I have been working a lot recently, which of course pleases me to no end. The classrooms I have been working in have student teachers who are doing their solo teaching. This makes for an easy day for me. I tend to establish myself outside of the classroom, so that the student teachers don't feel like I am hovering - one less pair of eyes watching their every move. But I am always close by so that they can poke their heads out of the door and call me in for help as needed.
Anyway, I have been doing some reading assessments for teachers. These are required by the district at the start and end of every year, and are supposed to show growth in reading. It starts with a running record (the student reads aloud, we note every error, and it is timed), and then we include a summarization and ask a few questions about the passage. (Yes, there is more to it than that.) I have done these for the past four years, using a couple of different programs. (Not Rigby or DIBELS).
So yesterday, my mentor teacher said she had a combination stopwatch and calculator. I realize this doesn't sound like anything much, unless you're a teacher who does reading assessments. Fountas & Pinnell, the reading goddesses, have developed what I call the "stopulator": it times the student, then you input the number of words read, number of errors and self corrections, and it calculates out the words per minute and the accuracy rate. SO COOL! No more looking up the equation for figuring this stuff out - YAY! I used it yesterday and flew through the calculation piece quickly and easily. Love it.
If you do an online search for "Fountas and Pinnell stopwatch", it will come up on Heinemann's website. It runs about $25, but is well worth it in saved time.
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