Tara teachers help students add up 1.3 million math questions

EAST COUNTY — Chuck Rogalla, Luci McGee, Tina Backhus and Andrea Klein received their plaques last week. The glass awards have added an infinite number of smiles to the faces of the four Tara Elementary School teachers.

The plaques recognize the teachers for ranking in the top 100 educators of 180,000 worldwide by IXL, a company that provides supplemental math and language arts programs that students use on the computer.

“We’re all really shocked and proud,” Backhus said.

IXL’s Jessica Blatnik, strategic marketing manager, said teachers earn the award based on an analysis of usage data, including the time spent per student and the number of problems completed by students during the 2013-14 school year.

Tara was the only school to have four teachers win the award, although a handful of schools had two to three teachers recognized, Blatnik said. Braden River Elementary School teacher Donna Nixon also received the honor.

Last year, Tara Elementary School teachers began using IXL’s math program in their classrooms after the school’s Parent Teacher Organization purchased the program for about $2,500. Each of the school’s 600 students has a subscription, so he or she can attempt problems from school or at home.

So far this school year, children at Tara have already solved approximately 1.3 million math problems.
The teachers say they like the program because it not only allows children to work at their own speed, but also helps teachers identify any area where an individual student is having trouble with a math concept. It also keeps track of participation.

“It really reinforces everything we teach right here,” Backhus said.

Tara Principal Steve Royce agreed, and said the program exposes students to national standards and provides feedback to teachers to make instructional decisions.

“I feel the awards are well deserved,” he said. “It represents the hard work they put in on a daily basis. It represents the hard work (we put in) as a school.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at p[email protected].

How good is your math?
IXL offers online math and language arts programs to reinforce lessons. Can you solve these problems?

First grade:
Question: Which is a better estimate for the weight of a rabbit?
A: 2 kilograms
B: 2 grams
(Answer: 2 kilograms)

Second grade:
Question: Which number makes this statement true?
5 + ? < 10 – 1
A: 3
B: 4
(Answer: 3)

Third grade:
Question: A candy company puts 9 gumdrops in each bag. How many gumdrops will the company need to fill 744 bags?
(Answer: 6,696)

Fourth grade:
Question: The quotient of two numbers is 3, and their difference is 2. What are the two numbers?
(Answer: 3 and 1)

Question: Put these numbers in order from least to greatest:
11.1, 1.1, 1.11, 11.11
(Answer: 1.1, 1.11, 11.1, 11.11)

Fifth grade:
Skill: Numeric patterns: word problems
Question: Alana is drawing stars in her notebook. She draws 5 stars on the first page, 6 stars on the second page, 9 stars on the third page, 14 stars on the fourth page, and 21 stars on the fifth page. If this pattern continues, how many stars will Alana draw on the sixth page?

Answer: 30

Skill: Area and perimeter: word problems
Question: The area of a rectangular sticker is 36 square centimeters. It is 9 centimeters tall. How wide is it?

Answer: 4 cm