This school year, Calvert is focusing on EFFORT. We’ve been talking about what that means all year in our classroom. Just this week we began doing some data tracking on our effort in class. We are focusing on five main areas….

1) Centers… these are our literacy workstations. Students work independently during this time, while I am meeting with guided reading groups. Sometimes 35-45 minutes of independent work time can be hard for a second grader. It’s tempting to goof off and not be on-task. So, we are tracking their effort during this time. Each week there are 8 centers to complete. On Fridays, we have something called ‘pickles’ and ‘ketchups’. If students are still working on completing center work, they are ‘ketchup’. If students are done with all work (satisfactorily), they are a ‘pickle’ and get some game time. The effort chart will keep track of students who get at least 7 centers done each week. I look forward to seeing if this motivates some students to put forth more effort in their independent work time.

2)Homework…. this chart will track daily math homework. If it’s returned complete, they will get a star next to their student number.

3) Read @ Home… this chart will track reading at home. Each month a sheet comes home (the December one just came home today 12/3) to track reading minutes. If a student reads at least 300 minutes in a month, they get a star for effort in reading at home. See this flyer for a really great reason why you should make it a goal to have your child read each night for 20 minutes. Why_Read_20_Minutes_at_Home2

4) Dojo…. this chart will track our dojo points. Most of you are familiar with the Dojo points. This is a system we use throughout the day to monitor classroom choices. Mostly, focusing on school work and staying on task. Also, some hallway and recess behavior. Each student sets an individual positive point percentage goal, if they meet their goal, they get a reward… now they will also get a star on the Dojo effort chart.

5) Spelling… this chart will track the scores of the Friday spelling post-test. If your child is studying their words at home and during independent work time, they should do quite well on their Friday spelling test. If they get 13 or more right, they will receive a star on the effort chart showing effort in studying their spelling.

I look forward to seeing how tracking effort will motivate the students to work hard. I also think it will be a great tool that will help me in doing report card grades in the areas of work and study habits.

If you have any questions about the effort charts, you can email me at jhollib@lps.org or call 402-436-1130.