Report Cards

It's that time of year again where my only existence will be to average grades, begin filling out report cards, and deciding on meaningful comments. When I first started teaching (okay, who am I kidding...even now), report cards were a major source of anxiety. My motto: expect the unexpected.

At the district I work at now, we have to enter our grades online. Don't get me wrong--I LOVE using technology, but I sometimes I  feel that using technology just for the sake of using technology doesn't always work. Our system is very finicky so it takes a lot of extra time and frustration to enter grades. I also don't like that it doesn't allow me to reflect on the whole report card as I am entering grades. Before I write comments or enter a grade, I want to make sure one last time that report card reflects how well the student is doing across the board. We team teach, so I only enter the math and science grades. The other fifth grade teacher enters the reading, writing, and social studies grades. Being able to look at the report card as one big picture is something that I miss!

The good news is that next year we will be self-contained (well, that's the plan anyway). I think a lot of these kinks I experience in management, grading, etc. will be worked out better when I keep my homeroom all day. I LOVE my teaching partner, so I definitely will miss the team approach (especially when conferences roll around!).

What are some tricks that you use to make report card time more manageable?