How Rocketbooks Improved my Secondary Math Classroom

by Holly Werra

I started using Rocketbooks in my classroom with four goals in mind: 1) Use more technology, 2) Use less paper, 3) Improve organization for my students and myself, and 4) Have a record of student work that can be referenced later. I have been using Rocketbooks for about a year now, and have found all of these goals are easily met using Rocketbooks!

Our district really encourages teachers to use technology in the classroom — to deliver material, collaborate, give feedback, etc. It’s HARD when you teach math. It’s easy to use technological tools like calculators, websites like Desmos, etc., but it’s hard to collaborate and give feedback when so much of what students do in a math classroom is hand-written. Now with Rocketbooks, I can use digital tools to have students turn in hand-written work, collaborate, and give feedback.

As a direct result of students turning in work digitally, the amount of paper I use has decreased by literally thousands of pages a year. In my Algebra 2 classes, students have a worksheet every day. I now make a pdf of the worksheet, post it online, and students answer the questions in their Rocketbooks and then turn it in. With over 70 Algebra 2 students, those pages add up.

Students turn in their work online, so I don’t have stacks of papers to bring home and go through. I check work online on my laptop. Students are also able to organize their Google Drive folders however they wish — I suggest they use the Smart Titles option to label each file with the textbook section it’s from so they can easily reference it later.

Once homework has been checked, the electronic file is always available. I have found this useful when I have marked work missing that a student insists they turned in. If it’s not in the folder, they didn’t turn it in. Or, if they turned in the wrong work, we can open up the file they turned in and go over what needs to be corrected. One other benefit of this is when I suspect a student copied another student’s work. Not only do I have an electronic copy to look at and even send to parents or administrators, but I can also look at previous assignments to see if any other work is suspicious. In the past, those previous paper assignments could have been handed back weeks ago, but now I have a copy that I can easily open up. I have had fewer problems with students copying when they know that I will have a permanent copy of the work. Additionally, parents have access to the online platform we use, so I encourage parents to log in and open up the files to see the quality of work their child is turning in.

Incorporating Rocketbooks has been pretty seamless. The cost of the books is a student fee added to my classes at the beginning of the year. For the first assignment I give students, I ask that they come to class with the app downloaded and the homework is done in their Rocketbooks. As a class, we get the app set up and the first assignment scanned. There is an adjustment period the first couple of weeks where students need reminders to turn their work in and may need help scanning, but they adjust pretty quickly.

To make things easier for students, I always have extra pens if they need to borrow one (marked with tape so they don’t forget it’s mine), and two bins of microfiber rags — one wet and one dry, which I wash every month or so. I print out extra paper Rocketbook sheets in case a student forgets their book. Students are responsible for refills if their pens run out or new pens if they lose them, but I also keep a supply of them if students would prefer to just buy them from me. If you buy in bulk, refills are about $1 and new pens are about $1.50. Occasionally, students don’t have phones. They break them, forget them, or get them taken away. When that happens, I just scan their work to my email and forward the email to them.

Rocketbooks have been a valuable tool in my classroom and I have developed routines that students are not only comfortable with, but that benefit them. Students are able to use digital tools in the classroom and at home that improves their organization and as a result, make my job easier.