So now I'm frustrated with Prodigy

[SarahW]

AKA Why Do Even Simple Things Make My Life Difficult!!!

 

So yeah, I got Crazypants on Prodigy, he blew through to 8th grade level, I got him a membership, and then he stagnated (of course! I spent money on it! argh!), and when I asked him why he said that he wanted me to make assignments for him. Oookay.... I was just letting the "adaptive" feature be adaptive, but sure, I'll spend some hours to make him happy.

 

As I was playing around with the reports and assignments though, I realized I have a problem. When he signed up with Prodigy I guess I put him in "default" mode, which is Ontario curriculum. Is it just me, or is the Ontario curriculum quite a bit lighter than the other curriculum options? That would explain why he blew through to 8th, and why he only has a few topics left for me to assign. But in the assignments menu I see lots more topics. MAFS for example gets into functions. TEKS has scientific notation.

 

Now, apparently, the only way I can change his curriculum stream is by emailing tech support. Great. But which curriculum stream do I want to change it to? If I change it, would it dump the topics from Ontario he's already done? Can I keep changing it till we get everything?

 

I can manually add assignments from the other curriculum streams, but I guess they won't show up in the reports page then? And honestly, without the adaptive feature I'm not sure whether or not to drop him back to 6th or 7th for these extra topics (we're really all over the place in math here).

 

This is aggravating because I hate being treated like a baby. I understand them breaking up the grades and curriculum streams for teachers and homework purposes, but I REALLY wish they had a "meta" option which allowed a student to work through the ENTIRE site. A "prealgebra" option or something. I think I thought that's what "default" was when I signed up. That seems simple to me, yet it apparently is not. This is why the world is difficult for me.

 

Sigh.

 

Anyone btdt? Had a kid start topping out a curriculum and switched or added more assignments?

 

 

[cintinative]

I am not sure I totally know how to answer your question. We set ours to default to Common Core so I didn't really look at the TEKS or Ontario, but you can make assignments in any curriculum, and all of them will show up in your report. I am not sure if it will repeat if you change the defaults--I would ask the prodigy people that. However, if you make all his assignments then you should be able to only assign things that you think he needs and/or things you want him to work on more.  Once he is done with an assignment you can view how he did on the assignment, and it will be added to the data in the report. 

[MerryAtHope]

I think I would call and talk with someone. I sympathize with you though--I had something similar happen once (student did great in a curriculum one year when it was free, then the next year I paid $$$ and suddenly it didn't work for us anymore! Frustrating!)

[eternallytired]

I'm pretty sure Prodigy recently changed something about their teacher interface.  For one thing, their interface currently seems to be broken, since it is stuck on Sunday (and doesn't show any activity for days other than Sunday).  For another thing, when you go to Student Reports: Curriculum, you used to be able to select any of the standards at any grade level and see where your kid fell.  Mine now only lists the Ontario grade levels, too. 

 

I still think that creating an assignment under a different framework wouldn't negatively affect his standing.  (I've browsed through and chosen topics from random sections/standards before, and--at least before--it seemed to just add the problems to the general pool of data about the student's work and plug it in where appropriate in each of the standards across the board.)  That said, I am rather annoyed that the interface seems broken and that it doesn't allow me the option of looking at my kids' progress through more relevant standards. 

 

According to the forums, they've changed things so you select your location initially which will auto-select your standards; if it has auto-selected incorrectly you can send a note to support@prodigygame.com and specify how you'd like it changed.

[sweetpea3829]

They did recently update the Teacher Dashboard, removing the ability to flip between curriculum strands (except in the Assignments area). I believe there are more updates coming and they will be fine-tuning this even further.

 

You absolutely can contact them and ask them to switch your child's default curriculum. I had to swap out of Ontario as well. We went with Common Core as the default, but honestly, most of what my kids see are assignments. I'm actually setting assignments right now on another open tab, lol.

 

Within the assignments page, of course, you can still choose between all four strands. Last I heard, there are changes coming here too...and the assignments interface will be easier to use.

 

Actually, there are quite a few changes coming over the summer, I think. Most will roll out in time for the upcoming school year. Remember, Prodigy is a work in progress...still pretty new on the market and it's primary target is the classroom. Though I suspect homeschoolers will be a primary market in the near future.

[SarahW]

I'm pretty sure Prodigy recently changed something about their teacher interface.  For one thing, their interface currently seems to be broken, since it is stuck on Sunday (and doesn't show any activity for days other than Sunday).  For another thing, when you go to Student Reports: Curriculum, you used to be able to select any of the standards at any grade level and see where your kid fell.  Mine now only lists the Ontario grade levels, too. 

 

I still think that creating an assignment under a different framework wouldn't negatively affect his standing.  (I've browsed through and chosen topics from random sections/standards before, and--at least before--it seemed to just add the problems to the general pool of data about the student's work and plug it in where appropriate in each of the standards across the board.)  That said, I am rather annoyed that the interface seems broken and that it doesn't allow me the option of looking at my kids' progress through more relevant standards. 

 

According to the forums, they've changed things so you select your location initially which will auto-select your standards; if it has auto-selected incorrectly you can send a note to [email protected]<script data-cfhash='f9e31' type="text/javascript">/* */</script> and specify how you'd like it changed.

 

I haven't had the problem of being stuck on Sunday. ETA: Yes, that is broken. But for the curriculum report I've only ever seen the Ontario grade levels. I guess because we're in the Ontario stream.

 

I signed up when I was in England, so maybe that's why I got put into the Ontario stream?

 

I'm mostly annoyed that I have to send an email to do something simple which you used to be able to do online. Different curriculum streams are not a super-delicate CIA secret.  :001_rolleyes:

Edited June 23, 2016 by SarahW

[SarahW]

They did recently update the Teacher Dashboard, removing the ability to flip between curriculum strands (except in the Assignments area). I believe there are more updates coming and they will be fine-tuning this even further. You absolutely can contact them and ask them to switch your child's default curriculum. I had to swap out of Ontario as well. We went with Common Core as the default, but honestly, most of what my kids see are assignments. I'm actually setting assignments right now on another open tab, lol. Within the assignments page, of course, you can still choose between all four strands. Last I heard, there are changes coming here too...and the assignments interface will be easier to use. Actually, there are quite a few changes coming over the summer, I think. Most will roll out in time for the upcoming school year. Remember, Prodigy is a work in progress...still pretty new on the market and it's primary target is the classroom. Though I suspect homeschoolers will be a primary market in the near future.

 

 

Are they going to change the interface to allow more curriculum flexibility? Or make it more closed? Now I'm worried I'll lose the ability to assign outside my own stream entirely.

 

I guess I should send support an email. And maybe make some suggestions. The homeschool market demands flexibility! lol.

[sweetpea3829]

Are they going to change the interface to allow more curriculum flexibility? Or make it more closed? Now I'm worried I'll lose the ability to assign outside my own stream entirely.

 

I guess I should send support an email. And maybe make some suggestions. The homeschool market demands flexibility! lol.

I believe they are going to be making the interface more flexible but did quote me on that. They definitely take into consideration opinions and suggestions! I'm part of a focus group that they've put together for just this purpose!

 

Join their forum and add suggestions!

[AggieMama]

I hope the changes are all going to be good. My daughter has been playing it for the last two hours. I suppose I should pull her off the computer and make her do something else. I just love the fact that she is willing to practice math for that long!!!!