As we settle in for another year of teaching and learning, I want to remind everyone of two things that are sometimes slighted because of time restraints but are vastly important for student achievement. They are data analysis and progress monitoring.
Many people will tell you that great educators are continually collecting data throughout the instructional process to not only to monitor progress, but to make changes to their instructions. I had a professor in college say that there are no “bad” assignments as long as you use the work produced to make improvements to your instruction. For me, I used data more for self-reflection as I did for anything else. The data I collected was used to evaluate instruction, identify areas of need and make instructional changes moving forward.
When I was in the classroom, progress monitoring was probably my weakest area. My belief my first couple of years was that this took up valuable instructional time and that students could do this on their own. I was very wrong about this. Students need to be updated frequently on their progress during the learning process. There are many positives for taking the time to progress monitor with students. For one, they have real time knowledge of how they are performing on the standards being taught. Secondly, it empowers them to keep track of their own learning. What we sometimes believe is student apathy is really the students not being provided the necessary information about where they are in their learning. When included in the evaluation process, students will take more ownership of their learning and evaluating their own progress.
As we continue through the school year, take the time to analyze data and progress monitor with your students. You will see increased student effort and ownership in the learning process.
Many people will tell you that great educators are continually collecting data throughout the instructional process to not only to monitor progress, but to make changes to their instructions. I had a professor in college say that there are no “bad” assignments as long as you use the work produced to make improvements to your instruction. For me, I used data more for self-reflection as I did for anything else. The data I collected was used to evaluate instruction, identify areas of need and make instructional changes moving forward.
When I was in the classroom, progress monitoring was probably my weakest area. My belief my first couple of years was that this took up valuable instructional time and that students could do this on their own. I was very wrong about this. Students need to be updated frequently on their progress during the learning process. There are many positives for taking the time to progress monitor with students. For one, they have real time knowledge of how they are performing on the standards being taught. Secondly, it empowers them to keep track of their own learning. What we sometimes believe is student apathy is really the students not being provided the necessary information about where they are in their learning. When included in the evaluation process, students will take more ownership of their learning and evaluating their own progress.
As we continue through the school year, take the time to analyze data and progress monitor with your students. You will see increased student effort and ownership in the learning process.