Data Collection Pt. 1 - Grading

Today marks Day 1 of a follower requested series on data collection.  More and more data collection is becoming an integral part of the teacher workload.  Due to the teacher evaluation process, national policy, and parent expectations, it is important that teachers have techniques put in place in order to successfully manage all of the information they are taking each day. Throughout the week, I will cover five different topics that I think will be helpful for managing the data in your classroom.

Monday -1/2 Sheet Grading
Tuesday - Standard Based Test Format
Wednesday- Student Graphing and Reflection
Thursday - Excel Spreadsheets
Friday - Self Reflection and Class Behavior Growth

So, today's focus is going to be on this wonderful idea that I stumbled upon and then modified it to work in my classroom.  I have attached an example to the blog.  You can find the sample template for FREE at TPT.  Click here to download the document!

 

You will use this half sheet each time you have students turn in papers.  When a student turns in a paper, you simply mark an "x" in the turned in column.  This allows you to quickly see who has not turned in the assignment.  I, then, highlight those boxes so that they stand out.   You can also put a note on the right side of why it is missing.  For example, the student may have been absent or forgot it at home.  I use "A" for absent, "NF" for not finished, "H" for if they forgot it at home, and "CP" for call parent. 

When you have time to grade, which we all know is never, but when you do, you put the grades in the middle column.  I then clip this half sheet onto the stack of graded papers until I have time to put it in the electronic gradebook.  All half sheets are then filed in a binder just in case I need them for something else.

One thing I like about the 1/2 sheets relates to interventions and tracking behavior.  Because you can prepare these 1/2 sheets in advance you can have one for each day if you'd like. (QUICK TIP: purchase the small clipboards so that you can walk around a mark on the sheet throughout the day.)  In the notes section you can tally how many times you corrected a challenging student or mark how you used an intervention for a student you are documenting for RTI.  The half sheet can be your go to sheet for monitoring all those little requirements that are tough to remember to do and organize.

I hope this takes a little stress out of monitoring student data.  Tomorrow: Standards Based Test Format.  Have an awesome day!

The Quickest Assessment: Smart Cards

As it becomes crunch time to get things ready for school, I wanted to give you a formative assessment strategy that is cheap and easy to make, and that you will actually use to gauge student understanding: SMART CARDS!

Smart Cards are just simply cards that have a red side and a green side. I just made mine out of colored notecards.  I didn't have red so I did pink. Creating these cards should not be stressful.  I made a class set in a couple of minutes!  I simply just put the two cards together and stapled. 

How it works: Once you ask a true/false or yes/no question say "Vote!" Students will then hold up the green side for true or the red side for false. Then say "Unvote!"  The purpose of the vote and unvote is to detour students that just look to their neighbor for the answer.  Students should answer quickly. 

How is the better than just doing thumbs up/thumbs down?  When you ask a question you will see a quick flash of color.  When students have the cards up, it is easy to see how many correct versus incorrect answers you have.  Based upon the amount of students correct or incorrect, you can make decisions about whether you need to go back and explain what was covered again, or if you can move on with your lesson.

Please try this out and let me know how it goes!  Good luck this year! 

Recognizing Super Improvers!

Do you want all of your students to succeed in your classroom?  What should count as success? I'm going to share a story with you that put some things about education into perspective for me.

"Imagine if you were graded based solely on a sprint race. The person who won got an "A" and the person who lost got an "F".  You lost, so you receive the failing grade.  The next day you race again, and you lose.  The person next to you is faster than you.  Soon enough you will give up because there is no way you will catch him.  He will also stop trying as hard because he knows he is going to beat you. But what if the rules changed?  What if the person who beats his/her personal best by the most receives an A?  Then wouldn't both the slower and faster runner try even harder to improve?"

This is a scenario presented by Chris Biffle in his book, "Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids". What should our goal as teachers be?  Should it be to award the student that always scores well, or should we change our focus toward recognizing students for working to be "better than their best"?


My Super Improvers Board...NOT FINISHED YET!

After contemplating this, I decided to adopt Whole Brain Teaching's Super Improver Team.  At the
elementary level, each student has a card and gets stars on their card for improvement.  At the middle school level, teachers have too many students, so you can mark improvement based on classes.  Classes can gain stars for improvement academically or behaviorally. If the whole class improves their assessment scores, then they can receive a star.  You could give a star to the class for improving their speed at completing certain tasks.  You could even focus on a particular goal.  For example, your students may need to work on Rule 2: Raise your hand for permission to speak. If the first day you have 5 students blurt out, but on Friday you have 0 students blurt out, maybe that class earns a star.

When a class gets 10 stars, they move up a level.  The goal is to reach the top.  My board is not finished, but you could have a theme for each level.  For example, the first level could be the Rookie level and the top level could be All Star.  There are several examples on TeachersPayTeachers!

The awesome part of this motivator is that the classes can see how other classes are doing.  They don't want other classes to get ahead of them, so they will work harder to show improvement as well!

Please go to www.wholebrainteaching.com or message me about how to implement this strategy further!  Good luck making a difference in the lives of your students!

Stop Pulling Your Hair Out About Homework!

Do you want a homework model for your classroom that entices even your most reluctant students to complete their work?  I think I may have found it!  Whole Brain Teaching uses the Universal Homework Model to achieve just that.  So, let me break down this technique into a few easy steps to follow:
1. All homework should have 3 levels (Do not freak out, it isn't extra work!).  The first level is the minimum requirement, whereas the third level is going above and beyond.  For example, this is how I am going to use this model in my classroom.  Each day that we take notes I have my students complete a summary.  A five sentence summary will be worth one star.  A two star assignment would have completed the summary and went through the notes highlighting or underlining key words.  A three star assignment did all of the requirements of a two star, but also wrote in the margins their thoughts, questions, and other information THEY felt was important.

Click here to get my Homework Log Freebie!

2. I am having my students fill out a homework log this year. Each day they will fill in what their assignment is and when it is due.  Once completed, they will fill in how many stars their assignment is worth.  I, also, have a section for a parent signature.  Students cannot get three stars without a parent signature.  This will improve your parent communication!
3. When a homework assignment is due, go through and count how many stars each student completed (A great way to do this is to develop a couple student leaders that can check that students are being honest). Tally up the number of stars each day.  Set a goal of how many stars the students as a class need to achieve to get free time on Friday.  I am going to use a chart to show them how close they are to their goal each day. 
4. On Thursday, let them know how many stars they need to get by Friday. Here's a hint: tell them that it looks like the class will have to have many students complete 3 star homework in order to win their free time. Then, ask for volunteers who will step up and attempt 3 star homework.  You will have some students jumping out of their seats to get recognition.  Write their names on the board and have the class praise them for stepping up!
5. On Friday, if they have earned it, make sure to give them the amount of free time you have allocated (No longer than 5 minutes.). Then, once they have achieved their goal, boost the amount of stars they need to reach. This method encourages class unity and helps students feel accountable to others. 

I'm so excited to use this in my classroom this year.  Let me know if you adopt this into your classroom and how it works for you!  Have a great day!

School is About to Start. Are You Ready?

One thing that I haven't done much of is discussing how to set up your classroom for Whole Brain Teaching.  There are several aspects of Whole Brain Teaching that can help you format your room in a way that is most conducive to learning. In order to show you several techniques without writing a book, I have attached a video of Andre Deshotel's classroom. Mr. Deshotel is a certified Whole Brain Teacher. 

Setting Up and Introducing WBT

As you can see, there are many aspects of Whole Brain Teaching that you can implement into your classroom with ease.  I will be working on creating the Super Improvers League for my classroom this week.  If I complete a document, I will post it on TPT for you all to download!



You Can Get This Free Printable from Tara West on TPT

The SCOREBOARD: Pt. 2

Hey guys!  Last week, we discussed the Scoreboard and how it is an influential classroom management strategy.  Today I'm going to discuss a few key features and ways in which you can implement the Scoreboard into your classroom.

Reinforcing Classroom Rules: Last week I posted about the 5 classroom rules that will change your life. They cannot do that in your classroom, if you do not reinforce them and practice them often.  A great way to reinforce them is to just start your day going through the rules. You can lead them or have a student lead them.  You can also use the scoreboard throughout class.  A key part of the classroom rules is to not point out a student for negative behavior.  Rather, just say the rule that was broken and have the class respond with what the rule is.  When marking a point for the teacher on the scoreboard you can just say, "It appears that some of our classmates are not following Rule 2."  You can then mark a point for the teacher.  They will interact with you and give a "Mighty groan."  You can then say "Let's make sure everyone remembers what rule 2 is.  Rule 2" and your students will say "Raise your hand for permission to speak!"  When they all respond with the gesture that accompanies it, you can tell them that they did a great job and give the students a point.  This encourages your students to follow the rules because they associate it with the positive of receiving a point for their team.

Speed: I love increasing the pace I go in my classroom. You can give students a direction and then if they did not do it fast enough you can mark a point for the teacher.  Make sure you give them another shot at that direction, though.  By working to reinforce the right way to do it, you will increase the engagement of your students.  For example, you say "Class!" and your students respond "Yes!", but not everyone responds.  You can say, "Aw, bummer.  That was not fast enough." and give a point to the teacher side.  Then you can say "Claaasss!" and then more students will respond "Yeesss!" They will likely respond filled with energy and excitement because they want to prove to you that they can do it to earn a point.  Give it to them!  Reward them for changing their behavior and responding quickly.  You've got them!  You are teaching them to do things quickly to earn those points!

Variations: "Variety is the spice of life!" Variety is also the key to keeping the scoreboard interesting.  Once you are consistently using the scoreboard, change it up in order to keep the engagement of your students.  One way to do that is to make teams.  You could do boys versus girls or left side of the room versus the right side of the room.  For me, I'm going to do the Pirate Scoreboard.  When a point gets marked for the captain (Me!), instead of doing the Mighty Groan they will say, "McHaaaargg!"



Teaching with Style Scoreboard

The scoreboard image you see above is courtesy of Teaching with Style from Teachers Pay Teachers.  You can download it for free off of her store.  This is just demonstrating one way you can modify the scoreboard to meet the needs of your students. You can find more variations of the Scoreboard at www.wholebrainteaching.com!  Good luck with implementing the Scoreboard this year.  If you have any further questions, please feel free to comment below.

Teacher vs. Students: Who Will Reign Victorious?

Do you ever feel that way?  It's you against ALL of them. How can you reign them in and teach what you need to teach?  If you are like me, you've tried several strategies to motivate students to listen, participate, and follow your rules. Many of the strategies I have tried (writing names on the board, giving warnings, gem jars, etc.) did not work for everyone, and their effect over time wore off. 

With whole brain teaching, you have a cheap, and easy interactive game to monitor student behavior that can constantly evolve to keeping hooking your students in.  Your students want to win and will do whatever it takes to beat the teacher. It brings out the competitive side of them.  What they don't know is that whether you, as the teacher, win or lose on the scoreboard, you win because you are able to teach instead of monitor behavior.

SCOREBOARD: So, here is how it works.  On your whiteboard, or another place that is convenient for you, just write "teacher" on one side and "students" on the other, now make a line.  You have created a scoreboard!  Wow, wasn't that easy!?

Whenever students are doing a great job, you mark a point for the students.  Chris Biffle, of whole brain teaching, recommends that they get a one second celebration ("Oh Yeah!") whenever they earn a point. When they are not doing a great job, you mark a point for the teacher.  They then can make a one second mighty groan.  You see, they still get to interact whether it is a positive or negative point. This contributes to their buy in to the game.

The secret, though, to truly keeping the students engaged in this activity is the Rule of 3.  Keep the score within three points no matter what.  You do not have to mark negative for every negative thing that happens, just as you do not have to mark positive for every positive.  Mark when it is convenient for you, but make sure to stick with it!  Lastly, what are they playing for?  Why would they care if they win?  Give them a minute free time for every point they beat you by, or one less problem, or one less page to read.  In my classroom, I'm giving them one less sentence for their summaries.

I don't want to overwhelm you with this strategy, so I'll post again tomorrow about how you can use this strategy to increase speed in your classroom, reinforce the behavior that you want, and how, once your students get the hang of the scoreboard, you can vary the game to keep the interest of your students!