Niall McMullan is an IXL Senior Professional Learning Specialist with experience as a teacher and an elementary school vice principal.
At IXL, we are constantly growing and innovating to provide you and your learners with the most impactful educational tools. With thousands of instructional resources and endless possibilities, IXL is designed to fit into any existing home or classroom routine.
But everyone has their favorites! As a Senior Professional Learning Specialist at IXL and a former educator, here are three of my top resources and tips for getting the most out of the IXL platform.
1. Live Classroom
Teachers often need to keep a pulse on their students’ learning—and Live Classroom makes it effortless!
In Live Classroom, you can:
- See what your students are working on in real-time.
- Identify who might be struggling with a skill and provide them with in-the-moment support.
- Send students messages of encouragement or instructional tips, communicate with your whole class, and keep everyone on track.
Most teachers tell us that the Live Classroom is their favorite IXL tool, and I’m sure it will soon become yours too!
Teacher tip: Make use of the recent questions popover! Click on “questions answered” in a student’s tile to see how they answered recent questions. You may spot a misconception or pattern in their responses that can help you assist them better.
2. Video tutorials
IXL has thousands of fantastic expert-led video tutorials that align perfectly with the math and ELA skills your students are working on.
These engaging videos are perfect for:
- Helping students build confidence before diving into a skill.
- Using engaging visuals to enhance whole-class or group instruction.
- Supporting students as they tackle increasingly difficult questions independently.
Teacher tip: You can easily find video tutorials that match any math and ELA skill under the Learning tab.
3. Group Jams
Want to quickly get a gist of how well your students know a topic? Then Group Jams have you covered!
In a Group Jam, each student will see the same question at the same time. As students submit their answers, you can instantly gauge the entire class’s understanding of the topic in real-time, and determine the next best steps for your students.
I love Group Jams because of their versatility! Group Jams can be used in a variety of different ways, including:
- Allowing students to practice a skill as a class before independent learning.
- Quick assessments, such as exit tickets.
- Intervention sessions, where you can decide whether students should continue working on a concept, break into smaller groups, or move on to a different question.
- Turning learning into a friendly competition! With Lightning Jam, students race to see who can answer the most questions quickly and accurately.
Teacher tip: You can anonymize student responses when setting up a Group Jam. This helps students focus on answering the question, without getting distracted by others’ responses.
Discover more tips and tricks
Want more tips from experienced educators? Check out IXL Minis, our comprehensive video collection of everything IXL has to offer.
These engaging bite-sized videos are packed with actionable insights to inspire your classroom instruction and help you make the most of everything IXL offers, on your own schedule. Whether you’re an IXL power user or a brand-new user, we can help you discover new ways to have fun teaching with IXL!