Do You IXL? {A Series of Posts - Post 4 - The Final Post}

THE YEAR IS DONE. Oh, my golly. What a year. But, the growth of my students is what made me so happy about this program.

But I'm not going to give you JUST the roses of IXL. This post is also going to include the thorns, too.

So let's talk. Let's get down to the nitty gritty and talk about the pros and cons of IXL throughout this past year.

-provides interactive practice on those tough skills beyond passing out worksheets to complete

-gets students motivated to work on hard skills such as language topics or math topics

-includes a variety of reports to support your data across a variety of topics

-ability to practice specific skills to fit your students' needs

-makes a great center during your reading group time

-incentives for student achievements (badges)

-can utilize the program at home or at school

-building of classroom communities

-aligned to the Common Core

-students spend a lot of time on "badges" and looking at their progress instead of working on developing skills

-glitches on the website have questions repeat sometimes, which leads to less "true" practice

-skewed data within some reports

As you can see, there's QUITE a few more pros about the program than there are cons. Can you see that I have a loving relationship towards IXL?! Can you also see that my STUDENTS have a loving relationship with IXL, too??

They love to hear that IXL is on the agenda and they actually LOVE to explore and love the time when I say - "EXPLORE!" They do the standards and skills THEY have interests in, which then provokes me as the teacher to give them more exposure to THOSE standards.

LOVED having IXL this year. One of the best things I could have possibly EVER used with my kiddos this year and cannot WAIT to use it next year!!

Would YOU use IXL with your kiddos? Why or why not?