But, Friday is our report card day, so this week is all about making sure I have every item assessed and that all 1:1 assessments are current.
Anyone else have a hard time fitting in time to work with kids ONE at a time!?
Luckily, I have been using 30 minutes each Friday all year for assessment time while the kiddos work on one particular sound sorting activity, which means that it has not been as much of a scramble to get all of my assessments done. I still have a few kiddos that I need to check in with in both classes to make sure their info is current, but I think that is perfectly doable in the next few days.
Tomorrow I have a group assessment planned and for some reason both classes are ROCKSTARS at group assessments this year. I gave them each a "secret office" space to sit in when we do group assessments because I want to make sure they can't possibly copy off of anyone else. When I tell them we have a "secret office job" they actually cheer. I usually follow it with a quick fun activity that they can earn and so far they have a really good track record of being very quiet and on task during those assessment times. Tomorrow I am going to have them write the alphabet, write numbers 1-20 and draw the 7 basic shapes (square, circle, oval, triangle, rectangle, trapezoid, and hexagon). Since when are trapezoids and hexagons considered simple shapes?! I always feel like it's easier to grade objectively when I actually have a product to look at rather than just going on memory from what students do in class. With 38 kids and preggo brain, I need hard copies to look at in order to really evaluate their work and compare what kids should receive the various marks.
We have 3 marks we can give and I am not a huge fan of the wording...
+ consistently demonstrates
V has made acceptable progress
O more time needed
I usually think of the V as "developing" but I feel like the wording that is on our report card sounds more negative. Especially when kids are on the cusp of mastering a particular skill. If a child knows all but two sounds it's hard to say they have made acceptable progress because it sounds like "eh, they are doing okay..." when in reality they are SO close. Yet, I don't feel like I can give them a plus quite yet.
I assessed kids on their pattern recognition, building, and labeling today and most kids got +'s in all three. Yay! I so much prefer to assess something like that 1:1 rather than in a whole group because I feel like I can have more time to process the extent to which a kiddo really gets or doesn't grasp something. If only there were more time to work 1:1 with kids!!
I am hoping to have good attendance for the rest of the week so I can get a math test done and the other assessments that I still have. Then comes the hard part of filling out the behavior section on the report card. Always the hardest part for me because I waffle back and forth between thinking I am being too hard and too easy on kids. At least this year I have kept weekly data on how many sticks kiddos have kept/lost which will help in determining some of those criteria.
I am hopeful that I can enter a little bit of data each day for the report cards so that on Friday I can just relax. We are allowed to sign out and do grades from home, so if my reports are already done, then I basically have a day off to work on my dissertation stuff. I have a draft of my survey ready which I am really happy about and I think I am making good progress towards having a draft ready by Valentine's Day! Woo hoo!
Is it report card time for you? What is your grading system like?
4 Raised Hands:
Every year I am super jealous of your report card day! We have to do it all at home and I hate it! Luckily I don't have to do 38 or I might actually cry!
We are in the middle of doing mid year assessments too, which are mostly required yet we don't do report cards til March which in my opinion is stupid- so this year I am just writing them now. I can just update the parents on recent progress at the conference, otherwise I just feel like I'll have to reassess everything in a month. We have a vacation in there too so it's really only a couple of weeks!
I like the secret office idea for whole group assessments. Do you use folders?
I hate my report card with a passion. It is SOOOOO outdated that nearly all of my kids are independent in everything even if they are one of my lower students! I end up having to write a novel in the comments just to explain what we are ACTUALLY working on and how they are doing with that!!! I am really hoping we redo this report card in the next couple of years because right now it's a big waste of time.
We sent home report cards again right after Christmas break. We just redid them a few years ago and now they are on the computer, so if I need to tweak them a little, I can. Our categories are area of excellence, competence, development or concern/needs time to improve. I like it much better than what we had previously.
I HATE report cards...or at least ours. I am a 1st grade teacher and we give number grades....which a 75 to a Firstie is great because that is a big number until someone squashes that by telling them it is not. Although, checklists might be more time consuming I might like that more because to shows growth, effort, and readiness in the areas of reading and math.
I am your newest follower and am excited to go explore your blog. Please come visit me if you get the chance. I have TONS and TONS of *freebies* that will be great for your K kiddos. I bet your kiddos would love the Sound Racers! =)
Heather
Heather's Heart
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