Five Documentation Strategies that Work Part Two: the computer-assisted paper trail.

September 10th, 2008 By: Diane Trim in Articles, Teachers' Corner

I loved my computer grading program. Sure, it had its quirks, its functionality problems, but I loved the neat columns of numbers that didn’t come from my calculator at 11 p.m. the night before.

I really began to love it when Mark, an art teacher I worked with and admired, showed me how it could be a great documentation tool. This tip is stolen directly from that eye-opening conversation one parent-teacher conference night. Thank you, Mark.

Computer-aided documentation. Our school’s computerized grading system had a notes feature for every student. Take a look at yours; I bet it has one, too.

Clicking on a student’s name revealed a notes window. In the notes window, I could record the type of behavior I witnessed in a student, the date, and the time.

The best part was that these notes appeared at the bottom of every grade print out.
Instead of a pad of paper next to the phone to record phone calls, I recorded the phone call, the time, the phone number (not all phone numbers in the system worked), and the person/machine I’d spoken to. I’d also jot down topics we discussed. I tried very hard to keep the record completely factual and limited it to observations, broad topics, direct quotes, and next steps.

Like Brian advised me, I also recorded positive things. When a student went out of her way to help someone, I recorded it. When a student tried hard in class, despite obstacles, I recorded that, too.
When a parent requested a grade print out, all the notes were at the bottom for the parent to see. Progress reports contained actual observations of classroom behavior instead of the canned grading program phrases like, “Comes prepared to class,” or “Completes assignments neatly and on time.”

The real benefit of the notes came when I had to write a referral on a student. I had on one sheet of paper all the parent contacts, all previous referrals, all behavior observations (good and bad) as well as how the student was doing in class. An administrator who receives such thorough documentation knows that the classroom teacher has done her homework and has plenty of information to complete his end of the referral process.

Next post: making documentation work for you

Tags: computer, documentation, grading program