math practice for K-12.
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Okay so ixl is the worst “learning” app ever. At my school, I’m forced to do ixl every week. My ela teacher will assign 2-3 and my math teacher will assign me up to four a week. That’s 7 max per week plus diagnostic. The ela isn’t that bad but the math kills me. If you don’t complete the ixl, you are then punished by taking away your free time. This happened to me once, and in total it took me 45 minutes just to get it to 85 so I could consider it done. But what’s so wrong about it? HATED: Every student in my grade hates ixl. It’s really stressful and makes me want to cry while slamming my iPad into the wall while screaming “DUCK YOU.” SCORE SYSTEM:Then there’s the screwed up score system. So the first question you answer, you get about 14 points, right? Yeah, however, the more you go up, the less points you get. Not the worst scoring system, right? You’re missing one small detail. Oh look, I’m at 60, now the more I go up, I’m going to only get 2-3 points. Yay, now I’m on 87. WHAT?! WHY AM I AT 77??!! All I did was answer ONE question wrong. It sucks all the points out of you like THAT. And ixl makes kids think that a number called their “smart score” is going to define their life and their smarts. And say you knew the right answer. So you put it in. For example, the question says y=?. Y and x are going the same rate, so you put y=x. That’s what you were trying to do, but you accidentally do y=z. Now you lost 10-20 points because of a misclick. Then you feel like you’re stupid because your “smart score” will never reach 100. LEARNING: Ixl does not equal learning. It’s an excuse. I could learn more from googling “how to do [insert problem here]” than from using the “examples.” So once I was doing some math, right? I didn’t understand so I look at the example. Now I understand it, right? WRONG. I never actually understood the problem (thanks so much), I just had to put in what I thought was right and waste 45 minutes of my life including valuable free time just so I could mark it done (not even at 100, only at 85) and learn NOTHING. Ixl does not teach you anything. If anything, ixl has made me significantly dumber. Ixl annoys me so much with its accuracy, too. Sometime something used in a certain way will be correct, and other times it will be incorrect. I do something the same way I got it correct last time and it’s WRONG!? And then I’ll include in this section the “need a break?” I click the “need a break” just to be cast to another “lEaRnInG eXpErIaNcE.” I’ll believe it when I see it. The lessons are also terrible and I feel like I’m learning nothing yet losing my will to live. It’s like I’m losing brain power from ixl. Like one minute my brain is ready to learn and be smart and then it’s “ixl time” and I have to sit there as my brain chips away and my skin rots. It’s all a stupid waste of time. REWARDS: So what can ixl give me? NOTHING. NOTHING AT ALL. Schools and parents will spend money on something that’s not worth it. Oh, but did I mention the stickers. “DiD yOu JuSt SpEnD 20 hOuRs oN iXl? hErE, hAvE a DiGiTaL StIcKeR tO FiX yOuR pAiN.” “Ah yes, I did waste 20 hours on ixl this week. Thank you so much for your kindness I will take the digital st-“ NO. It’s seriously not worth it. You spend your money and learn nothing, but at least you get a beautiful sticker! You want a real sticker. No. Only a digital sticker. Just don’t buy ixl. It will hurt you mentally and physically by slamming your fist into the iPad and snapping it in half. Ixl sometimes makes me want to quit school all together. OPINION: Do NOT get ixl. It is a waste of money and time. It’s rigged, it’s stupid, it’s an excuse for suffering. You learn nothing and it hurts you overall. It makes you want to scream, to cry, to not exist This program has just caused so much time WASTED and tears shed. It is NOT WORTH IT. Do not buy, do not use. The excuse to make kids go through hell. There are so many better learning apps than this one, if you can even call it a “learning app,” since you learn nothing. Best of luck to all those who use ixl. And to Paul Mishkin, please delete it, and burn.