Systems Part 1: Data Binders!!!

Alright friends, I'm back in business...I'm working on a series of posts about different systems that I use - systems to help keep the kids organized, systems to keep teachers organized, systems that you might want to adapt and use in your classrooms.  So part 1 is all about....DATA BINDERS!!!  Now you may be thinking that those don't sound super interesting, but they are a critical part of being systematic with my kiddos and their IEP goals despite them being in a bunch of different rooms and each of them having a variety of adults who support them (myself, the general education teacher, service providers, and a variety of paraprofessionals).  I will take you on a little tour of my binder starting with the cover:

Inside I have a detailed sheet explaining my expectations for how to take data and when to submit the data to me.  This will, of course, be personalized for your class as your expectations are different, but if you want to take a peek at mine...just let me know!

THEN...I have a section in the binder for each student with a quick glance and data sheets.  Now I know you are asking, "can I see an example of those?" but unfortunately, all of mine are chock full of student information so I can't send them on to you.  You can look at the Quick Glance Template and Data Sheet Template on my TpT site - they are editable so you can customize them with information about your students!  They are best sellers on my site and they are on sale for this week only!  I use this data sheet for most of my students, but I do bring in different data sheets like Antecedent/Behavior/Consequence sheets or Scatter Plots when they are more appropriate.  Just giving you a starting place...

I also have a rule that we collect one work sample for each academic goal every week.  How do I keep track of those you ask?  With these handy Post-It notes that I created using Vistaprint!  We stick one on to the work sample with some notes about what sort of support students had on the assignment and then I know what I'm looking at when other staff members add samples to the binder.

In the back of the binder are the carbon copy of communication slips that go home.  Not all of my students are able to tell their parents what happened at school today so we use these slips to communicate that to parents.  The top copy goes home and the bottom copy stays with us.  I wish I could claim credit for these but they existed before I started at my school.

So that is my grand tour of my data binder!  Let me know if you have questions, suggestions, or if you'd like to have me feature a specific system on a future blog post.

Hoping this helps you out,

Adie