As the weather gets better and the summer break creeps into view, it brings mixed blessings; for one thing pupils can be harder to motivate as they drift into holiday mode. Then, of course, there are the reports to write.
Traditionally, reporting is a time consuming and laborious task, that involves scouring through previous tests, reports, and notes in order to put together more than 20 reports. These need to be typed up, checked, reviewed, and amended before they get anywhere near a parent.
This produces stress, long hours, and is enough to test the patience and will of even the most driven and experienced of teachers.
The process of writing reports can vary widely from school to school: some rely on the traditional paper based model, whilst others look to cloud based software to manage pupil tracking and report generation.
Regardless of what system your school uses, we asked our resident teacher to give us their top tip on how to cope with the school reporting season.
The tip they gave revolves around having the tools to hand to craft unique and engaging reports with a little help from a structural crib sheet.
Have a crib sheet of useful comments to hand
Parents want to know how their children are getting on in a clear and easy to understand way. Next to the CTRL – C copy shortcut embedded in your brain, having a list of useful comments in your mind can save time and add depth to your reports.
These key phrases could include things like “grasps new concepts quickly”, or has a “lively imagination”, which help paint a picture of the child’s progress.
If you are still struggling for ideas, we found this inspiring and quirky book on “how to survive the first year of teaching” which has useful tips even for those whose first year of teaching was long ago.
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