Using Data in the Classroom...Part 1

One of my professional goals this year was to document our learning and time together this year.  I had a grant funded through DonorsChoose last year that provided classroom cameras.  My intentions were for us to document the things we were learning and important events.  Well, last year was a technology learning year for me and the kiddos just worked on how to use the cameras.
This year though...this year is different. WHOA nelly is it different.

We are documenting our learning in Every. Way. Possible.  We use our data binders, we now have learning logs, we do group posters about our learnings, we are implementing Continuous Classroom Improvement to the best of our abilitieswe're sharing, we have a Special Calendar that documents our events, and our classroom blog is finally up and going with student input!

I am loving the outcomes of each of theses components and so here is part one of three posts on Using Data in the Classroom.

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Data Binders. Yeah I said it....data binders.   That used to be a scary word.  After attending a Jim Shipley conference last year in February I decided to jump in and get them started when I got back.  Granted we only used them for 3 months, the resulting student knowledge of their learning was impressive.  So we started this year by first creating our professional goals and begun tracking our quarterly reading scores, our weekly spelling tests, and our monthly attendance.
We discuss how each of those scores helps us become closer to reaching our professional goals.  The kids know where they need to be at the end of the year as well as set a goal for the next quarter.    We just finished our first quarter assessments and got to update our reading, writing, and math data charts.  We noticed that as a class we had more student proficient across the board and we celebrated.  We also celebrated those that met their goals (we might like to celebrate a little bit).  I was soooo ecstatic to overhear one of my rowdy boys explain his binder to the principal a few weeks ago. He understood what he was talking about and was proud. PROUD. We also set goals for reading and writing.

Continuous Classroom Improvement (CCI).  This is where the data binders come from.  It follows the Baldrige business model in the Plan, Do, Study, Act process.
Each week or cycle we create a class goal or plan.  The students then come up with what they're going to do in order to be successful with that goal.  And then we work on it.  Typically our cycle lasts one week, sometimes longer depending on the skill or how many days we've been in school that week.  We record our progress during that cycle and then study it to see how we have done and what we did that lead to our success (or sometimes our failure).  One learning I've had this year is that our cycles don't have to be academic per se.  In the past, we've chosen a math goal and that's what we've focused on. Each week, choosing a new skill and then figuring out some way to incorporate that work/review into the week's lessons.  It was a chore.  And although I knew it was beneficial and supposed to show great success when used with fidelity.  But man it was a chore!  This year we're doing things a little differently.   I had the idea to use behaviors for the first few weeks. I confess it was just so I could figure out how exactly this was going to look in a split room.   But then I realized that these behaviors we were working on ultimately do affect our academics.  So while we are working on "not talking out" it's positively affecting their learning.  Just the same for "bringing back our daily folders" or "walking quietly in the hallway".   So that's what we're doing.   This year we're focusing each week/cycle on different behaviors.  And let me tell you, it is working!  Again, I am amazed at these kiddos and what they are capable of.  They even decided to use their data binders to track their own success on the cycle.  Genius!  And it was their own idea!

This year I feel I've gotten a great handle on the whole CCI/PDSA stuff and it's doing wonders in our classroom.  The kids are owning it and it's positively affecting their learning. I absolutely love it.

Stay tuned for the next posts on Using Data in the Classroom.  Until then, what's been your experience with student-kept data?