San Luis teacher honored for efforts to help struggling students
SAN LUIS, Ariz. – Esther Mannings, a fourth-grade teacher at Cesar Chavez Elementary School here, has been honored for a third time for helping students lagging academically to catch up.
IXL Learning, a San Mateo, Calif.-based education company that provides educators with personalized learning technology, included Mannings on its Elite100 list recognizing educators for using the IXL platform to help students catch up academically in the 2021-22 school year. Mannings was named two years previously to the list that honors teachers in grades kindergarten through 12th grade.
“For me, the children’s academic growth is so important,” Mannings said. “More than the recognition, for me what is important is that the children are progressing and reaching where we want them to be academically.”
The learning platform, she said, “helps us to identify the areas where the students are struggling, so that we can address those areas sooner and help them reach academic potential.”
Mannings, who has spent all of her 10 years as teacher at Cesar Chavez Elementary School, was among 100 educators chosen from nearly 900,000 internationally who use the IXL program.
Mannings said IXL covers mathematics and reading and sets benchmarks for student performance based on the state’s academic standards. One of the benefits of the program is its ability to identify those students who are lagging in those subject areas, allowing teachers to promptly help them using personalized teaching strategies.
“It’s great that there is this program that can help teachers,” Mannings said. “Often as a teacher, you can feel guilty for not being able to help every child. With this program, you can help them quickly before moving on to another lesson.”
Having grown up in San Luis and attended its schools, Mannings believes she’s in a good position to know the students’ needs.
“I studied in the local schools and I also was an English Language Learner. I can understand the barriers the students have. San Luis, Arizona, has always been my community. I understand what the students feel and I know their needs.”