When I was in the classroom, I used a contact log where I tracked parent/student communication notes. Most of the time, quick little notes were all that I needed. Fast forward to my first year as a high school assistant principal, I quickly realized just how much more vital good documentation and note-taking was. A contact log was no longer going to be enough when working in a school of 1600ish students. For the first few weeks of school that year, I tried a few different things: A contact log with extra space to write notes Never had enough space Using the notes section in the back of my planner Again, not enough space A digital contact log I can write faster than I can type, it was not easy to search for previous information, and it seemed impersonal when I was having to type notes on my computer when trying to meet with a student or parents/guardians. So, I went to TJMaxx, bought a cheap $3.00 blank notebook(with a hard cardboard ...
checklist
Math Checklists
Last year, I created simple close reading checklists for my students to use in the classroom. The goal was to help students slow down and think about the process of reading through a passage or text that was new to them. The process of going through "steps" really worked well for them. We only had to use the checklists for a few lessons before the students could mentally go through the process in their heads. The students could verbally talk be through the steps, and it was evident that they were applying the strategy when they looked at a text. A few weeks ago, we began our double-digit subtraction and addition units. The kiddos worked so hard, and really made me proud with their willingness to persevere through the math problems. However, I found that as we began to work on mixed problems(addition and subtraction together) that they would become confused. They were not looking at the math symbols nor thinking about if they should regroup/borrow or just solve. So, I ...
Close Reading Checklist
Happy day! How did your week go? We were plagued with another snow day. I say "plagued" with a little sarcasm because I really do love and appreciate them no matter how far behind they have made us this year. Knowing my luck, we won't use a single snow day next year. I always love this time of the school year. The students are really blossoming, everything is beginning to click into place, and we can really start to dig in deep to our standards and learning experiences. One of the highlights from my week was introducing a new reading strategy tool to my kiddos. We have been breaking down text for a while now. They have highlighted, flagged, underlined, circled, and labeled their little hearts out to help us be better readers. We have spent so much time on this during the school year that it has become second nature to most of my students and seeing them take their time to read and comprehend makes my heart so full. In fact, one day last week, I was getting so confident ...
