How often do you attend meetings and hear the buzzwords “Data-Driven Instruction”? I know when I would hear those words I would immediately become overwhelmed. I would often ask myself what is the best way to collect data? Am I using the right method? How will I keep everything organized? I knew I needed to find a way to make the process easier and that’s when I decided to create Digital Anecdotal Notes. The forms have a wide range of uses, from your daily formative assessments to your group instruction. Most importantly, they are fully editable! I also want to share with you what I have learned about anecdotal notes from my time in the classroom.
What are Anecdotal Notes?
Anecdotal notes are brief notes teachers take to observe their students. Notes can be taken for academic or social-emotional purposes. Teachers will use the information they collect to drive instruction. Teachers can also create a behavior plan to help the student become more successful within the classroom.
Why are they Important?
When we keep anecdotal records of our students we can make better decisions with our instruction. It also allows us to plan out our activities, provide information to parents, or share the data with our intervention team. Teachers can even share their notes with their students during one-on-one conferences which help strengthen the student-teacher relationship.
How to Write Anecdotal Notes
When writing your notes you may want to include student name, date, time, subject area, and specific behaviors or actions observed. Remember that you can take notes on any piece of paper or post-it but I loved using my Digital Anecdotal Notes as it made everything so simple! I also kept the notes in a binder and had a tab for each student. This method helped me stay much more organized and was easy to keep everything in one place!
I hope you will find this to be helpful with your students and you won’t feel as overwhelmed as I did! Please let me know what ways you choose to use anecdotal notes in your classroom. Comment below to share!
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