All teachers should know what it means to differentiate. My dilemma came when I was to record assignments onto an online grade book like SAM 7. I somehow felt like I needed to have a certain amount of assignment completed by all of my students so I could give them a grade. Keep in mind, I would still differentiate these assignments by having my more advanced students complete the HOT {Higher Order Thinking} exercises, my lower performing students completing practice problems, and my average performing students completing a little of both. But on more circumstances than one, I noticed that the HOT exercises were still below my advanced students' thinking while the practice problems might be too difficult for my lowest performing students. I felt I was not giving my students what they truly needed to be successful.
Then it hit me after a conversation with a coworker! I do not have to be too specific when I record these assignments to the online grade book. (Before, I would be specific when recording my grades into the online grade book so parents would know exactly how their child was doing with a specific skill.) So my entry with the assignment title in the grade book might be "Factors and Multiples Practice." Now, in order to assess each child where they need to be, I might label this same assignment as "Daily 1" with other entries being "Assessment 1" or "Homework 1." Now, I know if you are anything like me, this idea sounds horrifying. I hate being general with anything but hear me out.
In the online grade book I use, there is a section beside each child's grade to leave a comment. In this comment box, type the specifics of the assignment. That way, you may asses each child with skills they need and their parents will know which skills this grade represents.
Here is the next issue I struggled with for this new idea. How will I record these specifics in my hardcover record book? Well, I created my own record book. My co-teacher and I have divided our students into ability groups throughout the 4th grade. Her homeroom consist of 19 children and mine consist of 20 children. We meet with our homeroom classes in the morning, and after announcements, we divide our students into our ability groups: VIP, Super Stars, and Dream Team. (Our VIP group alternates between being in class with the Super Stars and the Dream Team.) Now, this set up could be another blog post on its own, but back to the record book situation.
I created a record book with enough pages for each group. (In this case, 3 pages.) I will record the specifics of the group's assignment onto their own page in the record book. Then, I can record the assignment as "Daily 1" onto the online grade book.
So there it is. I hope you find this idea helpful. I am including a free copy of the record book I created below. If you would like the full version, please visit my TPT shop here.
For the freebie version, go here and download.
Also, keep looking back if you are interested in how my amazing co-teacher organized our ability groups across the 4th grade. :)
