[daisy552]

O.K. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what the best method is on handling seatwork papers. I teach Abeka curriculum and was wondering how you teachers keep your student's work organized. Do you have a folder they keep at their desk to put papers in that are not finished? When do you check their seatwork to make sure it is done correctly? Do you send the corrected seatwork home on nightly? Any help in this area would be wonderful.

[Love2ndGrdrs]

First of all, I happen to think much of the seatwork is junk and don't do it. lol. I do have them complete the Arithmetic, Language and Phonics workbook sheets, and sometimes a tablet page.

I have to do more grading than ABeka requires, so I have to grade some of the seatwork.

So here is what I do: They complete all their assignments in the book, and do no tear them out so that I don't end up with mountains of seatwork. Since I omit much of the tablet work, i don't have a huge problem with students not finishing. If they don't finish I write/stamp "Please Finish" across the top and send it home. (In the book)

On Wednesdays, I have them tear everything they do out and I grade it for a classwork grade.

As far as looking everything over, I walk around the room in between my reading groups and spot check for general problems. (trouble with marking vowels, counting backwards, and odd/even numbers are my issues right now for example ) Sometimes I circle incorrect answers and have them redo some of them. I also often check to see if they are doing the correctly and will send it home to be redone if I'm not happy. ABeka does not require you to grade or ever LOOK at any of it. But this system works for me.

I know many teachers that have a folder for "Ongoing" work that is incomplete or needs to be finished, but I know some of my kids would end up with TONS of papers. So instead I send it home and after missing some after school time for wasting time in class, and if your parents back you up on this it often helps. I have one student who doesn't get to go to Tae Kwon Do if he wastes classtime, so this method fixed the time wasting FAST.

Oh and I also only send home GRADED papers and keep the rest in the book.

I'm no expert but I'm glad to share what works for me! Sorry so long!

[daisy552]

It sounds like you have some good ideas. I do have a few questions. Do the children have a hard time tearing out their work? How do you post your seatwork for the day to let them know what pages they need to complete and do they ever go ahead and not stop where they need to stop? I'm sorry I have so many questions, but I'm tired of the mounds of paperwork too. Thanks so much for your help!

[suzyscq1]

What grade do you teach Abeka?
I teach K in abeka, and our books come pre-torn this year. The past years I have had parent volunteers tear out pages and would put that day's seatwork in their seatwork folder.

Honestly, I really did toss quite a bit of the seat work because I found it to be junk and repetitive. I also graded ALOT more than what Abeka said I was supposed to in order to get an overall idea of where my kids were and what they were having issues with.

If they were unable to complete it, I normally would send it home as homework if it was just one sheet or so, but if the child hadn't finished the bulk of it, I would have them sit out during recess to finish.

I have a several trays on my desk that are labeled phonics, math, writing, etc and they will put finished work there and I sort through it at the end of the day and take some for a grade, check for accuracy, have them re-do, etc. It just depends on the paper, what the content was on the paper, the child, etc.

Hope this wasn't too generic. I just try to keep my life as simple as possible.

[daisy552]

I actually am teaching a combined 1/2 classroom this year with 19 students. I am trying new things because some of the old things just aren't working out as well this year. I hope I will get in a groove soon. I feel a little out of sorts this year. Thanks for the advice ladies.

[Love2ndGrdrs]

I taught them how to tear them out, but YES you do have several who struggle with this. If they tear it, I make them finish the work with it torn (which is annoying to them) and then tape it for me. This tends to make them a little more careful when tearing.

I post the list of what they are to do on my SmartBoard at the beginning of seatwork time. I know another teacher at my school who has laminated a poster that looks like a sheet of paper and writes it on there.

Sometimes they don't stop, but I make them go and erase what they did that they were not supposed to do. For my chronic ones, sometimes while I'm explaining I will look them directly in the eyes and VERY emphatically say "WHERE ARE WE GOING TO STOP?" and have them say "AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE ____". Or I will walk over while explaining and write STOP in my red pen! Usually they get the idea to do one page and stop.

I don't mind answering questions. I feel so much better and pulled together this year than last and I'm sure you will too even by Christmas and definitely next year! Just keep trying things until you find what works for you.

I tell my parents to expect changes because I want to find what is best for their kids and am not afraid to change if something isn't working! And I tend to change things A LOT!