Maybe you already have a tracker you’ve been using in your classrooms, for student learning, maybe homework, potentially student engagement and behavior, possibly even for keeping up with students who have special needs. Whatever the case, you have it all under control, except that everything is in a binder, and you have tons of paper to comb through every single day. Well, if the reminder isn’t clear enough yet, we live in a digital age and COVID-19 reminded us again–whether we were ready or not. Thankfully, I love all things digital, and everything I utilize in my classroom IS DIGITAL. I don’t mean, Google Slides, or PowerPoint. I mean Data-Digital, I’m talking, Google Sheets/Excel. I record everything on digital trackers. Teaching remote was even easier than I had imagined because my trackers organized everything; anything I needed was right at my finger tips. If digital trackers seem “overwhelming” to you because you are not a digital person, consider coming out of your shell; consider the Digital Trackers for Beginners. You will be so happy you did. Digital trackers are so efficient, and so easy to use. They are also easy on the eyes with color-coding features, check box systems and drop down menus! Try it, try it, try it!
TRACKING STUDENT LEARNING.
Especially now that we live in a digital world where education has transitioned into digital learning, tracking student learning is fundamental to understanding the learning needs of each and every student and to adjust to instruction accordingly–even in remote learning environments.
Prior to COVID-19, the ways in which instructors assessed student learning was heavily dependent on student’s physical presence. You can assess a student’s daily progress–if they showed up daily. However, now with both blending learning environments and current school closures and the possibility of many schools not reopening, alternative approaches to delivering student feedback and tracking and recording student learning is of utmost importance. While all types of assessment for student learning are essential, the need for formative assessment right now is particularly critical because learning has to take place outside of the physical classroom, and teachers, parents and administrators need to understand whether students are actually learning and absorbing the content that is delivered to them in formats so unlike the physical classroom.
Since we are no longer sitting down at our small groups, or walking around the room listening to student discussions or checking do nows, mid-lesson checks and other formative assessment measures, how do we still formatively assess our students in a virtual environment? For some of us, we may return to school teaching under a blending learning model–students are in school 2-3 days a week on a rotation. Whatever the situation, formative assessments must happen!
One way I’ve been hugely successful in tracking student learning, even prior to COVID-19, has been through the use of a digital tracker. For years, I created templates that I could use to assess student learning daily and for some reason it only seemed that I kept adding more work for myself. I felt like I was double-grading. Then one day, I came up with a tool, which I call the Digital Tracker with DROP DOWN Menu!
This tool has been AMAZING for how QUICK and EASY I have been able to assess any assessment for each student. Whether it be a Do Now, a Writing Assignment, an Exit Ticket, a Pop Quiz (Formative Assessment 1), or even HW. When education transitioned to remote learning, this tool became even more useful. I used Google Classroom to upload assignments and then after leaving feedback, I recorded data here on my tracker. This data focused on student mastery of the lesson learning targets.
At the end of a lesson, the scores in the grey column on the digital assessment tracker, was what I inputted into my gradebook instead of every single assignment which you can imagine takes forever if you’ve given perhaps 5 assignments for one lesson, or one learning target. The grey column is the total mastery for the lesson. So now I was no longer doubling the work of grading and tracking. I had found a much more efficient way to both grade and track student learning, which I found out through this model, that the two were very different. Essentially, the grade I put in the gradebook could be mastery scores, or anything perhaps. But what is listed on the tracker, is real-time data based on student performance. What I do with that data is essential for how I improve student growth. That is where the adjustment to instruction comes in. Any red or orange on the tracker, as well as bar graphs that show many gaps, are areas of concern. I need to go back and make some changes in my instruction or the student work. This is my favorite tool and has become extremely popular among my teacher friends.
SMALL GROUP INSTRUCTION.
I also used the data on my digital tracker to populate small groups for break-out sessions on Zoom for re-teaching! Students who struggled with the content as evidenced by red and orange data was a signal to me that they needed extra support. That is when my Digital Small Group Tracker came in handy. Three to four students is where I refocused on addressing student misconceptions and common errors.
As can be seen on the tracker, there is space for four students to be conferenced with and you can literally zoom in on their major misconceptions and how they addressing the coursework. There are opportunities to record some of the formative assessment data you used to bring them to the small group and then identify some next steps moving forward and the chance to leave some comments and feedback about the session.
SPECIAL EDUCATION.
Speaking of holding small group conferences, our special education students need us more than ever. My first few years of teaching included special education classes. I remember being extremely overwhelmed with my caseload and particularly remember when my IEP’s (Individualized Education Plan’s) were due and when the meetings occurred because they always happened at different times. To fix that problem, I of course, created a tracker. The Ultimate DIGITAL IEP Caseload Tracker. It has literally been a LIFESAVER!
Here are few features of this amazing tool and is by far the most amazing thing I’ve created yet, *patting myself on the back.
This tracker allowed me to keep up with all of my special education students. I was able to record annual goals for them in the moment based off of data and general observations I made of them from their work and performance. I also could keep track of things like the meeting, feedback from other teachers, attendees, and of course, dates and times, the calendar!
I can’t tell you how awesome life in the special education world became, just because I created an organization tool. Organization matters!
SELF-ORGANIZATION.
Speaking of organization, remote learning presented a number of challenges, one of which was organization. I felt extremely overwhelmed when we first started because I lost routine. My days were no longer the same. I needed to find a new routine, a new rhythm. So, I created a simple, Weekly To-Do List Tracker, that overwhelming became so many of my teacher friends favorite! I guess I wasn’t the only one trying to find this rhythm. I started my days by listing out all of the things I needed to accomplish, and then set out to check off my boxes.
Google Sheets came out with some new features that allowed me to strike-through my tasks as I completed them, so of course this feature made the tool even more worthwhile! I also loved that I could use this tool on the go! On my phone, my iPad, or even my desktop. Anywhere girllll! Using this everyday created some consistency I needed and gave me a sense of normalcy.
Before remote learning, I had a similar tracker to this one. It is very similar, except, it categorizes some of your tasks and gives you a week snapshot of some action items you need to do. I call it my Digital Weekly Planner + To Do. It is more of a weekly planner, not just a to do list, the biggest difference between the two.
I love that I can decide what is a top priority, what I need to do in terms of grading, for printing or making copies and of course for communication. Again, organization matters!
COURSE PACING
Aside from organizing our professional obligations, we must also organize our courses. Course pacing has been essential for me in terms of getting all of the content I need to teach covered by the end of the school year, even with adjustments and reteaching. Yes, there’s a tracker for that too. There is so much adjusting going on when pacing out a course over the school year, I can’t see how this could be done on a piece of paper, but hey, I am sure it can be! My Weekly and Monthly Course Pacing Tracker is used almost everyday.
For one, I need to see what I’m teaching in all of my subjects for the day. If my data tells me I need to make some changes, then I will also have to adjust my pacing chart. Then there are the occasional field trips or student assemblies that also interrupt your pacing so again, everything must be readjusted. I use this tool and it is always on my desktop. I refer back to it several times throughout the day! Another favorite tool!
BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT + STUDENT ENGAGEMENT.
While some of us are returning to work in the Fall of 2020, we have found it very much so the possibility of returning to a major headache. I mean, where so many kids will think they have to turn in the least amount of work to pass the class since COVID-19 distance learning presented so many equity issues and access to content. I want to be prepared for students who genuinely walk in with this attitude but are fully capable of bringing their best selves everyday. Due to budgeting issues, there is also a real likelihood of a lack of counselors and support for students struggling emotionally. This will certainly manifest itself in poor student behavior in the classroom!
As a result, I plan to use my Behavior Management + Student Engagement tool, to keep track of students who are struggling to be on their best everyday. Students who are engaged and are doing the right things, should be rewarded! Students who are not, need to be informed about how their behavior and engagement has affected the learning environment and also their performance. This tool is also useful for IEP Meetings, Parent-Teacher Conferences, etc.
You can also edit the tracker so that you are only logging students not following the rules. But I use it to give students points at the end of the week for doing all of the above. Hey, incentives work! The tracker automatically populates the total at the end of the week for each checkbox you click.
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS.
We’ve talked about now being the most important time to assess students formatively, but summatively is just as important. At the end of a unit, how do you know if your students have absorbed the content you’ve taught for the past several weeks? I typically give both a pre-test (before the beginning of a new unit) and a post-test, (after the unit). I compare the scores and calculate unit growth, on my Summative Assessment Tracker. I also look at yearlong mastery as the year progresses.
For those of you seeking Tenure, this tool is fantastic evidence of student growth from unit to unit and throughout the year.
It’s great to see student growth from unit to unit but also the big picture, at the end of the year. I say this because I used to be so hard on myself! I used to think my students weren’t growing. It wasn’t until I took a step back and said, well, take a look at students Beginning of the Year Diagnostics. Since those were initially so low, how could I expect them to be so high 10 months later? This tracker put these numbers in perspective for me.
DIGITAL LESSON PLANNING.
Lastly, just like everything else I’ve mentioned in this blog, my lesson plans are also very digital. I’ve used paper lesson plans for the first 5 years of my teaching career. There is nothing wrong with them at at all except they create an enormous paper trail. JUST WASTED paper at the end of the day. Yes, I used my lesson plan when I needed it, but after that, I had binders of lesson plans that went into the garbage. I stopped doing that. My Digital Lesson Plans are environmentally friendly to say the least and very detailed!
My favorite part is that I can copy and paste the entire lesson plan and edit what I need for the next day! Hey, work smarter, not harder! Also, if I am teaching the course again the next year, girrlll, just change the date and make a couple of adjustments! Stop reinventing the wheel! I love my digital lesson plan. My administrator could not believe this lesson plan. It’s a work of art, just like teaching.
I’ve shared with you many of the tools I used to be a successful classroom teacher and now even more as I teach through COVID-19. These tools have been amazing and as situations in the classroom and expectations change, my trackers change and I update them frequently. So if you’ve bought any of them, that’s a free update! Try out a tracker, or two, or three! Let me know how it has worked out for you!
Leave a Reply