Membean: Better Than I-Ready

Lets face it, everyone hates I-Ready. It’s boring and if you get one question wrong it drops your grade to an 80%. However one teacher has found a solution to this. In Mrs. Akashian’s 7th grade English class, she has her students do Membean instead of I-Ready. Membean is more beneficial for students in their learning because the programming makes it  more educational, more fun, and more suited for  the students. 

So what exactly is Membean? Well it’s a lot like I-Ready, where you have to take a placement test to see what level you’re at. Then, it will give you vocabulary at the level that you tested to. It will adjust the level of words that you get to the amount of questions that you get wrong. To get credit, you have to complete a week, which means having three 15 minute  lessons on three different days, so in total you’d have 45 minutes per week.

So why is Membean better than I-Ready? Well, there are several reasons. One reason is that it’s more educational. If I want to learn about vocabulary, I don’t want a twenty minute story that’s about a kid wondering if they should spray paint a building. It’ll cause me to not pay attention and lose the plot. Meanwhile with Membean, you get a shorter practice time that’s changing topics faster. It gives you questions that are quick to the point and will keep you focused. It also goes up to high school, so you’ll have more room to improve. 

Another reason why Membean is better than I-Ready is because it’s more fun. There are so many different options to learn with Membean. They give you the word and then you get to explore it. They have definitions for all the root words and words that have the same roots with it. They have a long definition and then a short one. They have the origins of the word, an example and a whole list of words and phrases that mean the same thing. There are so many different learning tools to help get the word to stick. There’s even a movie clip that demonstrates what the word means. 

The final reason why Membean is better than I-Ready is because it’s more suited for the students. I-Ready isn’t suited for some kids, like me. They give me grade level things that I am well acquainted with. And it wasn’t because I rushed either. And I’m not the only one. In my compacted 7th class, we took a survey about I-Ready and over 80% of kids felt that all I-Ready wasn’t beneficial and that it was a waste of time. Meanwhile the majority of kids in my english class have said that they prefer Membean over I-Ready. Their programming lets you skip words that you are already familiar with and will give you a refresher if you don’t know a word.   

When it all comes down to it, this is just my opinion. You may have a different one. You may agree with me, you may not, that’s fine. So what’s your opinion about this? Let us know in the comments!