Getting Started with Student Data Notebooks: Series 1

As I start the school year, it is important that we all get our expectations and procedures down. One of the procedures that I want to make sure to start right away are my student data notebooks. Some teachers like/love the student data notebooks and some teachers do not feel them to be necessary. 

Personally I enjoy and truly find the value in using them. My students have used them for several years now.  You can read my original post about them {HERE}. Before I began them, I did a lot of reading as to the why's. I also read The Leader in Me by Stephen Covey

and was inspired by his 7 Habits of Happy Kids. I've linked the site above so you can check it out. I've always been a believer in kids first and giving them the choices in their learning (of course, the teacher is always the facilitator of learning, but you know what I mean!). So, I started reading more about student-led conferences where they were showing their parents their data notebooks and showing their parents how they performed on their tests. I was completely BLOWN away! Students, in upper grades mostly discussing data. Now, I am not going lie, data is not the most interesting thing in the world to discuss (unless you're a statistician) but 8-9 year olds talking about their scores and reflecting on what they needed to improve and score. Brilliant! 

Other reasons:

Students are responsible and accountable for keeping track of their data. 

Students write GOALS  (short term goals that lead to long term) for themselves and make small steps to achieve. 

It's a visual representation of their learning!! 

It's a written plan for success.

It's a great tool for parents.

I'm not here to convince you, truly! And if you are already reading this, then I've piqued your interest enough. I'm here to show you how I use them and how I've set them up. Every notebook is unique and all classroom needs are different. The best thing about these notebooks is that you can collect data for ANYTHNG!! 

Math Facts

Weekly Phonics

DRA

Letter sounds/names

Number recognitions

F&P

Fluency

Science Weekly assessments

Attendance

Anything!! 

So...

It all starts with ownership! My students start off with an "All About Me!" page. Oh, and did I mention, these are firsties doing this?? Yes!!! 1st graders!!! 

My little one helped me. My students have theirs already in their notebooks. I'll take some pictures this week of them. They came out so cute! Here Aidan told me that he likes to play and is really good at Art. For this page, I let them write what they wanted. I wasn't too specific. 

After that we talked about GOALS! This is a HUGE one. I read the book

This is a simple but GREAT book that appeals to kids. After I read the book we retold the story and talked about the small steps that the engine took to go up the mountain. I discussed with them that we all take small steps to reach our GOAL. 

I introduce my data notebooks one subject area at a time. It is WAY too much for me to introduce more than one subject area to my 1st graders. If you are an upper elementary grade, you may be ok with introducing more than one subject area. I start with one and it is for math facts. It is up to you! 

So back to my goal, you could do a goal for the quarter or year. I do one for the quarter (or grading period) and insert this into that particular section. So I had students think about a math goal. "What would you like to accomplish in math this year? What is your goal?" We brainstormed ideas and most students just wanted to pass their math facts and do "times" because they heard my students last year were doing multiplication facts when they left me. So they wrote that down. Again, I let them write a math appropriate statement. 

The statements need to be appropriate for the section you are working in but not so "teacher" driven. If you are directing every statement then that takes the ownership away from them.  I have given given stems such as,

My math fact goal...

My math goal is ....

I hope that these small (doable!!) steps help get you started! I'll be back later this week with Series 2: Setting up and the First Implementation

If you'd like to check out my Data Notebooks, you can view them {HERE}! 

Have a great week! 

Plickers: A Great Assessment Alternative

 

I am always on the lookout for new technology and new apps to better enhance my classroom. I am a 1:1 IPAD classroom and I use my student computers in the my classroom (they are super slow and can be frustrating!!). I do use my iPhone for some apps for teacher management like the Kagan Student Selector but I was on the lookout for an easy way to assess my students, use some technology and get instant, real-time results.I also didn't want for my firsties to be bringing in ipods, ipads, and such of their own. Its so hard to manage all that and a classroom, too! 

Plickers is the answer! I love that I can give a quick assessment after a lesson (if I am not doing an exit slip) and the kids love it. I can say I am in LOVE with it. It is SUPER easy and the best part is that only the teacher uses a technology device (my kids get plenty of technology use with our Interactive Board and IPad) and did I mention it's FREE for teachers??

 

So, just log into www.plickers.com and sign up.  I found that opening Plickers in my Mozilla Firefox browser works much better than in the Google Chrome. When I use Chrome not all the features work. Another thing to keep in mind when using this. You also have to download the app to your phone or device. 

 

Once you do that, you  have the technology part down, now get your students logged in. 

 

I really love the fact that each card is different. How many times have you asked an answer and the kids have looked around at their peers and choose their peer's answers and not their own. Or have asked a question and not everyone gives you their non-verbal response (a thumbs up or down, 3-2-1 fingers, etc...)? Again, this tool makes sure that everyone is accountable.

 

I have a numbered system in my class so this worked out beautifully. It displays the name and number. After you assign the cards, you can start inputting your classes or subject area.

 

Once you click on your "Library" you will see all the questions you have typed for every subject area. 

 

The only drawback here is that I cannot display a picture.  I guess I could also toggle screens to a picture and have my question match. Hopefully that is a feature that will come up in the future.

So, now that you got the app installed, the classes made, and questions typed, you are ready to get your Plicker on! LOL! 

 

I always display the Live View on my projector screen. It's a nice big visual display and the students get to see the instant results, too!  Seriously, it takes about 5 minutes or less for you to scan and see the data populate.

 

Now, here is the part I love. I can see on my  little screen above who is answering correctly and not. It also tallies how many students have answered and it shows who I am waiting for to respond. 

 

I really do not show this screen above because I don't want kids to feel bad or those who like to shout a big "YES!" to get all hyped! We do celebrate on participating by giving each other a high five or a "Whoop-Whoop!". 

 

For my classroom use, I have used this for math centers and science/social studies. (I have not ventured into ELA yet but will soon!)  After each whole-group lesson, I do a Plickers Poll and see how they did. Then I form my groups from there. As you can see, you can use this for any subject area and use the data to help you manage groups or reteach or enrich. Again, just another tool in our teacher assessment arsenal-- besides good old fashioned paper and pencil exit slips-- just digital! 

Hope that you will try out Plickers with your classroom! I'd love to hear how you used it and how your class has responded to it!