Data Collection Pt. 4 - Spreadsheets

Alright, we are now to the portion of my data collection series that I have been dreading, not because I don't think it is important information for you to use, but because it's very hard to explain without showing you.  Please know that you can contact me through email, Facebook, or a comment on here for clarification or if you would like me to send you my spreadsheet format to reference.

Okay, so let's get started!  Spreadsheets are the easiest method to keep all of your data in one place.  When you need to access information to show student growth to your administrator, you can pull up one document with several pages within that document. 

Here are some examples of student data I collected last year:

To clarify, the cells that are highlighted in blue mean that the students took the opportunity to request to retest (a form from Data Collection Pt. 3 - Student Analysis) in order to improve their original score.

For those who are not strong in working spreadsheet this may seem overwhelming, but I assure you with a little playing around you can do this too!  Here are some tips to help you organize your data in spreadsheet:

1. Keep the format similar for each page. Once you have typed in all of your student information in one page, you can copy and paste to new pages.
2. You can add new pages at the bottom.  They look like little tabs.3. In order to provide meaning to the data, you will likely need to use a formula.  To get formula options you can type the "=". 
4.  Once you have your "=" you can highlight the cells you want and use the +/- signs. You can also look in the upper right corner and you have further options such as sum, average, etc.
5.  In the center of the spreadsheet formatting tools there is a symbol that is "fx" If you click this symbol you can also create your formulas and it gives you more options. 

I hope those are some small tips that can help you get started on keeping your data organized in one place.  Remember, feel free to play around with spreadsheet.  If you are completely lost, you can contact me and I will try to work you through it.  Good luck, and make today amazing! :)

Data Collection Pt. 3 - Student Analysis

While it is important for us, as teachers, to analyze the data collected during an assignment, it is just as important that students are learning to analyze their results.  In order to do this, I created standard graphing sheets.  These sheets are separated into the units that I teach.  The standards for each unit are listed and a labeled graph is below.

When I hand back tests, I have my students look at their percentage of proficiency for each standard.  They then fill in the chart with a different color for each standard. By doing this, students are taking time to see their where they did well and where they did poorly.  They can visually see what their scores really mean.

Once the students fill out the graphs, I have my students write a five sentence reflection over what they learned about their knowledge about that unit.  I give them writing prompts such as:


1. My score was _________. I believe I scored that score because _____________.
2. One of my strengths was ______________ because _____________________.
3. One of my weaknesses was _____________ because __________________.
4. One thing I could do to improve would be _______________________________.

Once the students have completed their reflections of their work, I allow them to complete a Request to Retest form. This year I have changed the form in a way, that I feel will help students process and come to a conclusion about what they need to do to improve in science.  You can download this document for FREE at TPT. Click here to download!

I hope this helps!  Let me know if you implement any of the student analysis and how it works for you.  Make it an awesome day!

 

 

Data Collection Pt. 2 - Test Formatting

A major trend in education is standard-based grading, and why not?  Why not grade students on how well they have mastered a standard?  Wouldn't that give grades meaning?  In order to create a test format that would allow me to easily see the proficiency of my students in each standard, I created a template that I use for each test.

The template is very straightforward.  Each standard is in a separate box.  That box is separated into sections.  The first section states the standard. I believe it is important to allow students to see the standard and what they are expected to know.  The second section has the standard summarized to help students understand what they need to be able to do. This also helps me really think about what needs to be addressed in that standard. The last box is where I place the questions that I want my students to answer. 

It is important when you create questions for your test that you do not only have one question for the standard because if a student misses it, then they will receive 0% proficiency which is probably not accurate.  I try to make each standard worth at least 8 points.  Then if they miss one point, I can see that they still understand a majority of what the standard addresses.

When I am grading the tests, each standard receives a score.  I write the percentage off to the left.  I then average the points to give students an overall grade for the unit.  Tomorrow I will discuss how I help students dig deeper into their own understanding and help them to analyze their data. 

Have a great 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!