Keeping an entire class of students tapped into the day’s lessons can be tricky. You want enough variety in activities to keep them engaged, but not so much that the classroom feels hectic. Plus, it’s important to make sure each student is learning at the right pace for them.
IXL’s classroom engagement tools help you find that balance, while ensuring students have fun while they learn! The best part? Each tool allows you to assess students’ progress and determine trouble spots in real time. Find out more about each feature below.
Group Jam
Want your students to work on the same IXL question at the same time? Group Jam makes this possible! Choose any skill you’d like your students to work on and monitor results in real-time as they answer each question. You can even adjust the difficulty level of each question to offer students a challenge or provide time for reinforcement!
Group Jam is flexible. Some teachers use Group Jam to encourage collaboration, while others use it to inspire friendly competition. Try forming small groups to inspire students to work out problems together!
Group Jam can also be a great formative assessment tool to use at the end of a lesson. With just a few questions, you’ll be able to gauge your entire class’ understanding of the topic and see which students may need more support.
Leaderboards
If your students love a little friendly competition, they’re in luck. IXL Leaderboards provide endless opportunities for them to strive for success!
You can create your own custom competition in just a few steps. Start by picking an IXL objective to track, such as number of questions answered correctly or number of skills mastered. Then, choose the subjects and grade levels that students can practice in order to reach that goal.
The duration of each Leaderboard is up to you. Shorter competitions are perfect to ensure that students make the most of independent study during class, while longer timeframes can encourage students to work toward proficiency across a wider number of skills.
Projecting the Leaderboard during class can be a great way to motivate student learning, and students can also see current Leaderboards in their Awards tab. If you want to designate a space in your classroom to celebrate students’ progress, check out our Bulletin Board Printable Pack! Leaderboards will also automatically generate certificates for the top three students, so you can reward their hard work.
Live Classroom
Live Classroom allows you to see your entire class’ progress while they’re working on IXL. Whether your students are in the classroom or at home, you can easily monitor their engagement and see who might need extra help.
Each student active on IXL appears on a tile with real-time data, including what skill they’re working on, how many questions they’ve answered, and their SmartScore.
Students with red tiles have encountered a trouble spot, while students with gray tiles haven’t answered a question in a while. With these live insights, you can provide the help and reteaching they need to quickly get them back on track.
You can even offer additional support or redirection directly on IXL through Live Message! Simply click on the airplane icon to chat with students or send encouragement.
Putting it all together
IXL’s classroom tools make it easy to keep students engaged in learning, whether it’s during independent study, small group work, or whole class instruction. Plus, they provide you with helpful insights into each student’s progress along the way. Try one—or all three!—features today, and level up your classroom toolkit.