OMG, where have I been? Sorry to take such a big hiatus from blogging. I’ve been in the midst of dealing with health issues, wrangling my active child, and trying to live this teacher life!
I have a quick post for today, and it is about AR or Accelerated Reader. I must admit, my school doesn’t push AR too much and as a result I don’t either. That’s my teacher confession of the day. I know that some teachers love it or hate it. I genuinely want my students to read more, especially considering that I am a first grade teacher. So, I’m going to keep better track of my students’ progress. I know you may be thinking, “Why are you starting this so late in the year though?” Well…I figure better late than never.
I decided that I should take this slowly, and I am going to start by using a tracking sheet. You see, some of my students weren’t taking tests AT ALL during the week. (Again, bad teacher!) I create this simple, non-frilly, non-graphic-filled (is this a word?) tracking sheet. It literally took me 3 seconds to make but it is a great way to get started. Students simply fill in the circle that corresponds to their number (each student has a number in the classroom based on alphabetical order) after they take an AR test.
So by using this tracking sheet, I make sure that each student tests at least once each week. It also serves as a visual for my students. If they haven’t filled in a circle yet, they know that they need to test on a book. If they have filled in a circle, they know that they have taken a test. My next task is to create a visual for tracking the amount of points the students earn. Hopefully I will find a great system so that I can start the next school year off right.
Do you have any ideas for tracking when students take AR tests or tracking students’ points? Please share! I’m leaving the tracking chart that I created below in a Google Doc for you to grab for free. If you can’t get the imbedded file, just grab it here. Enjoy!
