Five Documentation Strategies that Work Part One: the Good, the Bad, and the Phone Calls

September 8th, 2008 By: Diane Trim in Articles, Teachers' Corner

I think I might have missed the day that my college professor talked about the importance of documentation in the classroom.

But, like all teachers who have survived at least one year as a teacher, I quickly learned the importance of documentation in the classroom. I’m going to pass on some of my favorite strategies for documentation; feel free to leave comments that include your favorites as well.

Today’s installment is about documenting student behavior, both the good and the bad, and making phone calls home, both good and bad. The key to both of these strategies lies in their even-handedness. At first I loved both because I could see their strategic value: they made me look good as a teacher. However, I really like them for the way they force me to be a better teacher and improve parent-teacher-student relationships.

Positive and negative. This first strategy came from Brian, the second principal I’d ever worked for. He eventually became state principal of the year and I think this strategy shows why he was a good choice.
Brian advised me to record student’s poor behavior and good behavior. It’s important to show that I’m looking for both and very willing to record both. Looking for the good improved my relationship with my students and their parents. Administrators love it, too.

A phone call a day. This strategy also comes from Principal Brian. When Brian taught, he would single out one student a day and watch that kid’s behavior in class. At the end of the day, he would call home to tell the parent something impressive the kid did that day. My principal kept track of these phone calls on a note pad next to the desk.

This is smart teaching strategy and I wish I could truthfully say I did it every day. I didn’t. But, the parent-a-day phone call trick gave me opportunities to make parent contact in a positive way. It brought the parent onto my team before I needed her to be there. It was also a powerful motivator for the student. I adapted this trick for my Friday phone call strategy that you’ll see in part three.

Next post: using your computer grading system to document student behavior

Tags: documentation, parents, phone calls