I, Joy Kirr, am a middle school teacher, author, and speaker. My 7th grade ELA (English Language Arts) classes are working to improve their lives through student-directed learning - without marks throughout the year. This is a log of my learning experiences... Want to have me speak with your staff or facilitate a workshop? Here is my PORTFOLIO.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

A Master List

I love to have an organized (as much as possible) Google Drive.

One file (spreadsheet) I have in my drive each year is a "Master" list.
I've made a copy YOU can copy and make work for you HERE.

Click the hyperlink above, open the spreadsheet, click "File," then "Make a copy" so you can have your own!

Each tab is explained here:
*NOTE - The "2/4" on any tab is simply my first class (it's a block of two periods - period 2 and 4). I make a copy of these tabs labeled "2/4" for my 5/6 and 8/9 classes. It's not in this master form, because I have no clue how many classes you have. 😉

ALL - This tab is where I keep everything vital that is kept on our online PowerSchool system. I like it all in one place. It's easier to find for me here, and I can add IEP information, parent notes, or whatever. I can also organize them by class, last name, homeroom, etc.

HABIT TRACKER 2/4 - The habit tracker is what I use to track habits - positive and negative. It's kept on a clipboard in the room, and I add to it daily, depending on what students are standing out. Keep track of behaviors week to week help me communicate with students and parents with concrete data. I've modified this page MANY times, and I explained it more in this post from 2015. It's very useful, and that's why it's the second tab on this spreadsheet.

Positive Comm - Yup. I keep track of who I email home for positive notes. I don't want to leave anyone out, and I don't want to "bug" parents "too many" times... I mark it green when a parent responds, so I know who is connected and who I may need to reach through different means (phone call, different language, paper note home...).

Email Long Lists - Because I have a hard time making new groups each year in my GMail, I simply copy the emails from the first tab here - one for my classes, and one for homeroom. When I email, I simply have to copy and paste into the "BCC" section (to keep the email addresses confidential). I need these lists for our two-week updates, at the very least.

Confidential - Any behavior plans or health issues guest teachers (formerly called "substitute" teachers) may need goes here. I print it out and put it in the guest teacher binder for days I'm out.

Birthdays - I organize this one by date instead of by name. I delete them once we recognize it in some fashion.

Homeroom First - Just a spot to put my homeroom kids here - first names first. I print one out for the first day of school, so when students tell me their names, I can write down how to say them. I use this list throughout the year to check in permission slips, etc.

2/4 First - Same as above, just for my class (and I'll add 5/6 and 8/9, too).

Convos - First names only here - I put them all in, and when I pass them out to students, they cross out their own name. This is for various discussions we'll have with others in class. I hope it promotes getting to know EVERYone. When you chat with someone, put the date in the box next to their name. You don't chat with them again, then (for whatever activities we'll be using these for), until that first column is full. There are two on a page so I have half sheets for each child. I don't remember the teacher (on Twitter) who called it a conversation carousel - sorry!!

Fishbowl - First names here, too. I use this when we're practicing fishbowl discussions, so I can share the results with students - as a whole class or individually - as we reflect.

Summer Reading - At the start of the year, I'll pass this around to the kids to see who read which books off our list. This information will help me when we chat about them, or put them in groups for book talks about these books the first few days.

MAP - We use NWEA's Measures of Academic Progress as one test, and I like to give students goals for the next time they take the test, so I keep the info here, and only share with students when they ask or when we're setting goals.

Notes - Just a note-taking sheet of sorts.

Choice Topic - Once we're in choice mode, this helps me keep track of who chose to do what - whether it's what type of feedback to receive (video or written comments), what they'll share for "Teach Me Your Talent," or what they'll choose to research, etc.

*Another NOTE - My own tabs will be in triplicate, as I have three core classes, so I'll have three Fishbowl pages and three Summer Reading pages, etc.

Please let me know in the comments if this helps you this year, or let me know what you would add to this master spreadsheet!

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