For far too long math has been an area of struggle for the students of Oak Ridge Elementary School. By the time kids reach the 6th grade it is common for them to be behind in multiplication and division facts, as well as fractions and decimals, which leads to even worse struggles in operations to be learned in the sixth grade. Tired old workbooks do not serve these students well when foundational skills are missing, and with one teacher per 33 students, only so many can receive the one on one attention they need and inevitably everyone falls behind. Even those who are proficient in math fail to receive the push they need to achieve further, often stunting their own growth and advancement.

With the IXL program however, math lessons have made a complete 180 both in terms of engagement and achievement for students. Oak Ridge is lucky enough to have a 1:1 Google chromebook to students ratio, but having this technology available doesn't serve a purpose unless you can have the programs to utilize with it. Through IXL, my class has completed 10,000 problems over a week. TEN THOUSAND PROBLEMS. Compare that to doing worksheets, which average about 20 problems per day, multiplied by 30 students and 5 days, and that's a difference of 7,000 problems of practice in a week. Combine this with the individual help that each student gets on IXL anytime they get a problem wrong, plus the data I get back showing which areas large numbers of students are struggling with, and it creates a fun, data-driven, effective way to offer the best math instruction to all my students. Students have even gone home and practiced on their math skills there, literally doing voluntary homework just because the program is so fun and addicting.

With the money I'm raising I will be able to purchase a one year license for IXL to use for my class, at a cost of $800 for 31 students. This ensures that the high achievement in math that I've seen in the last week can last throughout the year. I work at a Title 1 school, where 100% of the kids are on free lunch and 88% are behind where they are supposed to be in math and reading. Getting an IXL license will accelerate the growth of all the kids in both math and eventually English, and by year's end hopefully catch them up to where they need to be or even prepare them a little extra for the 7th grade, as the program also allows you to go ahead and try higher grade work, which some of my more ambitious students have already found out and ventured to.

IXL has been a true gamechanger in my classroom, and going back to workbooks after the free trial expires will be a true detriment to the students both academically and morale wise. I've spent a large chunk of time telling my kids how much I believe in them, and I'm hoping that those reading this do as well and can help towards funding this crucial instructional tool to stay in my classroom.

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