digits READ ME FIRST

Customer-facing information to be sent out prior to in-service training

Please read and customize the below email template for your customers, include rep or CS contact info in the signature, and forward to customers prior to in-servicewith attachments as needed. Included within is the following information:

  1. Registration details for digits content on SuccessNetPlus; Attachment 1
  2. Getting started in SuccessNetPlus (setup tools, etc): Attachments 2 and 3
  3. digits content downloads via CoCo (temporary backup until Resource DVDs become available)
  4. Teacher homework in the form of self-guided online SuccessNetPlus training

Dear XYZ:
I have included three documents for your teachers to print out to get started working with digits online.
Please have the teachers follow the documents in order from

1. Registration Guide

2. Getting Started Guide

3. TOC Orientation

In the first document on teacher registration, please go to < of < .

digitsDashboard.com is the online teacher login site specific for this program. There are also other features on digitsDashboard that the SuccessNetPlus login does not have. Please follow the rest of the directions as written in the teacher registration document.
If you would like to see the login site for students go to < Pearson is still fine-tuning both of these sites, and you will see many new features popping up soon.
Once teachers have registered, the second document, Getting Started, will walk them through the features of the online management system for digits, including some setup tools and the like.
Document 3- TOC Orientation- is an overview of how the online digits Table of Contents section is labeled.
When teachers get to < , they will see a hyperlink for CoCo, which is our Digits Community Connection Site. This is where teachers will go to download the digits lessons for the beginning of this year so they will have those offline, if something happens to the internet when they are teaching.
Here are the directions for downloading:
Go to <
Click on the CoCo channel and follow the CoCo link
Once you are on CoCo, look for the “Downloads” section in the upper right hand corner and use the following credentials:
Username = digitsteacher
Password = digitsmath5
The FINAL teacher resource DVD will be finished in November, but teachers will be able to download digits content as described until that time. When the final resource DVD comes out, teachers will want to get rid of these downloads, as any potential interim corrections will be made before the final resource DVD is burned.
All teachers will be receiving a back to school Teacher Resource Kit in the next couple of weeks at the school (indeed, these resource may already have arrived). This kit has the Implementation Guide and five copies of the Homework CD (assignments for the first two Units). I am providing the attached resources to you so you can get a head start.
The first two topics in each grade level are now LIVE in digits. The first semester will be finished by the end of August and the full program by the end of October.
It will be like Christmas for the next couple of months, as you will see lots of additional content on the online site. It is a fluid environment.
I would like the teachers to do the following online training homework before we come into the day of training:

  1. Go to follow the MyPearsonTraining link.
  2. Click on the SuccessNet Plus tab that is to the right of the Program Tutorials lab.
  3. Click on the green boxes with white arrow links for video tutorials on how to use SuccessNet Plus. This will be a great pre-training.

PSN+ Accounts: School Codes (how to find them and how to troubleshoot, including 911 Support)

Use: INTERNAL School Code Lookup Tool
Prior to a successful in-service, you must make sure that customers have access to their School Codes so they can complete their self-registration on PSN+. A School Code is automatically generated once Student Package orders “drop” (i.e. they are processed in full). School Codes provide a teacher with access to all programs on PSN+ that their school purchases.
There are three ways to find school codes:

  1. At the beginning of the registration process, teachers can request one themselves and it will be immediately sent to the teacher by email. When teachers go to < , there is a “Need an Account?” option in the login box in the upper right hand corner. They use the “Need an Account” option to request their school code. THIS MUST BE DONE AT LEAST A WEEK AHEAD OF IN-SERVICE TO ENSURE THE SCHOOL CODE IS AVAILABLE DURING TRAINING.
  2. You can look up a customer’s school code yourself. This option is recommended so you can create your own teacher account for the school to make sure everything works properly. (Note: creating your own school-specific account will NOT eat into the school’s available teacher accounts). Use the School Code lookup tool <make this an active link to the attachment> to locate school code information on your own. You can then email or print the School Code to distribute to a customer. THIS PROCESS TAKES JUST A FEW MINUTES. Please see the attached “INTERNAL USE ONLY School Code Lookup Tool” attachment and please be sure to read it in full.
  3. If neither the customer nor yourself can locate the school code (most probably because the order has not yet been processed) and you absolutely must provide customers with PSN+ access because you are about to in-service them, follow these steps:

a. send an email to
b. include: school name, school address, product name
c. describe the reason for your request (in-service, delay w depository/reseller, etc)
d. school code will be manually set and emailed to you
e. THIS PROCESS TAKES 48 HOURS.
If all else fails, please call the Back to School 911 hotline

911 Support is a service that provides a path for the escalation of issues with a focus on providing support for Sales and Curriculum Specialists. While Technical Support and Customer Service are provided as services to the customer, 911 Support is focused on addressing the escalation of an issue by any Pearson employee.

The expectation is that other tools like Community Connection and/or myPearsonTraining will be the first options used but 911 Support will ultimately be available to ensure that critical issues receive the required attention. All Pearson products will be supported and all issues may be addressed including issues with the PSN or PSN+ platforms. 911 Support provides a daily forum dedicated to addressing the most urgent needs of Sales and Curriculum Specialists.

911 Support is provided via phone support through a daily conference call that is open to all employees.

  • Dial-in: 877-554-0877
  • Conference Code: 911SUPPORT
  • June 27 through September 30
  • Monday through Friday
  • 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (EST)

In addition, this is an ideal forum to request special assistance for high profile/high sales or VIP customers, with potential hands-on involvement from the platform team.

PSN+ access for you and your customers

For your own use: please see the INTERNALDemo Training Account file. Creating an account this way gives you access to all PSN+ content (not just digits but other programs as well) and it comes populated with Demo School students (a roster you can pull from to populate your own classes). Please also visit the PSN+ intranet site for more information, marketing materials, etc:
For in-service teacher/administrator use: refer to the Registration Guide (this document is also included in the template email to in-service teachers). This document details for teachers/administrators how to create their own PSN+ account, including looking up or requesting their school code. Ideally, teachers and administrators can do this ahead of time so they have access to PSN+ by the time you arrive to in-service digits. Remember that teachers should use < access PSN+ via the login area in the upper right hand corner of the site.

Recommended teacher “homework” prior to in-service (PSN+ basics)
If possible, encourage teachers to self-train on PSN+ basics. They can do so by viewing a few short, simple training video clips online at MyPearsonTraining.com. Below are instructions you can give out prior to training; these instructions are also included in the templated email you can send on to customers prior to in-service:

  1. Go to < follow the MyPearsonTraining link.
  2. Click on the SuccessNet Plus tab that is to the right of the Program Tutorials lab.
  3. Click on the green boxes with white arrow links for video tutorials on how to use SuccessNet Plus. This will be a great pre-training.

Generic in-service agenda to help you plan

In-service agenda
Please see the digits Training Agenda file. These are merely guidelines, for your use as you build out your own agenda depending on the time you have with customers and other factors. Suggested time allotments for each topic are also included, along with discussion topics and necessary print materials. You will want to consider spending a substantial amount of time on PSN+ training.

Print components necessary for in-service, and how to use them (with tabbing guide)
The most important print component all teachers should have in hand for a digits in-service is the Program Overview Guide. This item is included in the back-to-school Teacher Resource Kit which ships automatically to every teacher who has purchased digits prior to November 15, 2011. If, for some reason, teachers do not have their Program Overview Guide available at the time of in-service, you may download the complete component as a PDF file (131 pages) right from the digits Teacher Orientation folder on PSN+.
Below is a tabbing guide for the Program Overview Guide to walk teachers who are learning digits through it:

  1. Building to CCSS Content Standards and Standards for Mathematical Practice (page 12) – CCSS and the SfMP are two separate things; SfMP are incorporated into the lesson design – in fact, lesson development focus was on this from the very beginning. Show CCSS correlations beginning on pp 18
  2. Intervention Scope and Sequence (page 30) – additional content; can help with transition to CCSS/fill holes (Kurt, I am investigating your bridging docs question from SSM2011!)
  3. interACTIVE Learning Cycle (page 30) – the importance of understanding by design, hosts/Jay; then (page 44) how the pedagogical architecture of digits supports response to intervention
  4. Components Chart (page 71) – reiterate simplicity of program structure, both student/teacher packages only have two components, define what the resource kit is and what it includes (and why)
  5. Digits Dashboard (page 74) – “first point of entry”, how it provides support and links to SN+
  6. Navigation and Universal Features (page 76) – these features make it easy for teachers to make the lessons flexible
  7. Math Tools (page 79) – what they are, where they are, how they work
  8. MMU and Homework (page 90) – how HW is delivered, graded, what support is provided; MMU = “first point of entry”, how it provides edutainment and links to SN+
  9. Differentiating Instruction (page 93) – Learner Levels, Readiness vs. Intervention lessons
  10. Appendix (page 128) – getting the lay of the SN+ land

Other useful materials to have on hand are:

  • TOC Orientation (located in the Appendix to the Program Overview Guide and also printable from the Teacher Orientation Folder on PSN+): gives an overview of how digits content is organized on PSN+
  • The Quick Start Guide, also known as the Getting Started Guide (located in the Teacher Orientation Folder on PSN+ and also on the CoCo channel via < printable form both sources): gives an in-depth tour of PSN+ for first-time users, including setting up classes, adding content, setting up the calendar, etc

Note the product sampling guidelines for digits. As we are currently at the very beginning of the product cycle, please limit your sample orders to prevent customer orders from going on backorder. As needed, use the resources detailed above to print out materials.

Use: digits ISBNs and Availability file

Information on the deployment of digits content (and directions for temporary customer downloads via CoCo)
Note that customers are currently receiving Student Packages (one Student Companion book per student plus PSN+ access per student). Note that teachers are currently receiving back to school Teacher packages. Actual Teacher Resource Packages with full course content will ship on November 15 to every customer AUTOMATICALLY. You do not need to do anything to ensure your customer receives the back to school TRK – every customer receives BOTH the back to school TRK and the actual TRK, provided an order for the actual TRK was placed.
Check outthedigits BTS Release Dates filefor an overview of content release dates. The back to school TRK contains HW CDs for the first two unit plus the Program Overview Guide. There are no backup DVDs in the back to school TRK. Instead, we are encouraging teachers to download lesson content to their computer from CoCo (via < ). We currently have the first two units for each grade available for download. The complete first half of the course will be made available for download by the end of August. The Program Overview Guide in the back to school TRK has a large sticker on the inside front cover with download instructions; these are copied below:
As a backup measure in case of internet outage, you may download digits lesson content to your computer desktop. Please visit < , and click on the CoCo (Community Connections) channel. Go to the "Downloads" section to access digits lessons. (Username: digitsteacher and Password: digitsmath5). Download times are determined by the speed of your internet connection. To maximize productivity, you may wish to download digits lesson content to your computer overnight or after work hours. Resource DVDs with full lesson content will ship to you later this fall, replacing the backup internet download process.
Please make sure everyone reads the ReadMe file on the download. There are important instructions there for Flash security settings, which if you do not do, the BACKUP COPY WILL NOT LOAD.

Information on Math Tools (how to become an expert on them)
Every single Math Tool has an embedded informational video (click on the question mark in the upper right hand corner when you are in the Math Tool screen). These videos are currently being loaded into PSN+ for point-of-use teacher access. In order to help train teachers on the correct use of Math Tools, we have uploaded the script for each of the Math Tool informational videos for your reference. Open the Math Tool and follow along on screen as you read each script to gain a complete understanding of how these excellent and unique Math Tools work. Here is how you can access the informational scripts:

  • Site URL:
  • Login / Password for general users: pearsondigits / password

Below is the complete list of Math Tools; instruction files are posted for each:

  1. digits Math Tools: Common Features
  2. Calculator
  3. Pan Balance
  4. Fractions and Percents: Compare and Order Fractions
  5. 2D Geometry Tool: Building Figures, part 1
  6. 2D Geometry Tool: Building Figures, part 2
  7. 2D Geometry Tool: Building Figures, part 3
  8. 2DGeometry Tool: Triangle Conditions
  9. 3DGeometry Tool: Compare Figures
  10. 3DGeometryTool: Nets
  11. Algebra Tiles Tool: Equations
  12. Algebra Tiles Tool: Explore
  13. Area Models Tool: Square Numbers and Square Roots
  14. Area Models Tool: Cube Numbers and Cube Roots
  15. Area Models Tool: Multiplication
  16. Coordinate Grapher Tool: First Quadrant
  17. Coordinate Grapher Tool: Full Plane
  18. Data and Graphs Tool
  19. Fractions and Percents Tool: Add and Subtract Fractions
  20. Fractions and Percents Tool: Compare Mixed Numbers
  21. Fractions and Percents Tool: Proportions and Percents
  22. Integer Chips Tool: Addition
  23. Integer Chips Tool: Explore
  24. Number Line Tool: Add & Subtract Decimals
  25. Number Line Tool: Add & Subtract Fractions
  26. Number Line Tool: Add & Subtract Integers
  27. Number Line Tool: Graph Inequalities
  28. Number Line Tool: Graph Rational Numbers
  29. Probability Tool

Fun digits card game to play at the end of your in-service session

Please see the digits Card Gamefile on how to “play” the digits card game that was introduced at Summer Sales meeting. This is best done towards the end of your session when folks have a deeper understanding of digits. 15 question/answer pairs are included here; the game can be played by any number of people (i.e. one person per card all the way to a group of 3 or 4 per card). Just make sure you have enough prizes to go around if you are working with a large group of players. Please contact if you’d like a more in-depth explanation of this game than what’s in the attached!