This document describes a math game called Albert's Insomnia that is designed to help students improve their math fact fluency and automaticity through engaging game play. It discusses how today's students have lower engagement levels in traditional classrooms compared to past generations due to increased access to stimulating technologies and media. Albert's Insomnia aims to generate the high engagement necessary to help automate math facts in students' brains by making practice feel like a fun game. The document provides evidence that schools using the game have seen substantial increases in math proficiency and proposes a contest format modeled on spelling bees to further motivate students and raise funds for schools.

2. 1) Improve math scores
2) Make some money for your school
3) Have fun, all rolled into one simple plan
Let me show you how to:

3. Why are only 26% of high school graduates proficient in
12th grade math today?
Everyone knows math skills
build on each other so a
systemic problem like this
must be seriously addressed
at the foundation.
Did you know studies
report the best predictor for
a 12th grade student’s math
success is how well that
student did in the 3rd
grade?

4. Educators are properly focused on teaching math
fact fluency in the 3rd grade today, just as they have
for decades. Today’s educators are better qualified,
better paid, and better trained with improved
techniques, high tech equipment, etc. So what has
substantively changed in today’s classrooms that is
causing this decline in math?

5. 40 years ago, I, and many others like me,
had sticks, rocks, and dirt to play with
and lived in a house with one black and
white tube TV with 3 channels and no
remote. If we were lucky, we had an
hour of cartoons on Saturday morning
before our parents woke up. Our
classrooms were one of our most
engaging environments!
Today, students have toys we could not have
imagined 40 years ago, and they live in a big screen,
Hi-Def, 3D, surround sound, remote controlled,
smart phone, on-demand, instant gratification, fast
food, supra-normal-stimuli video gaming world.
Classrooms are likely not their most engaging
environments! The traditional ways math facts were
taught are no longer effectively engaging most of
today’s students.
Relative Engagement Levels

6. A Helpful Engagement Analogy
BLACKSMITHS = EDUCATORS
METALS = STUDENTS’ BRAINS
TEMPERATURE OF THE FIRE = ENGAGEMENT LEVEL
Metals are easily reshaped only when the fire is hot enough.
Otherwise, the metals retain their shape and the blacksmiths
only have a sore arm to show for all their efforts.
Kid’s brains today are complex, high tech alloys requiring a
fusion-like reactor to generate the necessary heat to make the
gray matter “flow.”
When I was a kid, all it took was the warm glow of
a campfire to keep us engaged.

7. Automaticity is when the math facts become permanently “stored” in long term
memory. Here, the facts can be instantly recalled, as opposed to repeatedly “solving” the
same problems in the valuable and limited working memory* part of the brain.
*Advanced math requires the working memory be “available” for processing higher concepts while
integrating smoothly with the math facts that should be stored in long term memory.
The “simple” decisions are now allowed
to take place in the background …... so the “driver” can focus on other more
important tasks.
Lower relative engagement levels in the classrooms have
resulted in a decline in AUTOMATICITY.
What is Automaticity and what role does it play in
furthering student’s math careers?

8. Almost every teacher, even college professors, tell us,
”My students do not know their math facts.”
How can one teacher possibly engage dozens of
today’s students to automate something as mundane as learning math facts?
Let me tell you about my good
friend, Kathy Spruiell. She is one of
the best elementary math coaches,
teachers and trainers in the country,
diligently working on this very
problem.
Is this “Mission Impossible”? No!

9. Kathy Spruiell uses the “Albert’s Insomnia” not so
secret formula to help solve this big problem.
• Is available in many: card games, home
school kits, mobile apps, and an ERP
(Electronic Resource Program with built -
in layers of assessment for students and
teachers).
• Is a great value and Very Affordable and
will even serve as a great fund raising
tool and community
involvement/outreach program to help
ease strained budgets.
(Higher Test Scores) + (Games kids love to Play) = “Albert’s Insomnia”
***The Results are in***
Last year, Kathy used Albert’s Insomnia to
increase the average number of students
exceeding the state standard in her school’s
3rd, 4th, and 5th grades by 33% playing for 15
minutes/day 3-4x/week!
*Data from GADOE Press release.
“Albert’s Insomnia”
• Plays like a game students WANT to play.
• Automatically tiers instruction; meaning,
the game play starts off easy to engage
even the most math reluctant students,
not just the ones that are already good at it,
while simultaneously reinforcing mental
math fact fluency.

10. Spelling Bees!
Did You Know?
• On their 100th anniversary, in 1925, the “Scripps National
Spelling Bees” were established and are still going strong
today.
• Since the advent of “Spell Check technology,” participation
has doubled in these competitions.
• These competitions are very popular with schools,
students, parents , and sponsors.
• The finals are in the 24/7 news cycle every year.
Even though Spelling Bees:
do not have a significant impact on standardized test scores
do not offer differentiation for all student ability

11. News Flash:
We just got a report in stating: “23% increase in
computational proficiency using Albert’s Insomnia
in just two weeks!”
Today, the news is full of stories about
educators continuing to struggle with math as
seen in the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s article
“Educators: Address kid’s math struggle”
by Rose French on the front page June 28, 2014.
How can you be the Hero?

12. 3) PTA can even ask local businesses to join the fun and “sponsor” the
contest or provide prizes creating more interest and funds for the
school.
Create an “Albert’s Insomnia Challenge” at
your school modeled after spelling bees.
This is as simple as 1 2 3 !
1) Improve math skills and test scores for students by kids playing
Albert’s Insomnia.
2) Very reasonable upfront cost with OPEN ENDED FUNDING!
PTA can recoup investment with a very low entry fee.
Many schools already have a math night. Plan the school finals
to coordinate with math night so sponsors can participate and be part
of the fun and make math night at your school a BIG DEAL!

13. Try my game for free today! If you can make it up to
level 7 of the “Free Challenges” ladder, the value of
“Albert’s Insomnia” becomes intuitively obvious, even
to the casual observer!
You can register yourself and play the “Free Challenge” ladder at;
http://game-albertinsomnia.rhcloud.com/
See how well YOU can do!

14. Albert’s Insomnia
A Game You Can Count On!
For a demonstration or more product
information please contact:
Richard John Buchner III
3732 Galdway Dr.
Snellville, GA 30039
Ph. 678-787-4524
Email rjb3games@gmail.com
www.albertsinsomnia.com
“Albert is a proven winner.
He will be a winner for you too!”
The best piece of “exercise” equipment is……
the one you will use.
there's no thrill in easy sailing when the skies are clear and blue,
there's no joy in merely doing things which any one can do. but there
is some satisfaction that is mighty sweet to take, when you reach a
destination that you never thought you'd make...
anonymous