Circulation Look-Fors Tracker

Circulations cards are good for all teachers. Unless you have a photographic memory, you can probably use a tool like a circulation card to help you keep track of specific information about students’ understanding and/or behavior.

Downloads:

• Circulation Card

Suggestions for use:

1. Decide on your most important look-fors. What specifically do you want to know about students’ content knowledge and skills? For math this could sound like: I will look to see how many students are combining like terms when balancing equations. For ELA this could sound like: I will look to see how many students are accurately identifying the adjectives in this paragraph. You could also include behavioral look-fors. This could sound like: I will look to see how many students are respectfully listening while other students share ideas during our discussion.
2. Know yourself. How many look-fors can you really keep track of? You can start with just one and then build in more as you feel comfortable.
3. Create your circulation chart. Click above for a blank one.
4. Keep the chart on a clipboard that you carry around with you during class. It is okay to let students know that you are charting their understanding/behavior.
5. Use the data during class to guide instruction.
   1. Use the look-fors on the card to give feedback to students. “It works when you…now try…”
   2. Take notes by recording students’ initials in the appropriate box. If you notice changes in students’ understanding over the course of the lesson, revise your notes.
   3. If you notice that very few students are hitting your content target, you may decide to reteach this idea. If you notice that all/students students are hitting your behavioral target, you can use positive narration to let students know you notice their awesome behavior.
1. Use the data after class to guide your planning for the next lesson.