If you missed Part 1 and 2, on “How I Collect Progress Monitoring in the Co-Taught Classroom (for writing and reading goals),” or just have no idea what my three part blog post is about – haha, you can click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2. In Part 1, I share with you at the very beginning how this three part blog post came to be, as well as some other cool stuff to catch you up to speed with this Part 3 post.
For Part 3 of this three part blog post, I’m talking all about collecting progress monitoring in the co-taught classroom for math goals. As I stated in the previous blog posts, I went through a lot of trial and error to find a progress monitoring collecting system that worked best for me while I was in the regular classroom (grades 6 – 12). All classrooms are different, all grade levels are different, and all work environments are different, but I hope that I am able to provide some advice/guidance on collecting progress monitoring in the regular classroom you are co-teaching in.
When first starting out, I purchased A LOT of math resources to use in order to help me better collect math progress monitoring on each of my student’s grade level. I would spend prep periods at the Xerox machine copying pages out of several different grade level math workbooks, because the majority of my students’ goals were based on a grade level – so this is what made sense for me to do. Then, I stumbled upon a website that changed everything for me. Literally, every math goal I needed to progress monitor was changed by one website – whether it be digits correct, problems correct, word problems, accuracy on a set of questions pertaining to certain math standards, etc. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s a ton of great paid resources out there, but I love this site. The website is Common Core Sheets. I stumbled upon this site probably 4 or 5 years ago, and I haven’t stood at the Xerox machine copying grade level workbooks since – haha.
I use this website for more than just math progress monitoring, but I’ll save that for another blog post. Creating these math sheets does take a bit of time, but once you create them you can save them to your computer and always have them to print.
Before I dive into how I progress monitor, let me start with the math sheets that I use…
Upon looking at the homepage, you’ll see that there are quite a few math topics to choose from. I typically chose Create-A-Test, because most times my students had math goals based on more than one math topic/standard. Doing it this way allowed me to choose a grade level. So, let’s say I had students in 9th grade math, but they were working slightly below grade level and needed something on the 6th grade math level. I would sort by 6th grade, choose the standard(s) I needed, and then would select the type(s) of problems I want completed. Then, down below there is a selection box of different items that can appear on the math sheet. I liked the answer page to have the standards for each questions listed, and I also would make a title that helped me with data collecting/keeping it all organized. I also liked Create-A-Test because I could control the length of the math sheet – in regards to amount of questions provided.
I have also used the above method if I needed to create basic operation math sheets to monitor digits per minute.
There are many times I just needed to collect progress monitoring on one single topic. Instead of Create-A-Test I would choose a topic from the list provided. Once I clicked on a topic I needed, a list of sub topics arranged by grade levels would appear. I would choose the topic and grade level I needed, print, and then go!
Even if you already have your own materials for progress monitoring, I still highly suggest giving this website a look if you aren’t familiar with it.
Ok.. now that I created all of these math sheets what do I do with them?!
If you’ve read Part 1 and Part 2, this will not come as a shock to you, but I used the math sheets I created as “bell ringers.” Every math teacher I ever co-taught with (seriously, everyone of them) had their own bell ringer they liked to use, but most teachers would let me incorporate this one day a week – which is all I needed. I picked the day they would be distributed, and then it would remain that same day for the entire year. I strongly believe in consistency. It helps makes things run more smoothly, and sometimes we need all the help we can get with that – haha.
Unlike writing and reading bell ringers, all students received the same math bell ringer. Students of mine who were included in the co-taught math classroom weren’t typically that much lower than the general education students. If they were significantly lower in grade/ability level, they would have been in a pull-out math class. Because of this not so extreme grade/ability level difference, the math sheets I created worked as a terrific review for the general education students. However, if I had students in the co-taught classroom with completely different goals from each other, I would create different math sheets. I would keep track of which special education student received which math sheet – even if it was something as basic as a dot on the bottom of one math sheet, and then two dots on the bottom of another math sheet. As for the general education students, it didn’t matter which sheet they received because it all appeared as a review. If math sheets were different, I was in charge of handing them out to ensure the my special education students got their right sheet. These weren’t taken as a grade, however they were taken as points toward their bell ringer grade if completed.
Here comes the “BUT“. I didn’t always use this website and I didn’t always use math sheets for bell ringers. In some class environments a bell ringer just wouldn’t work. So, I had to get creative. I co-taught with a teacher who used centers a few times a week. I would develop a center that would allow me to collect progress monitoring. There was even one year bell ringers and centers were not an option I had. During that school year I would create “Friday Reviews,” where I would make math sheets with questions pertaining to each student’s goal with a few problems that were completed/taught during the week thrown in, and then for the general education students I would make math sheets comprised solely of questions that were completed/taught that week. I always made sure I was responsible for distributing these review sheets.
If you didn’t read Part 1 or Part 2, you might be wondering what I did with all this progress monitoring I distributed and then collected.
In my co-teaching binder that I would carry, I always had a list of the special education students I was responsible for and their IEP goals and accommodations. I never just had the students on my caseload – I also had students who were on other special education teachers’ caseloads. This means I didn’t just collect progress for the students on my caseload, I was responsible for them all.
Along with a list of the special education students I was responsible for and each of his/hers goals, I also had sections in my binder for each type of goal I was monitoring – I kept it super simple to just writing, reading, and math. At the beginning of each section I kept a master list of the students I was collecting progress on, the date progress was monitored, and the score each student received. Behind this master list is where I kept the copies I made of each completed math sheet.
Although I haven’t hauled a huge binder around these past two years, I still keep a progress monitoring binder in my classroom. I still organize it the exact same way. It took me awhile to find a routine that worked best for me. I’m not going to change it until I absolutely have to! – haha.
Like Part 1 and Part 2, I know this post is geared towards upper grades, but having also been an elementary special education teacher for 5 out of my 12 years I feel this could also work for those co-teachers in the lower grades. It all depends on your students goal, as well as how you are able to collect progress monitoring in the co-taught classroom you are in.
As I said in the beginning this is what has worked for me. I invite you to please leave how you collect progress as a co-teacher, down below in the comments! I want this post to be as helpful as possible – to all of us wondering how we can successfully progress monitor in the co-taught classroom.