THE BEST WEBSITE EVER FOR PRACTICE AND ASSESSING

I would like to preface this by saying, I am not a paid sponsor for IXL.com but it would be amazing if I were. It is an amazing website and if I could, I would use it for everything.

IXL is a website that has practice questions in all grades and a wide range of subject areas. 





The teacher creates a login and from there, creates student logins. There is the option for printing stickers with logins and a letter to parents. Since the website can be used at home, that is extremely helpful (and great for parent engagement) since many parents do not know how to help their children at home. 

Once a student logs on, they choose the grade level and subject.

There is then an exhaustive list of topics to choose from If a student is practicing for fun at home or when work is finished early, they might be given the freedom to choose a topic they want extra help on. If the teacher wants to target a specific topic, they might tell the students which area to stay in. For example, if my class is just beginning working on fractions, I might say they should practice W.1 however maybe later in the unit I would say to work in the "W" section. 

Once a student chooses an area to work on, they are given one question at a time. If the answer is incorrect, then the student is given an explanation of WHY it is incorrect. Then the student will either continue with similar leveled questions or be bumped back to easier questions that will help them to learn the skills that would support that learning goal.

If a student is getting correct answers, the difficulty level is gradually increased to challenge the learned. 

But how is this related to assessing? I'm so glad you asked. 

There is an entire tab of IXL on the teacher's page that breaks down student progress. You can view specific student's work and you can view class generalizations. The website highlights areas that multiple students have struggled in so you know what to focus on with larger groups and they show you suggested student grouping if only a few are making the same errors. 

Although IXL would not be a good choice for a summative assessment, it can be extremely useful for formative assessment because it has immediate feedback and support yet still tracks detailed data. 

While I focus on math, you can find almost every skill imaginable. Teachers can have students work on literacy skills. That could be extremely helpful for assessing student abilities between reading assessments. So much in reading is hard to assess because it typically involves one on one attention. 

There are some downsides to IXL that I have found. I do not like how the skills are all listed for each grade. It would be easier if there were a menu of topics then they click the menu item to see the specific skills in that area. To avoid confusion, teachers can teach their students how to use control+F on a PC computer to search for specific key words. Teachers can also assign sections to focus on as previously mentioned. Not all of the skills are aligned to the common core for each grade level so that is something to keep in mind as well. One option is to print out the page of skills and use it like a menu. Skills that should not be selected can be crossed off and skills that should be focused on can be highlighted. 

The biggest problem with IXL is that it costs money. 

A family membership starts at about $10 per month and a teacher membership price is not even listed on the website. Teachers need to submit a request for a quote to find out what it will cost. That alone sounds terrifyingly expensive. If it is too expensive for a teacher to pay for their class, there are two options that come to mind. The best option would be to put in a request for district or school funding for IXL memberships. If the district is willing to put the money into it, it is a great resource for teachers and families. If that option fails, then teachers can make a free 30 day trial. 30 days are better than no days. Those 30 days can be the 30 days leading up to state testing. Students get extra practice and the teacher can see what areas to review more in class. 

IXL has questions, not games, but it is extremely interactive and has the potential to help students who need extra support to achieve mastery. 

Thinking Globally

While my students may mainly be from immigrant families, the majority of my students were born and raised in their little area. Their families may think more globally and understand different cultures and perspectives, but my students only know what they are used to. In order to expand their global thinking, I would like to use Skype to allow my students to "meet" experts from around the world and to learn from people in different locations and cultures. 

We recently learned a lot about natural disasters, including earthquakes. It would be both fun and educational if my students were to Skype with a class from California and have those students tell my class about their perspective on earthquakes and how they learn to prepare for an earthquake. My class might be able to teach the California class something they do no not know about blizzards since my class has more snow experience than a California based class might (depending on the location). 

When learning about measuring or area and perimeter in math class, my class could Skype with an architect or someone in construction to learn more about how those are important topics when it comes to building strong and safe buildings. 

When my class is learning about the American Revolution, they could Skype with a class in England and discuss the differences in how they learn history. I can imagine students being extremely motivated understand our version of the events so they can clearly discuss America's side of the history. 

Although everything needs to be tied to a standard and have a clear academic purpose, there are many ways that those standards could be incorporated. The class could work on writing either to get ready to Skype or as an assignment afterwards. For example, if we had scheduled to Skype with an English class about the American Revolution, my students would have had to have learned about the war beforehand and might be able to write a persuasive letter to send to the students afterwards. 

Some of the issues that might arise from Skyping people in other parts of the world would be differing time zones and finding people to Skype. The timing is a relatively easy issue to solve depending on what part of the world you are trying to Skype. It just requires careful pre-planning. California is 3 hours behind and England is 5 hours ahead so both of those locations are manageable. If we wanted to Skype someone in China we might have a problem. Even if we found someone who speaks English, there would be a twelve hour difference in time. We might not be able to Skype a school but an expert might be possible. We could also write questions for the person or people we wanted to speak to and have the person send a video message in reply if scheduling was an irreparable problem. On the issue of finding people to Skype, there are websites that teachers can use to find other teachers to video chat with. In the past, I have found that word of mouth is surprisingly helpful in this area as well. I have friends or friends of friends that would be good candidates for Skyping as global experts. I also have friends who are teachers with connections to schools in other parts of the world. 

In incorporating Skype in the classroom, it would also open the floor for discussions on internet safety and internet etiquette. This link provides ideas and rational for teaching students etiquette and safety online, along with ideas for other ways to use video chatting and online resources. 

In today's world, most people know that the world is not literally flat but as Thomas Friedman writes, technology and economics have essentially created a metaphorical flat earth. There are fewer boundaries when it comes to economics and there are definitely fewer boundaries when it comes to education. Students will need to think globally as they get older so we should take advantage of the earth's newfound flatness and encourage global thinking at younger ages.  

Guinea Pigs and Research

According to research on best practices and UDL guidelines, it is important that students have choice in what they are learning in order to be engaged. Reading groups this year have been a struggle. I have too many groups that I am responsible for on my own and do not get to meet with each group nearly as much as I would like to. As a result, students work independently for the majority of the week. The group I have this year is very high maintenance and struggles to maintain engagement. It is especially harder for them to stay engaged and on task when I am devoting my attention elsewhere. 

One easy way to encourage choice during reading groups is to assign research projects. I developed a plan that involves a separate research assignment for each month of the school year. The topic of the month is relevant either to the season or what students are learning about in class. For example, unit 7 in ELA is about earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis so I chose for students to research natural disasters around that time of year. 

My brief notes on each topic can be found below. 

In trying to decide how I would teach my next class how to research, I decided to use my current class as guinea pigs. I set up my six classroom computers with a variety of websites on animals, gave students a recording sheet that had a few prompts, and basically told them to have at it. 

Even with minimal instructions or guidelines, students were extremely motivated. They read page after page of animal information, took lengthy notes, and begged me to be able to research more. From this experience, I was able to develop a pretty good idea of how to introduce research next year. 

I would probably begin with a really random question that would make the class curious. Something that they are unlikely to know. Then I would ask them what we could do to find out. We would then talk about why it is important to be able to research and I would tell them that they will have a different project each month. The first project would be more guided. The students would each have a laptop and they would all be working at the same time so I can supervise. For the rest of the projects, unless I borrow a full class set of laptops, will be completed in reading groups. A group usually has six or fewer students and I have six computers in my classroom. If I ever have more than six students in a group, I can sign out a laptop or iPad. 

For each topic I will have a recording sheet specific to that theme that will prompt students in what direction they should search. I found that the groups that had more guidance from their recording sheet usually wrote more than the one group that was just given blank paper. 

When I had my students researching animals this week, I told them websites to read. Next year I want to teach my students to use Google to their advantage (meaning for third grade research, they will search their chosen topic + "for kids" at the end of it to try to keep the results at an appropriate age and reading level). I also want to make a custom google search engine to keep the search even more secure. In their research I want my students to use more than one source. I want them to make sure that the sources' information align. I would show them the tree octopus website and we would talk about whether it is fiction or informational. Most students (if not all) will think that it is real and they will be shocked when they find out its a fake animal. That alone should help them to understand the need to verify sources (at least at a basic level). 

When students were working, some problems did arise. For example, one of the computers keeps freezing. I was able to unfreeze the computer by minimizing the page and opening it up again. I could keep an extra iPad on hand in the future in case a computer stops working. If I don't have an iPad on hand on the particular day where a problem arises, I can either have that student work with a partner and share a computer or have them finish the next day. 

Other problems were behavior related. One student started playing games and others started talking. I can strategically assign seats at the computers so friends aren't next to each other in the future. I was clear at the beginning of the assignment that students shouldn't watch videos (no headphones available) and they shouldn't play games. Students who choose to ignore directions can be told that if they continue to abuse the privilege of using a computer, they will have to research using books instead of the internet for the rest of the project that month. Missing out while friends use computers should be a big motivation to follow directions next time. 

The most common problem our technology has is that the internet sometimes stops. If that is the case, then the group researching can continue their research in the many books in our classroom. We have books on almost every topic on the list and book research is still an important skill to have. Students who are unable to use the computer to research can try again another day when the internet is working. 

When students are able to complete their own research, a vast array of doors open up to them. They then have the skills to learn on their own. If they are having a hard time on homework, they then have an idea on how to find information that can help them. They will also need research skills for the rest of their lives. 

I can see other teachers and grade levels finding student research useful. One example is in fifth grade. The fifth graders need to know a lot of information for the science MCAS. The students could each research their own topic as review and make a poster on that topic. They can present their topic to help their class remember everything they learned. I would love to see students make a poster and turn it into a video review on Explain Everything. Those videos could be compiled and posted online for students to review at home as a way to introduce study skills. 

The potential in these projects is great and the possibilities are endless. I cannot wait to see what my class does with this research next year. 

Math so fun it is *comical* (yeah I just went there).

I want my students to remember what they learn and connect it to the word around them. Math without context and understanding of when to use it, is useful. My class this year is OBSESSED with making comics. I have tried to harness that obsession on several occasions (such as in reading responses) but this project is a lot more exciting. 

I downloaded a free app called "Comic Strip- Comic Maker" I chose this one because although others said they were free, they had extremely limited features without paying. This app is by no means perfect but it suited the needs for what I want to do with it. 

The idea is that students will work to compile a class book that shows comic style images showing how math they have learned will appear outside of school. 

If it were the beginning of the year, I would have this project be an ongoing one. With each topic we learn about, we already discuss why it is important and when we would need it. I could easily have students record their ideas in their notebooks. Every time they see or think of another example throughout the unit, they can lengthen that list. Before each test, we have a review day. That would be the perfect day of the unit to incorporate making comics on the iPad. Students can pick their most interesting example and create a simple comic out of it. They can choose to either take a picture from around the classroom or download it from the internet. They can make adjustments to make the comic look cool but would be required to show how it is related to math using brief text. 

Since it is getting towards the end of the year, I can still have my class make comics for each unit but it would be more like a review of the year. Whether the project was gradual or completed towards the end of the year, the comics will be printed and compiled into a book. This book can be unique to that class as a volume of a multiyear collection, or it can be a single book that is added to each year. 

Here are some pros and cons for the app. 

It is important to note that you cannot move where the cursor is when you are typing in the app. If you make a mistake, you have to erase all of your text to get to that point. The fact that autocorrect doesn't fix mistakes makes this especially problemaitic. Even with working carefully and checking my work, I somehow still missed my own typo (but if you didn't see it on your own, I am not going to tell you where it is).

 I can see my colleagues using this app in other areas such as a project related to onomatopoeia. The third graders love that lesson in ELA class. It could also be fun for modeling science understanding.

This is such a fun project with the potential for strong math connections that can be read for years to come.

Has anyone tried this so far? Tell me how it went in the comics below.

Meet the Teacher Parent Letter

Students as Teachers in a Youtube World (AKA "How to Help Even the Shy and Quiet Students Transform to Brave and Confident Peer Teachers")

Every class has students who struggle. My class has two students in particular who struggle in math more than the rest of the class. The third grade has learned to add and subtract within 1,000 and one of those girls still struggles to even read three digit numbers. Both girls have been staying after school with me for one-on-one tutoring for a while now. Today was the first time I combined their tutoring sessions to work with the both of them together at the same time. The girls were with me for an hour, and we solved 3 equations total. Solving only 3 equations in that length of time may sound preposterously unproductive for a teacher and 2 third graders, but that was probably the most productive hour we have had yet. In one hour, my students were self-motivated to figure out how to explain their work with perfect clarity. In one hour, my students gained the confidence to show off their work to the principal, vice principal, and both of their moms. In one hour, those girls agreed to let me show their work to the rest of the third grade. That may not seem like much but neither of these girls participate much in class. It is hard to be brave and confident sharing what you think might be an answer if you are not even confident of what a number says.

But lets back it up... what did I actually have my students do?

After researching several platforms for screen casting and presenting (such as "Go Record:Screen Recorder," "Record it! :: Screen Capture," "VoiceThread" and even a sadly disappointing green screen app) I ended finding Explain Everything. One of the draws for that particular app is that I can use a free 30 day trial, I can access Explain Everything on a computer or a portable device, the app is user friendly, and I was able to download the app without updating my iPhone to iOS 11.0 (which for trivial and complicated reasons, I am unwilling to do at the moment).

Explain Everything is an app that allows users to record their own screen cast videos. When using the app, I was able to record audio while drawing on a screen (think Khan Academy).  I explored the wide variety of features that Explain Everything has such as the ability to customize backgrounds, options for changing pen type and color, the ability to add your own files and more) but for my purposes, only its most basic features were necessary.

I focused on the pen and highlighter tools the most but students who are more adept at multitasking could use other features as well. The arrow in particular could be helpful for students who want to point to the spot on the screen they are talking about in their voice over. The main function I am exploiting the app for is its usefulness in recording student explanations and visuals as they show how to solve a math problem.

I made an example video to make sure I was confident in how to use the app, and showed my students so they could get an idea of what they were going to be doing. They were instantly intrigued. I then asked them what topic they would like to hear an explanation on. Both girls said division. I then wrote a division equation on a piece of paper, solved it then modeled how I could reflect on the steps I used to solve. I modeled writing down notes on what I want to talk about when I explain my work. I then showed the girls how I could use Explain Everything on an iPad to create my own division tutorial. I even showed them that I should watch my video, think about what I would fix, and then actually record the same thing again, but without the mistakes. They were super excited to try their own.

Since my two students had been working on adding three digit numbers using drawings of base ten blocks, I gave them an equation and asked them to solve it. I then asked each girl how she solved it and we compared methods. Then the girls then worked together to figure out what they would say to explain their work and scripted what they would say. Their first recording was completed by the two of them together with an excessive amount of confusion, stammering, and embarrassed giggles. They were then very motivated to try again. This time, they requested each using their own iPad and recording independently of each other. They then sat at opposite ends of the room, hunched over iPads, explaining and reexplaining how to add with regrouping using a visual model. With each attempt I could hear excitement and a rapidly growing confidence in my students' voices. When the girls were finally content with their work, I asked them if they wanted to show it off. At first they seemed hesitant but then they looked back at their iPads and excitedly smiled and said yes. We then brought the iPads to the principal's office where she and the vice principal patiently watched both videos (despite the fact that they were nearly identical). They could see the pride on the girls' faces. both administrators loved the videos and gave specific positive feedback (such as, "I love that I could hear you go back and check your work!" and, "You did such a great job breaking the problem down into steps that are easy for people to follow!" and even, "It's just like the Khan Academy videos!"). The principal even asked the girls if she can share the videos with the second graders and put the videos on the school website to parents can learn how to help their students at home. When the girls' moms saw the videos, both moms just as enthusiastic in their praise. One of the moms kept telling her daughter, "I'm so proud of you" over and over again.

These girls are so used to receiving failing test grades and having wrong answers despite receiving special attention and extra help. For them to have such a positive experience with math was extremely powerful for them. I do not doubt that they will have much stronger memories of how to add using drawings of base ten blocks.

My goal had been to do this activity with the entire class today. It was supposed to be our last review before the math state test. I was going to break the class up into pairs and assign each group a different topic. When a group finished, they would upload that video online so that at the end of class, we could watch each group's video and review all of the year's topics. Sadly, due to a meeting during the school day, I was unable to do this. Despite that disappointment, I am glad that I was able to try it out with a smaller group of students first to help figure out (in a less stressful situation) what kinds of supports would be necessary for students to be successful. When I carry out my original plan next week, I will have students solve on their own on paper first, just like today. That really allowed both students to engage in the planning of the videos today, and might prevent certain students from taking over their groups next week. I am going to try using cardboard privacy barriers to help control background noise in the videos to block out the voices in the tutorials. Even with only two students in the room, the iPads picked up on the other girls' voices from across the room. Having completed those videos first, I now have student examples to show the class, which are probably much  more exciting for the rest of the class to view than my example. Additionally, I now have two student app experts that can help their groups to understand how to work the software.

Transferring the videos on unreliable
internet has proved trying.

The biggest problems that I have encountered so far relate to the internet and logins. For whatever reason, the school WiFi (with its obnoxious blocking and censoring) would not let me use a login on the Explain Everything app. Instead, I needed to have each iPad sign on as a guest. While that was a simple way around the problem, it created more complications. When signed on as a guest, it is impossible to save videos to the account. Each video saves to the iPad but cannot be transferred to the SMART Board computer easily. Since my goal is to have the students watch each video, that is a major problem. I eventually figured out that I could save the videos to the third grade Dropbox account. I will be able to have the class save their work to Dropbox in the Explain Everything app and access my class' videos easily online when we make them next week. If something goes wrong and I am ultimately unable to get the videos shared to a computer, I have a plan b. Plan b is that each iPad will be a viewing station for a specific video. Students will stay with their groups but rotate around the room, watching each video at its viewing station. I could even put a piece of paper at each station where students can write comments if they finish early (as if it were a YouTube video but with a stricter policy for kindness and appropriateness). In fact, being able to walk around the room could prove to be more engaging for my antsy third graders.

If my class is successful in making these videos, I can save the videos from year to year and add on to my video collection. I can play videos within units for an engaging form of review. I also really liked the principal's idea of using the videos to engage parents. If student videos can be put on the school Facebook page or website periodically, then parents can see what their children are learning in math and can have a better understanding of what their child is expected to be able to do.

I think that these student led tutorial videos are a great way to scaffold the skill of writing to explain their work in math class. It engages them in breaking down their work and communicating it in a clear and concise way. This incorporates many of the UDL guidelines such as self-reflection and engagement.

When the 30 day free trial has ended, I just may decide to spend $9.99 on this app. I can already imagine starting next school year with a similar day of group video presentations to review second grade skills before moving on to third grade skills. Those videos could even be shared with the second grade teachers in case they are looking for videos to incorporate into their lessons. As we continue the school year, students who finish work early can make tutorials on what we had learned that day. This can be helpful for students who are struggling because they can then watch those videos for an extra example.

In case it wasn't completely obvious, I am in love with the potential that this app has for encouraging students academical and emotionally. The possibilities for academic application are numerous.
 I highly recommend that teachers everywhere try it out.

Have you tried Explain Everything or a similar app? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!