End of Year Reflections and Surveys

As the end of the year approaches, I love to reflect on the year and see what went well and how I can improve. I also like to survey parents and students to get their thoughts and feedback. I like to see all sides and angles from all stakeholders. Remember to look for trends as you review your results.

A few quotes I love about reflection:

Use your reflection and surveys to grow as an educator and better version of yourself!

Grab a copy of my parent survey here. Remember to make a copy and edit as you need.

The student survey is the most important to me. My job is to serve and love these students each and every day. If they are concerning responses, I will have individual conferences with the students before they leave my class. I also use this survey to make some changes for next year.

Make a copy of it here and make changes as needed.

The last week of school we spend time reflecting and reminiscing about the school year. And then students fill out this Reading and Writing Reflection. I love seeing how they see themselves as readers and writers. I left the slides white so students can customize the theme to represent themselves.

Grab a copy here!

I know you have done amazing things this year as a teacher! Reflect, grow, and CELEBRATE all you and your students have accomplished!

Digital Read Aloud Notebook

 

I have been thinking about our final chapter book read aloud for a while now. I wanted to end with the perfect book. I have been influenced by Colby Sharp, and my love of Barbra O'Connor. We will be reading Halfway to Harmony. I want students to think deeply and be able to keep track of their thoughts as I read to them. My campus just became a 1-1 campus, so I created a digital read aloud notebook for us to use. I am excited to introduce it to my students and love that they will have it forever in their Google drive. Hopefully, it will be a sweet reminder of the reading community we created this year.

Click here to make a copy of my reader's notebook! 

It can be edited and adapted for ANY read aloud or ANY book students are reading. 

The notebook includes:

1. Cover Page

2. ABC Boxes-

This graphic organizer will be used throughout the read aloud and foster deep comprehension. We will fill in as many boxes as we can with words (that start with each letter) that pertain to the story and explain the word. You want to encourage students to think about character traits, themes, important events, think deep and outside of the box:)

3. Character List- 

Here we will track the characters we meet throughout the story. Encourage students to think about the strengths and weaknesses of each character, their relationships with others, what motivates them. Also, have them write their feelings and how their thinking changes. 

4. Chapter Thoughts-

We always use Book, Head, Heart and Signposts to help us think deeply and guide our conversations. (You can read more about Book, Head, Heart here.)So on these pages, students will share their thoughts for each chapter. It will also serve as a way to remember what we read the day before. 

5. Final Thoughts-

The last section will be for when we finish reading the book. Students will share how they are feeling, what they loved, what they wanted more of, discuss if and why they would recommend the book to others and any other thoughts they have.

Throughout the read aloud, I will give students time to turn and talk, share with a partner, and share out with the class. I love the conversations that students prompt, and we are able to have together. 

The power of books is amazing and leaves everyone wanting one more chapter read!