LearnZillion

What do you like best?

As a teacher who is required to use this curriculum, I would say that the feature I like best is that you have access to all of the print materials online. You do not need to re-type or re-format anything - just download the files you would like to use (no reinventing the wheel!). Where we are now with COVID 19, this platform does lend itself to a flipped environment. That makes virtual learning relatively easier to access and pre-planned.

What do you dislike?

What I dislike about this curriculum is somewhat similar to what I do like - you cannot re-type or re-format anything if you are using them in the print version. You can't change spacing to save paper or make any font smaller. I have also found there are many typos between the print version and the online version - pages not matching up with lesson plans, duplicate pages, etc. I also dislike their slides as they are NOT customize-able as well as not super student friendly. They are repetitive and unengaging.

Recommendations to others considering the product:

I would double check everything in terms of comparing the print version to the online version. They are not always the same. I would also recommend differentiating LZ's curriculum as it was presented to us as a baseline/grade level curriculum - you might have to make changes to make it more accessible for the students who are above and below grade level.

What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?

The biggest problem that is *relatively* being solved with LearnZillion is that every middle school teacher in my district will be required to adhere to the curriculum. This is an attempt to standardize teaching and provide equity across the district. While I wholeheartedly support the idea to promote and provide equity across a large district, I am not sure that following a script is what's best for students (or teachers).