I EXCEL?

IXLs are the biggest love-hate relationship in my life. The system that grades your answers is so unfair, and it takes forever to get them completed. However, by the time I finish all of the different ones my teacher assigns I understand what she has taught me and I usually do better than I do without the IXLs.

Almost all math teachers assign IXLs. They make every math lesson ten times harder. The acronym IXL is always followed by noises from the students clearly establishing their opinion on the assignment. I admit, I am one of these students and so are my friends. The main problem with IXL for me is that when you get a question right then you get three or four points. If you get one wrong, though, then you will lose about fifteen points. It is very easy to get one wrong too. If you forget anything, or round differently, then you’re wrong. Another thing I hate about IXL is that when you have an exponent or a fraction, there is no toggle on the keyboard, and you have to move the mouse to click on the button. This often either leads to a misclick or something else getting messed up. Which leads to a wrong answer. Great.

Now the love part of this relationship. IXL is one of the best learning services I have ever used. It’s not that it is user-friendly; it’s more that all of the repetition and the harsh grading makes sure I know how to do it when I have a test. The topics I do on IXL end up being my highest grades when we have tests. If I do not fully understand how to do something, there is no way I can finish the IXL’s sections. This creates a deeper understanding of the topic and makes sure I remember how to do it every time.

IXLs are like cleaning: I hate doing it, but it really is useful. Honestly, even when I moan and groan about getting five IXLs in one night, the only thing I am upset about is having to challenge myself to learn on a deeper level and create an understanding for the topic. When I do not have IXLs, I can learn something until I have a test on it and then I can forget about it. However, when I have to do an IXL I am forced to learn it, and there is no way I am going to forget it anytime soon.