I think that AR and Alexs scores are great ways to manage student progress and identify areas of need and interest. I use AR to drive instruction in my ELA classes. By combining STAR Reading Scores and AR achievements I am much more able to identify student who need additional support and time for reading and reading comprehension benchmarks. As for Aleks, I am unfamiliar with this program.. but I am assuming that I will be able to utilize it more after today!
I like how you have built Aleks and AR review into a routine in your advisory. It also is a great model to your students of the importance of both of these programs.
For both ALEKS and AR we can give our advisory class an incentive to reach a goal. For example, we can have a movie day once all of my advisory students reach 100 mastered topics in ALEKS and 40 AR points.
I can also make it part of their grade, that can help motivate them too.
I have been having my history classes bring AR books to class. I also have AR readers part of my advisory grades and they have to share their reading with their peers after SSR.
I use AR during advisory and during extra time. I think that AR and Alexs scores are great ways to identify areas of need and interest. By combining STAR Reading Scores and AR achievements I am much more able to identify student who need additional support and time for reading and reading comprehension.
I can see using the data from AR and Aleks to help guide the students make both individual and class-wide goals. This can give individuals a chance to shine and feel accomplished in their own achievements, but give room for them to collectively celebrate or motivate each other as a group. It can be used as a sort of positive peer pressure.
Aleks and AR data helps to see how these students are managing their work habits and time. When I see either numbers dropping, it lets me know if schedule time in the library for book check outs and use of the library computers. I also have students set their own numbers, statistics to aim for every 5 weeks. Students make small achievable goals to reach the grand totals.
ALEKS and AR are the two programs at this school that I really enjoy having, and wish my own kids had this at their school. Using the AR and ALEKS data has come in helpful when dealing with parents, in explaining a correlation between low reading level and behavior. Parents appreciate the time taken to explain what it means. I'd like to find some AR book that tie into the content of 7th and 8th to build content literacy through AR.
I'm very behind in these area in regards to using data to inform how to plan for Advisory, so I look forward to learning today. After an Advisory library visit and seeing students get their ZPD numbesr, I have thought about how I can use this information with individual check-in's in regards to SSR, their progress reports, etc.
I use AR and Aleks scores as part of their advisory grades. I also like to acknowledge students who are excelling in these areas to encourage others to do the same.
I incentivize successful completion of AR and ALEKS goals. These can be both individual and classwide incentives. We check every month their progress, and students with the most -improvement- are honored. Ferrel
Our 7th grade Advisory group agreed that we would give a grade based on their progress on AR and ALEKS every grading window. This allows me to give my advisory students an academic grade instead of a P. Thus, when I have a parent conference I stress on that advisory is more like an elective and not a FREE period.
ALEKS is a great way for the kids to get need help in mechanics and also getting to see upcoming material in our math classes. It is a bit harder to use for planing since not all students are working at the same level, but it does allow the strengthening of subject areas with in their grade level math class. With AR, in advisory it lets us have discussions on books and vocabulary that may help them become stronger readers and English students. Having strong reading skills will help in our new CPM books since they are all very text heavy.
I am not too familiar with ALEKS so hopefully today will help encourage me to include ALEKS goals in grading for my Advisory students. I regularly use AR for the grade and know how to sign in and check their points on AR. Their Work Habits grade is based on reading goals and they can't get an "A" in Advisory if they don't have their points.
Data from AR and ALEKS can be used to set both short and long-term goals for both students who are meeting and not meeting their AR and ALEKS requirements. Since advisory is a class where we can provide academic support for all their classes, we can use AR and ALEKS data to keep our students on check, considering we see them four times a week. For students who are not meeting their requirements, we can start setting up a long-term goal that gives them a 80-100% ALEKS and AR fulfillment. With that in mind, we can also have them do small short-term goals that will bring their ALEKS scores up slowly. Like starting with 5 a week and then they can eventually increase this number to more.
I think understanding AR AND Aleks scores can impact the type of academic activities that are done in advisory. For example if the majority of students do not have books to read, we can schedule special times to check out books to improve AR scores. It can create a reflective attitude to ask the students what difficulties they are finding in AR or Alex and maybe advisory time can help deal with those difficulties.
AR is 10-15% of the grade in my classes. I conduct monthly AR checks for every grading window and also conduct AR sessions with my students in advisory. For advisory, I keep a log of current AR points and the goal for the next report card, which is 5-10 more points depending on EL reading level.
Fantastic. The idea of connecting your AR with a % of your overall score in class. What greater way to improve our students writing and reading level than AR.....and rewarding them for their reading shows great buy in on your end.
We talked about the importance of doing ALEKS and AR. We also talked about the goals they need to meet. I like Ms. Vega's idea about showing a movie if they reach their goals.
I've been monitoring AR data pretty closely of late, and have been especially vigilant in making sure that ALL students are actually reading the books, instead of just taking AR quizzes and guessing. While most students are in the 5-20 books read range, the student who takes 90 quizzes while passing only 35 - I make them actually tell me about the book that they are about to take a quiz on. If they don't pass my test, they don't take the AR quiz, unless they actually read the book.
Thank you for bringing up this issue Mr. Namba. Yes, some students just try to take as many quizzes as they can and hope to pass at least some of them. That is why I reinforce during advisory visits that students should not take a quiz until they have read AND understood the whole book and are confident they will pass the quiz.
It helps me to know their AR scores and Alex topics completed so I can plan for our short term goals and long term goals. I can plan different activities and incentives based on the goals that they accomplished.
I use SSR every day in Asvisory for 15 min. I feel it's important to set the tone school wide and confer with the students who do not like to read that all they need to do is find their genre and it takes time to explore different genres before they find it. However, they must not give up, but keep looking. Like the rest of my classes, Advisory student's grade will drop if they have not earned the specific point set for each month and receive a U for work habit. I also use it for the LTEL classes. Every day students enter the class they have to take their AR book out and read for 15 min. They log date, title of book and page number every time in their notebook, and once a week they have to write a short summary of what they have read and present to class. When they finish a book they present their final presentation to the class and either recommend the book or not and state why. Additionally, AR is homework for all classes every day. Students must read one hour every day. If students have not reached the specific goal each month they will receive a U in work habit and their grades go down one grade level. So if a student has a B in the class but is behind in AR, the student's grade will drop to a C.
Students like to know where they stand. Our students are also very competitive with each other. I think that creating a small chart that goes up in class which marks their AR and Aleks progress will lead to more accountability and will encourage students to increase completion.
The 7th grade team agreed to include their AR and ALEKS data as part of their advisory grade. I have students working on their ALEKS and AR during academic days and retaking tests if they need to.
Like Ms. Hernandez, I use the students AR levels to monitor their reading comprehension progress. It definitely helps to identify which students need more assistance with reaching their reading goals. I also like the idea of having incentives for advisory students to take AR tests and improve their reading levels as well as reach their ALEKS goal.
Wow, thank you for sharing your responses about AR & ALEKS data! I will continue to email and/or print reports regularly. I am glad they are so helpful and allow you to follow up with your students in different, meaningful ways. You may always contact me if you need additional reports about your classes' AR progress for advisory support or for IEPs. I think the school-wide SSR plan is also going to help keep AR on the students' minds so they make it a priority. The AR shirts which we are still distributing will be a good motivator to stay on track too. We have been selling so many books during the fair this week, so please remind students to check online if their book has an AR quiz they may take: www.arbookfind.com
I think that AR and Alexs scores are great ways to manage student progress and identify areas of need and interest. I use AR to drive instruction in my ELA classes. By combining STAR Reading Scores and AR achievements I am much more able to identify student who need additional support and time for reading and reading comprehension benchmarks. As for Aleks, I am unfamiliar with this program.. but I am assuming that I will be able to utilize it more after today!
ReplyDeleteDo bi-monthly Aleks and AR checks during advisory to make sure students are current with topics based on the due dates for total topics.
ReplyDeleteI like how you have built Aleks and AR review into a routine in your advisory. It also is a great model to your students of the importance of both of these programs.
DeleteFor both ALEKS and AR we can give our advisory class an incentive to reach a goal.
ReplyDeleteFor example, we can have a movie day once all of my advisory students reach 100 mastered topics in ALEKS and 40 AR points.
I can also make it part of their grade, that can help motivate them too.
Yeah! What a great connection and peer motivating idea for your students.
DeleteI have been having my history classes bring AR books to class. I also have AR readers part of my advisory grades and they have to share their reading with their peers after SSR.
ReplyDeleteI use AR during advisory and during extra time. I think that AR and Alexs scores are great ways to identify areas of need and interest. By combining STAR Reading Scores and AR achievements I am much more able to identify student who need additional support and time for reading and reading comprehension.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great point to find shared interests. It can lead to possible projects or group discussions in the classroom.
DeleteI can see using the data from AR and Aleks to help guide the students make both individual and class-wide goals. This can give individuals a chance to shine and feel accomplished in their own achievements, but give room for them to collectively celebrate or motivate each other as a group. It can be used as a sort of positive peer pressure.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Peer pressure in a GOOD way.
DeleteAleks and AR data helps to see how these students are managing their work habits and time. When I see either numbers dropping, it lets me know if schedule time in the library for book check outs and use of the library computers. I also have students set their own numbers, statistics to aim for every 5 weeks. Students make small achievable goals to reach the grand totals.
ReplyDeleteALEKS and AR are the two programs at this school that I really enjoy having, and wish my own kids had this at their school. Using the AR and ALEKS data has come in helpful when dealing with parents, in explaining a correlation between low reading level and behavior. Parents appreciate the time taken to explain what it means. I'd like to find some AR book that tie into the content of 7th and 8th to build content literacy through AR.
ReplyDeleteMake sure you see Ms. Duff around connecting the content literacy of 7th and 8th grade. Great idea of connecting AR to history content. Bravo.
DeleteIt's been very useful as a check in with students; knowing where they stand in ALEKS and AR
ReplyDeleteI'm very behind in these area in regards to using data to inform how to plan for Advisory, so I look forward to learning today. After an Advisory library visit and seeing students get their ZPD numbesr, I have thought about how I can use this information with individual check-in's in regards to SSR, their progress reports, etc.
ReplyDeleteI use AR and Aleks scores as part of their advisory grades. I also like to acknowledge students who are excelling in these areas to encourage others to do the same.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI incentivize successful completion of AR and ALEKS goals. These can be both individual and classwide incentives. We check every month their progress, and students with the most -improvement- are honored.
ReplyDeleteFerrel
Our 7th grade Advisory group agreed that we would give a grade based on their progress on AR and ALEKS every grading window. This allows me to give my advisory students an academic grade instead of a P. Thus, when I have a parent conference I stress on that advisory is more like an elective and not a FREE period.
ReplyDeleteClever idea. Why not motivate with the letter grade....thanks for sharing.
DeleteALEKS is a great way for the kids to get need help in mechanics and also getting to see upcoming material in our math classes. It is a bit harder to use for planing since not all students are working at the same level, but it does allow the strengthening of subject areas with in their grade level math class. With AR, in advisory it lets us have discussions on books and vocabulary that may help them become stronger readers and English students. Having strong reading skills will help in our new CPM books since they are all very text heavy.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI publicly recognize all students that I have that are excelling in either AR or Aleks in any of my classes.
ReplyDeleteI am not too familiar with ALEKS so hopefully today will help encourage me to include ALEKS goals in grading for my Advisory students. I regularly use AR for the grade and know how to sign in and check their points on AR. Their Work Habits grade is based on reading goals and they can't get an "A" in Advisory if they don't have their points.
ReplyDeleteData from AR and ALEKS can be used to set both short and long-term goals for both students who are meeting and not meeting their AR and ALEKS requirements. Since advisory is a class where we can provide academic support for all their classes, we can use AR and ALEKS data to keep our students on check, considering we see them four times a week. For students who are not meeting their requirements, we can start setting up a long-term goal that gives them a 80-100% ALEKS and AR fulfillment. With that in mind, we can also have them do small short-term goals that will bring their ALEKS scores up slowly. Like starting with 5 a week and then they can eventually increase this number to more.
ReplyDeleteI think understanding AR AND Aleks scores can impact the type of academic activities that are done in advisory. For example if the majority of students do not have books to read, we can schedule special times to check out books to improve AR scores. It can create a reflective attitude to ask the students what difficulties they are finding in AR or Alex and maybe advisory time can help deal with those difficulties.
ReplyDeleteAR is 10-15% of the grade in my classes. I conduct monthly AR checks for every grading window and also conduct AR sessions with my students in advisory. For advisory, I keep a log of current AR points and the goal for the next report card, which is 5-10 more points depending on EL reading level.
ReplyDeleteFantastic. The idea of connecting your AR with a % of your overall score in class. What greater way to improve our students writing and reading level than AR.....and rewarding them for their reading shows great buy in on your end.
DeleteWe talked about the importance of doing ALEKS and AR. We also talked about the goals they need to meet. I like Ms. Vega's idea about showing a movie if they reach their goals.
ReplyDeleteI've been monitoring AR data pretty closely of late, and have been especially vigilant in making sure that ALL students are actually reading the books, instead of just taking AR quizzes and guessing. While most students are in the 5-20 books read range, the student who takes 90 quizzes while passing only 35 - I make them actually tell me about the book that they are about to take a quiz on. If they don't pass my test, they don't take the AR quiz, unless they actually read the book.
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing up this issue Mr. Namba. Yes, some students just try to take as many quizzes as they can and hope to pass at least some of them. That is why I reinforce during advisory visits that students should not take a quiz until they have read AND understood the whole book and are confident they will pass the quiz.
DeleteIt helps me to know their AR scores and Alex topics completed so I can plan for our short term goals and long term goals. I can plan different activities and incentives based on the goals that they accomplished.
ReplyDeleteI use SSR every day in Asvisory for 15 min. I feel it's important to set the tone school wide and confer with the students who do not like to read that all they need to do is find their genre and it takes time to explore different genres before they find it. However, they must not give up, but keep looking. Like the rest of my classes, Advisory student's grade will drop if they have not earned the specific point set for each month and receive a U for work habit. I also use it for the LTEL classes. Every day students enter the class they have to take their AR book out and read for 15 min. They log date, title of book and page number every time in their notebook, and once a week they have to write a short summary of what they have read and present to class. When they finish a book they present their final presentation to the class and either recommend the book or not and state why. Additionally, AR is homework for all classes every day. Students must read one hour every day. If students have not reached the specific goal each month they will receive a U in work habit and their grades go down one grade level. So if a student has a B in the class but is behind in AR, the student's grade will drop to a C.
ReplyDeleteStudents like to know where they stand. Our students are also very competitive with each other. I think that creating a small chart that goes up in class which marks their AR and Aleks progress will lead to more accountability and will encourage students to increase completion.
ReplyDeleteThe 7th grade team agreed to include their AR and ALEKS data as part of their advisory grade. I have students working on their ALEKS and AR during academic days and retaking tests if they need to.
ReplyDeleteGreat job 7th grade team! What an excellent model for our 6th and 8th grade teams.
DeleteLike Ms. Hernandez, I use the students AR levels to monitor their reading comprehension progress. It definitely helps to identify which students need more assistance with reaching their reading goals. I also like the idea of having incentives for advisory students to take AR tests and improve their reading levels as well as reach their ALEKS goal.
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you for sharing your responses about AR & ALEKS data! I will continue to email and/or print reports regularly. I am glad they are so helpful and allow you to follow up with your students in different, meaningful ways. You may always contact me if you need additional reports about your classes' AR progress for advisory support or for IEPs. I think the school-wide SSR plan is also going to help keep AR on the students' minds so they make it a priority. The AR shirts which we are still distributing will be a good motivator to stay on track too. We have been selling so many books during the fair this week, so please remind students to check online if their book has an AR quiz they may take: www.arbookfind.com
ReplyDelete