Bi-Weekly Work Sample Folders
So you inform parents about their children’s behavior and work habits...
But what about the student' s academic progress?
This is an area that may be too much for a beginning teacher to take on, but experienced educators should definitely consider having a regular method for updating parents on how children are doing academically.
Here's the method I use. The emphasis is on noting patterns of progress. Instead of sending home graded work every week with the weekly evaluation that focuses on behavior and work habits, I note these issues through daily reports as explained in the Weekly Evaluations page and send home graded work in a bi-weekly work folder with the following form that focuses on academic progress. (Note: the from references a BEE notebook. Info on that is coming soon- basically, students will be keeping important papers in a notebook with their agenda; the top of the form below alerts them that something has been added to the notebook). Here is an example of what a completed form might look like: some of the formatting is lost below but you can download a clean copy here, or choose the version with no student reflection area (could be used with younger students):
How does it work?
Print one form for each child every two weeks.
Save all student graded work during the two-week period.
Briefly review each students’ work and write comments as appropriate.
Let students view their work and select pieces for their portfolios to be shared at parent conferences.
Students read teacher comments and fill out the student reflection box.
Hold 2-5 minute student conferences to discuss reflection/work. (You can do half of the class every 2 weeks so each child has a monthly conference).
Check off whether a student conference was held, then comment on reflections, and sign.
Send form home for parent signature.
Keep signed forms in student portfolios for review at conferences.
Doesn't this seem like a lot of work?
Yes, it is! But, it should only take about 45 minutes to do the forms and 45 minutes to conference every 2 weeks. That’s only 3 hours a month to:
-discuss progress and set goals with students individually
-provide detailed feedback to parents on student progress
-maintain student portfolios with meaningful student reflection
-document communication with parents on all areas of development
Why send papers home bi-weekly?
The emphasis is on noting patterns of progress while identifying problems in time to reteach and provide additional support. It's a system that's easily manageable for the teacher and parents- and it's harder to accomplish all of that if you send home work every day or even every week. For example, let's say you're teaching geometry. If you send home practice papers each day, they'll probably get tossed in the trash or abandoned in the bottom of the backpack- the parent never sees them because who has time to look over children's work every single day? The same thing can happen with papers sent home weekly, although parents are more likely to look at them. The problem is that they can see something a child isn't doing well on and freak out. Including two weeks worth of work allows the parent and teacher to see progress. You might note in the math section, "Aisha's project clearly understands plane figures. She had trouble identifying angles at first, but doing the test corrections helped. You can see how much better she's doing with them on this week's test". Or, you might not notice progress and can note that, too, as well as some changes you want to make to your instruction ("Aisha has struggled with all the fact/opinion activities we did- I'm going to pull her for extra small group work this week"). Making those kinds of notes solidifies in the teacher's mind just how well each child is mastering concepts, which is difficult when grading stacks of paper: the biweeklies are a great time of reflection for me as well as my families. The forms help me gather my thoughts before parent conferences and report cards, and serve as great documentation.
How do I set up the routines and procedures?
* Set up a weekly routine: remember, you have every other week "off" since these are bi-weekly folders.
* Send home folders on a day of the week that's less busy for you (I do Mondays).
* Begin reviewing student work and writing comments whenever you can steal a few minutes on Friday or whichever day is before you send folders home.
* Have students review their work and reflect on it for Morning Work on Friday morning so no time is taken from academics.
* Conference with students during Fun Friday or recess: they enjoy the one-on-one time so much it's actually a huge reward!
* On Monday, have a child put student work into the bi-weekly folders with the forms and pass them out.
* Send the folders home on Monday and make them due that Friday (I have weekly HW **packets so this works really well).
* Set up consequences for those who do not return the folders on time (loss of privileges, etc.)
What can I do to save time?
-Type directly into the form so you can reuse certain comments or announcements for multiple children. I look through a folder, type the child's name and comments into the form, then print it. I then move on to the next folder and repeat, not saving any of the changes, just printing. I can usually get through the whole class in a half an hour this way and it looks very professional. The kids do their reflections afterwards, instead of beforehand, which works equally well.
-Have kids file all graded papers and put them in the folders for you.