High school is an exciting time for both students and their teachers! As students explore their interests and cultivate critical skills, high school teachers play a crucial role in helping learners build a foundation for success.
We asked three IXL Ambassadors for their best tips and ideas for helping high school students grow. Here are a few of the biggest takeaways:
1. Help students take ownership of their learning
Independent learning prepares students for lifelong success and builds confidence. Ali Granger, a high school math teacher in Nebraska, empowers students to learn independently by providing students with choices in how they want to learn:
“They always have the option of doing a book assignment or an IXL assignment. About 90% of my kids typically pick the IXL assignment because it gives them that immediate feedback. And then they have a minimum SmartScore that they have to hit for the assignment.”
Additionally, Granger’s students know they can always work in the IXL Diagnostic arena when they finish their assignments early:
“We take the Diagnostic at the beginning of the year, and we have students update it at least once a quarter. Anytime there’s extra time in class, they always have something to do. They know they can go into the Diagnostic arena and answer questions.”
Jennifer Garner, a high school English teacher in Massachusetts, also uses the IXL Diagnostic to help her students pinpoint their knowledge levels and identify areas of growth. The Diagnostic action plan helps Garner’s students find skills to work on independently.
“I print out their Diagnostic action plan, where they can see which skills they need to work on. And I’ve also highlighted certain skills, especially for my students that are concerned about their levels.”
2. Help students learn to make mistakes
Ruthie Bantel, a self-contained high school special education teacher in Arizona, wants her students to become comfortable with making mistakes. She encourages her students to reflect on their mistakes by writing their answer explanations on paper:
“The object of learning is to learn from your mistakes, and not get a hundred percent all the time.
Every time they miss a question, I have them write the question down and explain to me what they did. I get a lot more out of them when they explain it. Once they talk it through, they usually realize what they did wrong.”
Garner also wants her students to unlearn the importance of perfection:
“There’s a level of perfectionism, but also a level of such heavy rejection when they get something wrong. So they just click on the next question instead of reading the answer explanation. They try to run away from it.”
She believes that IXL’s SmartScore allows for mistakes, as it’s not a percentage score, and students can always reach their goal.
“It really gets them to understand that mistakes are okay when it comes to IXL. I think that really focuses on the growth mindset.”
3. Visualize and track growth
Garner believes that giving high school students insights into their progress is important in building a growth mindset. And the IXL Diagnostic is perfect for monitoring student growth throughout the school year.
“As a district, we do Snapshots, and then individual students have access to the Diagnostic. They filled out the Diagnostic tracking charts.
I have them look at their past scores and compare it to their current ones. And we’re having a lot of conversations: ‘Where were we in middle school? Where were we in the beginning of the year and how have we grown? Where do you think we can be later on in the year?’ We focus on those wins rather than those losses.”
4. Find what motivates your class
When students are motivated and engaged in their learning, they’re more likely to succeed. Garner uses a variety of gamification tools in her classes to keep her high schoolers engaged, such as IXL Group Jam:
“One thing that I really want to highlight is the Group Jam. Rather than me having to cook up every question, example, or explanation, IXL provides it for me. It’s been really nice to have, and the kids are a big fan of that gamified experience.”
Pro tip: Start a Group Jam from the Trouble Spots report to instantly provide targeted, small group instruction in a fun and engaging way!
And for many of Garner’s students, IXL’s SmartScore motivates them to go the extra mile:
“I have found that many kids have done extra questions just because they want to see the SmartScore truly reflect what they can do. And sometimes they feel that the number doesn’t truly represent what they have inside. So it pushes them to bring something out, and I think that’s a great opportunity.”
Bantel found that her students get excited by learning contests:
“We had a contest to see how many questions we could answer. They got to pick their goal and it was 500,000. Once we hit certain milestones, we have a party. At 250,000, we had a party and everyone was really excited. Plus, the administrators back us up on everything.”
Get more tips
For more IXL resources for high school, take a look at these helpful blog posts:
- IXL resources for high school learning
- IXL for high school math
- IXL for high school ELA
- How IXL can support the transition from middle school to high school
The post High school tips and strategies from IXL Ambassadors appeared first on IXL Official Blog.