ Currently, only curriculum packages for
grades 6-8 are available for purchase, so
Forest Park High School does not have to
buy anything.
★ If high school content packages were to
come about, funding could come from:
○ Donors Choose
○ Title I funds
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Equipment and Software

★ Desmos is a free web-based tool.
★ Not mandatory, but a Google Email is
recommended for students
★ Because it is web-based, internet
connection is a necessity.
★ Can be accessed on computers, smart
phones, tablets, and iPads.
★ Videos can be played on Desmos, so
headphones can be used, but not
required.
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Professional & Continuous

Learning for Implementation
★ Lead teachers, department chairs, and academic
coaches can use collaborative planning sessions to
ensure proper learning and integration
★ CCPS’s math department offers PDs on Desmos
integration
★ Desmos offers free PDs to the public
★ Digital Learning Specialists (DLS) can also assist with
integration of Desmos through request
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Limitations
★ The search engine ★ Have to know a little
within Desmos is not ★ Not yet compatible about coding for some
very effective. with Canvas aspects of Desmos
○ If you type ○ Classes can ○ If a teacher wants
“growth and be imported Desmos to inform
decay” into the from Google students if their
search engine, Classroom, answers are
almost nothing but not from correct or not, this
will come populate Canvas has to be coded
○ Type “growth and into the activity
decay Desmos during creation
activities into
Google, and
multiple activities
will populate
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Technical support
★ Clayton County Public Schools has a great
Digital Learning Specialist (DLS) Team,
who are great at technology integration
and troubleshooting support.
★ Desmos offers free professional
development sessions and tutorial videos
on their website
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Safety, healthy, legal & issues

★ Students cannot login Desmos without
the teacher providing them a link or a
code
★ Students can login using their Google
Email credentials, but this information is
not released to the public
★ While students are engaged in a Desmos
activity, only their names can be
seen--no other personal information
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REFLECTIONS
After thoroughly reviewing Desmos, I would recommend it to
any and every math teacher. I love the freedom Desmos offers
to teachers and students. Teachers are able to create their own
activities or explore the thousands of activities in the library.
Students are not only able to do math, but they are able to
interact with it and discover it. This is important for building
21st century learners and leaders. I especially love the
alignment of the calculators to that of state exams. This
ensures that what students use and interact with a daily basis
is going to help them be successful.
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REFERENCES
Corley, N. (2017). Desmos Activity Builder creates conversations in math. New Jersey

Education Association. https://www.njea.org/desmos-activity-builder-creates-conversations/

Corley, N. (2020). Desmos in the Math Classroom. Peers and Pedagogy.

http://achievethecore.org/peersandpedagogy/desmos-math-classroom/

Desmos Review for Teachers. (2021). Common Sense Education.

https://www.commonsense.org/education/website/desmos

Pino-James, N. (2015). Golden Rules for Engaging Students in Learning Activities. Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/golden-rules-for-engaging-students-nicolas-pino-james