How
to Complete Report
Card Comments
Allison Demas
It’s
that time of year again. The leaves are changing color, the air
is crisp and report cards are due. Before you begin to rate your
students you should step back for a minute. You need to know the
benchmarks (year-end, mid-year, and quarterly) for your grade and
then evaluate your students in relation to those benchmarks. Make
sure that you are absolutely objective.
It is advisable to keep a portfolio / file on each student. It should
contain samples of work from each area of instruction. You must
be able to support any grade you give - good or bad.
Before
you put pen to paper you need to make sure that you truly know your
students. Also, put yourself in the parent’s place. How would
you, the parent, react to what you, the teacher, are writing?
Now comes the fun part: the comments. First, avoid subjective remarks
such as “nice” or “sweet.” Focus on the
student’s actions and work product - not on your reaction
to the student’s personality. You should generally try to
begin with a positive statement about each student - even if the
next comment isn’t positive. Remember, report card distribution
is generally followed by a parental visit. There is no reason to
unnecessarily antagonize a parent. Even if the truth is ugly it
can be put in a pretty package.
Click
here for sample comments. These are not meant to be
remarks which you cut from this article and paste on report cards.
They are meant to provide guidance for you as you write your own
comments. You need to make them your own.
If you are having difficulty writing remarks for a particular student
then write them on a separate piece of paper and have a co-worker
or supervisor read them. I usually write them on a post-it note
and attach it to the student’s report card. Then I place that
report card on the top of my class set when I submit them to my
supervisor for review. I am lucky enough to have a supervisor who
is an excellent proof-reader (I am not) and is able to detect “the
tone” of the written word. If you are not fortunate to have
such a supervisor, then I suggest you find a co-worker who can assist
you.
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