Why do we still write reports
Lyn recently shared this article from What Ed Said https://whatedsaid.wordpress.com/2018/06/10/why-do-we-still-have-reports/
This has been something I have been wondering about too over the past few weeks. I have spent a large chunk of my release time and weekends writing beautifully crafted, carefully worded report comments for my class. I then spent more time re-reading, proof-reading, re-writing these comments to make sure they said exactly what needed to be said with no room for misinterpretation. While doing this I also planned lessons, dealt with pastoral care, uploaded seesaw items and generally survived! I know we are in a cross over period between Seesaw learning portfolios and written reports but I wonder if written reports will ever really go? In my previous school we boldly stated 'there will be no written report this year' but then went on to write report comments and upload them to student portfolios.... maybe what we should have said is 'there will be no printed report this year'!
Something we have been mulling over as school is the danger of a lack of engagement with online portfolios. Will parents really feel like they understand their daughters learning? Will they have a good sense of where they sit according to the 'standard'? Are they engaged in the learning process? Do they feel reported too? I acknowledge all these concerns and feel they are valid but also feel they could just as easily be applied to written reports. In the five years I have been writing reports I've had probably four or five parents respond in some way to what was written (email, comment etc). This suggests to me that while they may read and prefer a written report twice a week they are not any more engaged in this form of reporting that portfolios... From the feedback I've had around portfolios parents enjoy being able to see what their daughter is up to and talk about this at home. They like the goals the girls have been uploading as they can help support learning at home. This is from a handful of parents. Probably the same parents that would comment on a traditional written report or request a meeting about their daughter's learning. Overall I'm not sure we will ever completely move away from written report comments, wether these are printed out or uploaded to a portfolio. I think reporting will become a case of portfolio and comment twice a year or more often. I wonder what our parents would think?
This has been something I have been wondering about too over the past few weeks. I have spent a large chunk of my release time and weekends writing beautifully crafted, carefully worded report comments for my class. I then spent more time re-reading, proof-reading, re-writing these comments to make sure they said exactly what needed to be said with no room for misinterpretation. While doing this I also planned lessons, dealt with pastoral care, uploaded seesaw items and generally survived! I know we are in a cross over period between Seesaw learning portfolios and written reports but I wonder if written reports will ever really go? In my previous school we boldly stated 'there will be no written report this year' but then went on to write report comments and upload them to student portfolios.... maybe what we should have said is 'there will be no printed report this year'!
Something we have been mulling over as school is the danger of a lack of engagement with online portfolios. Will parents really feel like they understand their daughters learning? Will they have a good sense of where they sit according to the 'standard'? Are they engaged in the learning process? Do they feel reported too? I acknowledge all these concerns and feel they are valid but also feel they could just as easily be applied to written reports. In the five years I have been writing reports I've had probably four or five parents respond in some way to what was written (email, comment etc). This suggests to me that while they may read and prefer a written report twice a week they are not any more engaged in this form of reporting that portfolios... From the feedback I've had around portfolios parents enjoy being able to see what their daughter is up to and talk about this at home. They like the goals the girls have been uploading as they can help support learning at home. This is from a handful of parents. Probably the same parents that would comment on a traditional written report or request a meeting about their daughter's learning. Overall I'm not sure we will ever completely move away from written report comments, wether these are printed out or uploaded to a portfolio. I think reporting will become a case of portfolio and comment twice a year or more often. I wonder what our parents would think?
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