Oh, it's that time of year again. The time when most teachers are scrambling to get their report cards finished. If you are hyper-organized and already have yours done, I applaud you, I envy you, but this post is not for you. For the rest of us who are pretty organized to somewhat organized to "Organization?"; this post is for us. (Nothing against you hyper-organized folks, but we just can't breathe the same air as you. We aren't worthy.)
That said...
I neglected to post last night (Thursday, January 27) because I was working on those blasted report cards. I had a meeting with my assistant principal the other day and she was asking how things were going. I made a comment that things will be fantastic once these report cards are finished. She agreed with me, as she had a taste of them at the end of the first marking period; she was covering for a colleague. (One of my colleagues was out on extended leave with a spouse who was battling cancer.) I asked her when the report cards were going to be redone. (These were supposed to have been redone quite a few years ago.) Or at least made digital for the elementaries (middle and high schools already have this capability). She had no idea when. So until then, we are forced to work with these unclear, unusable report cards that most people don't understand anyway.
I can't wait to have the report cards updated. The process of getting report cards done should be so much easier. (I say, "should," because we know how things sometimes get done.) I can only wait and hope.
I'm curious. What are report cards like in your districts? Do you still use the carbon paper like I do? Are they as confusing or--gasp!--worse? Or are you fortunate enough to have a district that has joined the digital age (in all grade levels) and do yours online? Share, won't you?
Well, it is that time again. I feel like the guy on the donuts commercial: "Time to make the doughnuts." I have as much enthusiasm, too. Somebody save me! (Or at least recommend a good chocolate or pastry...)
Our report cards are online, but they're TERRIBLE! Every standard was broken down into minuscule parts and we are supposed to give grades for these little 2nd grade goals "manipulates phonemes" and "applies knowledge of homophones to oral reading". They don't sound so ridiculous here, but our LA page of the report card has 52 tiny little columns for grades! That's just reading/writing/oral language!
ReplyDeleteOur parents don't understand them because they're written in educational jargon (ie the standards phrasing) and most of my educated parents have to double check what they've read, much less parents who don't speak English. We are beyond frustrated... At least they're handwritten though!