Data Notebooks

I love my Data Notebooks!

Each week we graph data, we graph test scores, A.R points, Reading and Math fluency...I could have them graph behavior, and  high-frequency. words too, but let's not go too crazy right?
Last year we only graphed our test scores, and Fluency, so this year I added A.R points.

The purpose of the data graph is two folds. The first reason is that when I am having  a parent conference it makes it easy to have all that information right there at my finger tips! The second is that they empower  my students to become accountable for their learning. The notebook also documents progress that can predict grades, providing "no surprises" at the end of each school quarter.

I started using them last year, as part of my DPP (Deliberate Practice Plan) it also covered 'Element two' in our TEAM evaluations. (Thanks Marzano! Really, no sarcasm there, I like it!)

Since I have implemented them, I have noticed that the children do enjoy watching their charts go up! It happens every now and then that they see some dips here and there, but it serves as a little motivator for them, especially in Fluency!

Looks like they are graphing a good grade!

I use different colors to easily find each sections. Math is blue, Reading is pink, Language Arts is green, Spelling is yellow, the fluency pages are white as is the A.R points. I found most of the graphs for this notebook from Hillary Lewis, she has a blog called Rocking Teacher Materials.

Here is a Sweet Bee discovering that studying for vocabulary pays off!

Each week I have them use just one color to color in the graph. This way they can see their scores go up from week to week. (Last week we didn't have a Friday, so we are graphing two weeks of data this week, if you notice from the pictures.)

Here is a good view of the ups and down of graphing! He's putting in an 80 this week! Last week was a 40.

 

The ups and downs, RTi?

It happens, that week when they realize that graph is looming, they don't want to graph the bad grades! So what do you do? You talk them through it, you show them others graphs. (With their permission of course) You keep encouraging them to work at it. I got lucky with a Sweet Bee, he had a rough week last week and didn't want to graph. He was more than thrilled to do it this week...big smiles and "I told you-  YOU could do it!"
RTi, where does that fit into Data Notebooks?  For me it goes hand in hand. Tracking data is already a huge part of the RTi process, but this kind of data also sets me up to see who might be a candidate for Rti. It is a nice visual, right there staring at me!

"Is it getting harder?" This child asks

Watching them graph is fun, and yet another opportunity to keep teaching. I model every week how to graph the right way. I ask permission to use one of my Sweet Bees data to graph on the projector. We make sure all our tests are in order, then I show them how to put the correct date on the bottom, or the X axis, then we count up the Y axis to the number of their grade, draw a line and write that number on the top of the line. Then we color it in with ONE color! (Last year I didn't make that part so clear...live and learn.)

I also have a few pages of goal setting for each discipline. Have I used them yet, well no, maybe at report card time...yikes that is  in a few weeks!
I also have the CCSS grade level checklist for them to check off when they master that benchmark. We do that in small groups, we check off the "I Can..." statements!
I am hoping to keep adding, and develop my Data Notebooks. I have enjoyed learning about tracking student data, it has become a powerful tool on our classroom!