Dresden Elementary Teacher Among Elite 100

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Dresden Elementary School Teacher Lisa Whitworth

BY KAREN CAMPBELL

Weakley County Schools Communications Director

DRESDEN (January 28) - When IXL Learning announced its seventh annual Elite 100 list, Dresden Elementary’s Lisa Whitworth was among a select group of teachers recognized for creatively utilizing the personalized learning program during the 2019-20 academic year. IXL selected the list of 100 from 700,000 teachers and ISL users worldwide. The Elite 100 list this year includes teachers from 36 U.S. states, as well as in Canada and Venezuela.

"Educators taught us lessons about resilience and dedication that we'll never forget. They inspired us as they continued to serve their students despite unimaginable disruptions," said Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning. "This year's Elite 100 award winners are brilliant examples of how tenacious teachers utilize IXL to personalize learning, provide innovative instruction and nurture the innate talents of students no matter the circumstance," he added.

According to the website, IXL is built on over 8,500 interactive skills that are highly targeted and adjust to each student's level of understanding related to math and language arts.

“I use IXL in the classroom as reinforcement on standards previously taught,” noted Whitworth, who teaches 4th grade at Dresden Elementary. “IXL skills are perfectly aligned to our standards and students can practice and apply what they’ve learned with the IXL program.”

Each student has an iPad due to a previous grant, so students have access to the program “at their fingertips,” she explained.

Whitworth’s approach was assigning 5-8 IXL skill assignments at the beginning of the week based on what students had previously learned in math and language arts. The students had all week to complete them by Friday. They also had an additional 15 minutes in RTI and could use their free time throughout the day once they finished their class assignments to work on it as well. Some students even worked on it at home.

“I slightly encourage them with small incentives like the ‘Top 10 IXL’ users or the ‘Top 10 Finishers of the Week,’” she acknowledged. “It was really their hard work and dedication to succeeding in school with the help of IXL that brought about this recognition. So I give the kids all the recognition!”

To view the full list of this year's Elite 100 winners, visit https://www.ixl.com/resources/elite-100.